This presentation is from Citrix Summit 2010, where I presented the session titled: From Concept To Reality Effective Branch Repeater Po Cs For Xen Desktop And Xen App. This session explained how Branch Repeater can easily be added to a XenDesktop or XenApp PoC in a very effective and proven manner.

1. Begin the session by asking the audience how people attended the Summit Keynote.
Discuss the keynote and make reference to FlexCast, demos, etc.
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2. Another show of hands… How many people attended Sales Kick Off this year?
At SKO 2010, we heard Al Monserrat lay out a very clear and simple strategy… Lead with
Desktop virtualization and cross‐sell networking.
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3. So congratulations! All of you that have come to today’s session have made a great choice.
Why? Because this session is going to show you how to do exactly what Al has asked us to
do… Lead with Desktop virtualization and cross‐sell networking. Today’s session is all about
how can you do a Proof of Concept for Branch Repeater (that s the cross sell networking
how can you do a Proof of Concept for Branch Repeater (that’s the cross‐sell networking
part) for XenDesktop and XenApp (That’s the app and desktop virtualization part).
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4. A Proof of Concept (POC) is a big, vague topic. A PoC can mean a lot of different things to
different people. It could be proving a specific feature works in your organization, it could
be demonstrating the entire Citrix solution, or it could be focused on one or two specific
products.
products.
In order to have a meaningful conversation about a PoC for Branch Repeater and
XenDesktop, we need to get more specific….
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5. So let’s move down in scale… let’s go from that aerial shot of the Golden Gate Bridge down
to the water, a much smaller scale. Down on the water we see there is a regatta taking
place. In this case, it’s an Opti regatta, a boat that most junior sailors cut their teeth on.
Before these kids headed out for the race, they spent a lot of time back on shore preparing
fro for the race. They considered the wind and tide conditions, they thought about their
competition, and rigged their boat accordingly. Different conditions, different game plan…
At a fundamental level, this is what you need to be doing before you start a PoC, which is
why I’m going to equate a PoC to a sailing regatta.
Incidentally, both Barney and I are avid sailors and racers so this analogy rings close to
home for us. Any other sailors out there in the crowd?
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6. So in a regatta, boats are sailing around a set of marks like this yellow one, which form the
race course. The course might be an oval, a triangle, some a distance race. Regardless,
there are lots of ways for a boat to get from point A to point B. Some boats may stay close
to the course, others may move off to the side in hopes of getting into clean air or
to the course, others may move off to the side in hopes of getting into clean air or
favorable currents. Neither is right or wrong, but some course are definitely going to be
faster than others.
As you begin planning a PoC, you need to be asking yourself, what tactics should I use
today? What plan of attack is going to be the most favorable for the customers conditions.
In the context of XenDesktop and XenApp, we want to be thinking about how can I best
In the context of XenDesktop and XenApp we want to be thinking about how can I best
leverage Branch Repeater to be successful at this PoC. Keep in mind, that the plan for
today’s PoC may not work for next week’s PoC, just like sailing tactics.
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7. Another big decision a sailboat owner needs to make is who they bring on the boat as
crew. Depending on the race, the boat, conditions, the owner might re‐organize the crew. If
it’s really windy, you will think about bringing heavier people on board to balance the boat.
If the boat has some unique or new characteristics, then you want to bring a SME of that
If the boat has some unique or new characteristics, then you want to bring a SME of that
boat on boat. Everyone on the boat also needs to know what their role is. Why was I
brought on board, what is everyone else doing, and who am I listening to…
For a successful PoC, you also need to organize the right crew. Did you bring the right
product SMEs to the PoC? Have you organized the customers crew? Are the right
stakeholders, decision makes, Citrix champions on board?
stakeholders decision makes Citrix champions on board?
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8. If we put this all together… the right crew… the right pre‐race planning… and the right
strategy on the water… then we stand a really good chance to winning the regatta. The
same should go for you in your PoC.
Today we are going to talk about a specific PoC strategy for Branch Repeater and
XenDesktop or XenApp PoC. This is a strategy that Barney and other SEs are actively using
in the field with great success. Later on, Barney will take us through this in more details.
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9. But before we go any further, let’s take a step back and ask ourselves to fundamental
questions.
Why do customers buy Branch Repeater?
What leads to a winning PoC?
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10. Why do customers buy Branch Repeater?
When a customer begins looking at a Branch Repeater solution, they are generally trying to
solve one of a few things.
Slow Application Performance – Is the customer trying to address a pain point centered
around a specific application(s). Perhaps one app doesn’t perform well over a WAN or it
might be that branch users cannot accomplish as much as LAN users because their key app
isn’t responsive enough.
New Branch Offices – Is the company opening new branch offices? Is the customer trying
to centralize their physical or human IT resources? Data center consolidation? Perhaps they
want less hardware in the branch office.
Defer/Offset a WAN Upgrade – WAN links are an expensive, on‐going cost that makes up a
significant part of any IT budget. WAN optimization solutions enable organizations to better
significant part of any IT budget. WAN optimization solutions enable organizations to better
utilize their existing WAN connection or meet capacity requirements with a smaller WAN
connection.
Offshore/Outsource – Long distance, high latency WAN connections mean remote workers
will have to work over a less than favorable WAN connection. Branch Repeater enables
remote users to work faster and use less bandwidth, which helps realize the ROI of
remote users to work faster and use less bandwidth, which helps realize the ROI of
offshoring.
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11. Do you know what is driving your customer to consider Branch Repeater and/or WAN
optimization?
Was it just one of these factors? A combination of them? Or something different all
together?
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12. What Leads To a Winning PoC?
In order to win a PoC, there are 5Ks you need to know:
Know the customer
Know the team
Know the network
Know the apps
Know the expectations
By identifying and understanding ther 5Ks, then you put yourself in the best position to
chose and execute the best tactic.
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13. Know the Customer…
Why are you here? Knowing the customer starts by knowing why and how you came into
the sales engagement. This is the history which frames the overall context of the PoC.
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14. Know the team…
Knowing the team goes back to our sailing analogy, where the boat owner needs to bring
the right crew on board. It’s important to have clear understanding of who will be involved
with the PoC and what their respective roles and level of decision making is.
with the PoC and what their respective roles and level of decision making is
Just as important as knowing who is on board, it’s equally important to know who got left
at the dock. Did the network/security team sit this one out? If so, why? Do we need to get
their buy in? Are they not involved with app delivery?
Now take a look at this guy circled in red. This is a friend of mine name Bill Hardesty sailing
on a Farr 40 named Flash Gordon. Bill is the tactician on Flash Gordon… he’s the guy calling
the shots… Notice how Bill is standing in the back of the boat. He’s not actively doing
anything, but instead he’s taking in the whole scene, analyzing the situation, and giving
direction to the team.
This is who you should be during the PoC. The person at the back of the boat… watching
the whole PoC unfold… making sure everyone is doing their job... responding to changing
conditions… and calling the tactics....
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15. Know the network…
Knowing the network is about understanding are the WAN conditions favorable for Brach
Repeater. Ideal conditions for WAN optimization are networks with high latency and/or
highly congested. While Branch Repeater can accelerate traffic over fast connections, the
results are less dramatic.
You also want to consider the branch offices. How many are there? What IT resources are
in the branch and in the data center?
How do users access their data?
Mobile users can also have the benefits of Branch Repeater using the Repeater Plug‐in.
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16. Know the apps
Knowing the apps means understanding how users work and which apps they use. Branch
Repeater can accelerate most all types of application traffic including MAPI (Outlook),
SharePoint (HTTP), Windows File Transfers (CFIS), and of course ICA.
SharePoint (HTTP) Windows File Transfers (CFIS) and of course ICA
Look for situations where there is a high percentage of applications or desktops being
delivered with ICA (ports 1494/2598).
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17. Know the expectations
In order for any PoC to be considered successful, you must first define success and ensure
that success is attainable. If the PoC doesn’t have clear and measureable criteria, then it
will be difficult to measure if Branch Repeater meet the customers expectations.
will be difficult to measure if Branch Repeater meet the customers expectations
Work with the customer to define their success criteria for the PoC. When defining success
criteria ask how will it be measured. Some of the tools available are:
•Stopwatch
dgeS g t
•EdgeSight
•Branch Repeater
•WAN simulators
•Subjective user experience
It is equally important to define what is the baseline Branch Repeater will be compared to.
q y p p p
The baseline must be established and measured before starting the Branch Repeater
comparison.
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18. Ok, now that we have some background on what makes up a good PoC and the questions
to think about when planning your tactics, lets get to it.
Earlier I mentioned a specific PoC tactic we would discuss. I’m now going to hand things
over to Barney Norton, who will go into detail.
over to Barney Norton who will go into detail
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19. Considering the points we have discussed so far The redirector mode provides the ability to
showcase the acceleration features of the Repeater without a large investment in time or
hardware from the customer. All of the required components can be down loaded for free
from their MyCitrix account. Those components include Xenserver, Repeater VPX and the
from their MyCitrix account. Those components include Xenserver, Repeater VPX and the
Repeater Plugin. By leveraging the client and the virtual appliance you can showcase some
of the capabilities that add value to the user experience in difficult network or remote
access conditions. All of this can result in additional buy in from more of the technology
influencers in the organization and result in a purchase of the technology in the case of ICA
in conjunction with a XA/XD POC even if they already have a wan opt solution.
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20. The VPX with Redirector mode can be set up in 20 minutes or literally the time it takes to
download the components. To be sure you will need a server that can run XEN but even
that server can be somewhat undersized for a limited POC.
In redirector mode there are two IP addresses required but aside from that you do not
need to make any network changes to make it functional. In essense the VP looks like any
other node on the network
No Network changes means that the challenges of pulling together the divergent groups
that typically are required for a POC and the associated delays are pretty much eliminated.
This can be set up and configured without the complexities of inter departmental
rivalries….No Politics
Best of all if the homework has been done to determine the right places to test considering
the strengths of acceleration, specific measurable results can obtained from user
experience or other metrics. Testimonials from users and other metrics are an effective
irrefutable way to show a significant value add without the effort typically associated with
this kind of test. You can use this situation to possibly move to a larger opportunity.
Easy to deploy, not obtrusive
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21. So as an example I have a partner that is currently engaged with a large nanomanufacturing
provider in my home town of Austin. They are currently helping with the evaluation of XD
for some critical applications but to be sure the customer is looking for some performance
enhancements relative to XD. While they are seeing some benefits that are some
enhancements relative to XD. While they are seeing some benefits that are some
international locations that because of network and provider challenges are still seeing
some issues. This situation is jeopardizing the XD opportunity. The partner called the ANG
team in to discuss the Repeater and we were informed that the network team was already
evaluating a generic WAN opt solution and were not immediately interested in something
new. This solution was not targeted to accelerating ICA or the more critical app delivery
protocols.
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22. On discovery of the position take by the network team we realized that there would be
some critical guidelines for any testing going forward.
• No impact to production traffic
• The customer had a variety of VPN solutions that the repeater had to be compatible
with
• Any testing had to be done with users that would be good pragmatic testimonials
• The test had to show definite measurable results
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23. As part of any test setting the expectations of the customer is vital. While this graph or any
other documentation is important it does show some ideal numbers which can be
misleading. It is important to understand what the real limitations of the technology is and
make sure the customer understands them. Understanding these points will help in picking
make sure the customer understands them. Understanding these points will help in picking
out the right test users with the network and connectivity parameters that will showcase
the technology best. Remember the Mileage will vary according the test users conditions
so choose accordingly
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24. Know and explain the technology related to Redirector test mode what are the advantages
• Transparency to the connection method
• Flexible for both Mobile and network users
• Does not require a bunch of network changes
Know and explain the caveats
• Traffic is encapsulated in the configured Signaling IP port
• User traffic appears to be sourced from the Signaling IP whinch is acting as a proxy
•The Plugin traffic still marks the TCP option Bytes so make sure the Firewalls do not
block it
There is nothing worse than getting things started and not seeing results
h i hi h i hi d d i l
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25. Transparent vs. Redirector Mode. There are two variations on the way connections
are handled by the Client and Appliance: transparent mode and redirector mode.
• Transparent mode for Client‐to‐Appliance acceleration is very similar to
p pp y
Appliance‐
to‐Appliance acceleration. The Appliance must be on the path taken by the
packets when traveling between the Client and the server. As with Appliance‐
to‐Appliance acceleration, transparent mode operates as a transparent
proxy, preserving the source and destination IP address and port numbers from
proxy, preserving the source and destination IP address and port numbers from
one end of the connection to the other.
• Redirector mode uses an explicit proxy. The Client re‐addresses outgoing packets
to the Appliance’s redirector IP address. The Appliance in turn re‐addresses
the packets to the server, while changing the return address to point to itself
rather than the Client. In this mode, the Appliance does not have to be physically
h h h Cli hi d h li d h b h i ll
inline with the path between the WAN interface and the server (though this is the
ideal deployment).
• Best practices: Use transparent mode when you can, and redirector mode when
you must.
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26. Once you have discussed the details then the next steps are easy if you have done your
homework
Hardware was located and Xen and the VPX were installed
We located some power users and deployed the Plug‐in
Collected the feedback which because we had done our homework was
stellar
Presented the results to the other teams
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27. This is the kind of feedback that turns heads
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28. These are the results we are looking for in every POC and the XD testing also progressed to
the next step
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38. This slide is a summary of the bandwidth savings with Branch Repeater compared
to Riverbed. Each of these workflows and the results are explained in detail on the
proceeding slides.
Microsoft Office – Saving a document using client drive mapping from within
XenDesktop – uses 54% less bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to
Riverbed
Video – Viewing a High Definition video from within XenDesktop – uses 83% less
bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
Copy – Coping and pasting a 20 MB folder from the data center to the branch from
within XenDesktop – uses 72% less bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to
Riverbed
Print – Printing a 5 MB Excel spreadsheet to a branch office printer from within
XenDesktop – uses 77% less bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
Web – Loading five Web sites using iMacros from within XenDesktop – uses 30%
less bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
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39. This slide is a summary of how much faster Branch Repeater is compared to
Riverbed. Each of these workflows and the results are explained in detail on the
proceeding slides.
Microsoft Office – Saving a document using client drive mapping from within
XenDesktop – is 4.5 times faster with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
Video – Viewing a High Definition video from within XenDesktop – is 3 times faster
with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
Copy – C i
C Coping and pasting a 20 MB folder from the data center to the branch from
d i 20 MB f ld f h d h b hf
within XenDesktop – is 2.5 times faster with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
Print – Printing a 5 MB Excel spreadsheet to a branch office printer from within
XenDesktop – is 1.7 times faster with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
Web – Loading five Web sites using iMacros from within XenDesktop – is 1.25 times
faster with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
faster with Branch Repeater compared to Riverbed
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42. This slide is a summary of the bandwidth savings with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS. Each of these
workflows and the results are explained in detail on the proceeding slides.
Microsoft Office –Saving a document using client drive mapping from within XenDesktop –uses 71% less
g g pp g p
bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
Video–Viewing a High Definition video from within XenDesktop –uses 90% less bandwidth with Branch
Repeater compared to WAAS
Copy–Coping and pasting a 20 MB folder from the data center to the branch from within XenDesktop –uses
72% less bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
72% less bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
Print –Printing a 5 MB Excel spreadsheet to a branch office printer from within XenDesktop –uses 85% less
bandwidth with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
Web–Loading five Web sites using iMacros script from within XenDesktop –uses 64% less bandwidth with
Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
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43. This slide is a summary of the bandwidth savings with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS. Each of these
workflows and the results are explained in detail on the proceeding slides.
Microsoft Office –Saving a document using client drive mapping from within XenDesktop is 3 times faster
g g pp g p
with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
Video–Viewing a High Definition video from within XenDesktop is 1.5 times faster with Branch Repeater
compared to WAAS
Copy–Coping and pasting a 20 MB folder from the data center to the branch from within XenDesktop is 1.6
times faster with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
times faster with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
Print –Printing a 5 MB Excel spreadsheet to a branch office printer from within XenDesktop is twice as fast
with Branch Repeater compared to WAAS
Web–Loading five Web sites using iMacros script from within XenDesktop is 10% faster with Branch Repeater
compared to WAAS
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46. Promotion:
‘buy 1 get 2 free’
For both new and existing XD customers
For both new and existing XD customers
Buy 1 datacenter‐level BR device (VPX‐45, 85xx or 88xx) and receive 2
free VPX‐10 licenses
Starts June 1, runs through end of 2010

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