Welcome to Big Tour 2001
Technical Session #1
Citrix MetaFrame XP
A Technical Features Overview
Presented By: Douglas A. Brown
Agenda
Intro to MetaFrame XP

What is MetaFrame XP?

How is MetaFrame XP Packaged?
MetaFrame XP Features (technically speaking)

What’s New in MetaFrame XP?
MetaFrame XP Advanced Management
MetaFrame XP
An Introduction
What is MetaFrame XP?
What is MetaFrame XP?
• The next generation of Citrix’s MetaFrame application
serving software.
• The product of a ground up reassessment by our engineers
coupled with your input on what enterprise class serverbased computing should be.
• Built to eliminate current and future obstacles to speed,
performance and control while maintaining backward
compatibility for ease of migration.
• Everything you have seen in MetaFrame 1.8/FR1 and MORE.
How is it Packaged?
MetaFrame XPs
• Base MetaFrame XP Functionality
MetaFrame XPa
• Base MetaFrame XP Functionality
• Load Management
MetaFrame XPe
• Base MetaFrame XP Functionality
• Load Management
• System Monitoring & Analysis
• Application Packaging & Delivery
• Network Management
Licensed per Connection
• Deploy as many servers as you need…
MetaFrame XP
Features Revealed
MetaFrame XP Management
Centralized Administration
• Single Point of Command and Control

All administration, configuration, monitoring and control of the Citrix
Server Farm is managed centrally through the Citrix Management
Console (CMC)
• Independent Management Architecture

IMA-compliant servers and management products share a common
and extensible management infrastructure
• Central Data Store

Configuration information for the Server Farm is stored centrally in
the Citrix Data Store.
MetaFrame XP Management
License Management Enhancements
• License Pooling Across Subnets

ICA Connection licenses for client connections can be pooled across
the entire server farm regardless of whether the server farm crosses
network subnets
• Centralized License Management

Licenses are installed into a Central Data Store and managed
centrally from the Citrix Management Console. Administrators can
easily manage all of the licenses for the Citrix Server Farm from a
Data point.
Center 1
Data Center 2
single
Subnet 10.1.X.X
Subnet 10.2.X.X
• Single point of License Installation and Activation
Data
3 via the
 License installation and activation can be
doneCenter
centrally
Citrix Management Console
Only 1 ICA License
Is utilized
Subnet 10.3.X.X
MetaFrame XP Management
Active Directory Integration
• Account Authority Access

Utilizes Native Active Directory Interfaces to access the Active
Directory. MetaFrame XP integrates and fully supports Application
Publishing in a native Active Directory environment.
• User Principal Names

Allows Users to logon to the MetaFrame XP server farm using their
user principal name logon. I.e. [email protected]
• Application Publishing to NFuse and Program Neighborhood

Publish Application
Allows users to utilize their
Directory
for Active
ADS Users
from accounts to access
Enumerate User
MetaFrame XP applications
via NFuse or ProgramADS
Neighborhood
the CMC
and Group
Accounts from
Active Directory
CMC
MetaFrame XP Management
Printer Management Enhancements
• Printer Driver Replication

Gives administrators the power and control to manage and distribute
printer drivers to all of the MetaFrame servers in the server farm,
providing a consistent printing environment for all users
• Printer Driver Mapping

Printer drivers on different platforms often have differing names
which can interfere with client printer creation. Printer driver
mapping enables administrators to control differing printer drivers
• Terminal Printer Auto-Creation

Ability for the administrator to setup
of and
printers for ICA
Useauto-creation
CMC to Manage
DOS and WinCE Terminal Devices
Distribute New Printer
Driver to entire
• Network Printer Auto-Creation Server Farm

Ability for the administrator to setup auto-creation of network printers
Install New Printer
CMC
for any ICA device
Driver on 1 Server
MetaFrame XP Management
Printer Management Enhancements (Cont’d)
• Client Printer Creation Logging

Logs all information related to client printer creation in the system
event log. Gives administrators the power and information to
proactively detect and resolve client printer issues
• Printer Compatibility

Allows the administrator to specify client printers that can be used in
the MetaFrame environment or specify printers that can never be
used
• Printer Bandwidth Control

Printer Creation
Printer is on the
Allows
the administrator to control restricted
and specify
the amount of
is Disabled
list
ICA
Connection
bandwidth that can be used for printing in the MetaFrame XP server
farm
ICA Client
ABC Printer
Restricted
XYZ Printer
ABC Printer
Load Management
Advanced Management
Load Management (MetaFrame XPa and XPe)
Load Management Features
• Monitoring of Application and Server Load

Assign Load Balancing Evaluators to Servers and Applications and
monitor load real-time. With monitoring capabilities and trend
graphs, evaluation criteria can be monitored and dynamically
adjusted to supply the needs of user demand.
• Configurable Application Load Balancing

Create Load Balancing Evaluators that can be assigned to both
Servers and Applications.

7 New Criteria that can be used to adjust Load Balancing
• Load Management Replaces MetaFrame 1.8 Load Balancing

The code for Load Management is built into MetaFrame XPa and
XPe. Load Management in MetaFrame XP utilizes the Independent
Management Architecture for Communication.
Load Management (MetaFrame XPa and XPe)
Load Management Components
• Load Management Criteria

CPU Utilization, Memory Usage, Page Swap, Page Fault, Server User Load

New Criteria in MetaFrame XP - IP Range, Scheduling, Context Switches,
Disk Data I/O, License Threshold, Application User Load, Disk Operations
• Load Management Rules

Are measured statistics for high or low loads on servers. Lower a
rule for lower power systems and highly detailed load management.
Elevate a rule to make more use of high power systems.

Rules Consist of Criteria w/ Set Thresholds
• Load Evaluators

Used to configure server load measurements. Default is the Citrix
provided load evaluator. Administrators can also create their own.
Load Evaluators can vary by server and/or application.

Load evaluators consist of Rules.
System Monitoring
and Analysis
Advanced Management
System Monitoring & Analysis (MetaFrame XPe)
System Monitoring and Analysis Components
• Local Database

A database created on every MetaFrame XPe server for storing
the real-time information
• Farm Metric Server

Farm metric server: Interprets farm-wide data and deals with alerts
• Metric

A track-able item that Resource Manager measures for servers or
applications (e.g., memory available bytes)
• Resource Managed Application

An application which may or may not have been published by
MetaFrame, but which you have set up to be monitored by
MetaFrame
System Monitoring & Analysis (MetaFrame XPe)
System Monitoring & Analysis Features
• Intuitive Administrative Interface

Click on an application in the CMC to bring up a menu of functions,
including snooze, sleep, real-time graph, properties and alarm
options. Add and remove alarms with a few clicks of the mouse.
• System Scalability

System Monitoring and Analysis is designed to scale with your
MetaFrame XPe environment.
• Simplified Setup

No database setup required—works out of the box with MSDE.
• Resource Manager

Complete re-write of Resource Management Services. It integrates
with the Citrix Management console by adding appropriate tabs into
the Servers Folder and counters to each server for monitoring
System Monitoring & Analysis (MetaFrame XPe)
System Monitoring & Analysis Features (cont’d)
• Summary Data

As part of CMC, Summary Reports and Data can also be managed
• Watcher Window

Monitors parameters through a small watcher window in the corner
of the screen. If an alert is raised, simply double click on the alert
icon to access all relevant information using the CMC interface
• Server Reboot Scheduling

All managed servers can be scheduled to reboot at specific times.
• Server and Application Groups

Create server or application groups consisting of specific users by
department or location
System Monitoring & Analysis (MetaFrame XPe)
System Monitoring & Analysis Features
• Application and Server Farm Monitoring

Configure options for servers—either individually or farm-wide—to
trigger alarms when various thresholds are reached.
• Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts

Receive real-time notification of problems such as memory
shortage, hard disk space or CPU utilization. Receive notification via
the CMC, SMS message to mobile phones, SNMP or e-mail.
Application Packaging
and Delivery
Advanced Management
Application Packaging & Delivery
(MetaFrame XPe)
Application Packaging and Delivery Features
• Installation Manager

Complete re-write of Installation Management Services. It is 100%
integrated with the Citrix Management console.
• Server Groups

Create custom server groups such as operating system, geographic
location, department or other user-defined criteria
• Improved User Interface

Provides a greater degree of control over the installation package,
plus more feedback about the status of the application being
delivered
• MSI Support

Deploy any application that provides a Microsoft Installer Package
(MSI) without the need for repackaging
Application Packaging & Delivery
(MetaFrame XPe)
Application Packaging and Delivery Features
• Service Pack Packaging

Facilitates maintenance of application serving environments by
enabling the packaging, delivery and installation of service packs
and patches.
• File Packaging

Packages individual files or groups of files for distribution
• Application Packaging

Automatically replicate recorded installation scripts on multiple
application servers. This includes unattended installations where
there is no need for application recording
Application Packaging & Delivery
(MetaFrame XPe)
Application Packaging and Delivery Features
• Scheduling

Set up installations to occur automatically during off-peak hours or
on weekends
• Delivery Verification

Status of application delivery to target servers can be easily verified
through Installation Manager
• Auto Server Reboot Support

Support applications that require server rebooting upon completion
of installation. Users connected to the application server will
automatically be notified prior to server rebooting
Application Packaging & Delivery
(MetaFrame XPe)
Application Packaging and Delivery Features
• Inventory

Allows administrators to easily inventory all applications delivered to
a server using Installation Manager
• RollBack

Quickly and easily “wipe the slate clean” on the packaging server
following package creation to prepare for new installations
• Project Details

View all project settings, including file details, registry changes, and
target directories within the project.
Network Management
Advanced Management
Network Management (MetaFrame XPe)
Network Management Features
• Integration with Enterprise SNMP Management Tools

Console Plug-ins are available for Tivoli Netview(v 5.1.2 and above)
and HP Openview(v 6.0 only)
• Monitor and Control MetaFrame Servers

Conveniently monitor and control common MetaFrame session and
user status information across multiple farms from a single console
• Standard SNMP Support

Citrix now supports the most widely used network management protocol,
SNMP.
Client Enhancements
Enhanced Integration and Usability
ICA Client Enhancements
Shadowing Enhancements
• Shadow Indicator

Notifies users that shadowing is in progress and provides a cancel
button to end the shadow. Configurable per server within Citrix
Connection Configuration.
• Shadowing Installation Option

Ability to select whether shadowing is available

Lock down shadowing configuration during installation to prevent
changes

Allows administrators flexibility with privacy and security issues
involving shadowing
• Shadow Activity Logging

Logs all session and user information during a shadow and creates
a shadow audit log.
ICA Client Enhancements
Client Enhancements
• Per Session Time Zone Support

•
•
Ability to run applications on the MetaFrame server in the context of
the users local time zone. The MetaFrame Server can support
different users running applications at different time zones on the
same server.
Time Zone
Published Application Parameter Support
GMT -7
 Enables the MetaFrame server to accept published application
MetaFrame XP Server
Florida
parameters provided by a client, and the client to pass published
Salt Lake City
application parameters to the server.
Time Zone
GMTInterface
-5
ICA Client Object

ICA Client
Framework that exposes the functionality of the Citrix ICA Win32
London
Client to other
objects or applications. Allows any application that
supports embedding of objects, to interface with and pass
Time Zone
Published Applications
instructions to the ICA Client.
Run in context of
GMT
ICA Client
User’s Local Time Zone
ICA Client Enhancements
ICA Client Object Interface
• Provides a programmable interface for integration of ICA
Clients into
 Portals
 Dashboards
 Vertical market applications, etc.
• Supports leading web browsers
 Internet Explorer 4.0 and greater
 Netscape 4 and greater
• Supports ActiveX “containers”

MS Office, MS Visual Studio tools, Borland Delphi, etc.
ICA Client Enhancements
NFuse Ready
• NFuse is now integrated with Citrix MetaFrame XP and
Windows ICA Clients
 Ability NFuse install option if IIS detected
 Sets up default web and startup page
 Web Plug-in is integrated into ICA Client
Agenda
That’s it for this session… The next session
covers the following:
New Terms and Architectural Concepts
Communications Events
Migration Strategies
Time permitting:

Migrating to MetaFrame XP

Useful Tips and Tools