With integration of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service and Citrix SD-WAN, it’s easier than ever to implement reliable network connectivity between virtual desktops in the cloud and on-prem data centers. And for office workers and critical personnel working from home, Citrix SD-WAN optimizes the user experience with multi-stream HDX AutoQoS, link bonding, and seamless link failover.
Demand for desktops-as-a-service (DaaS) has soared recently due to COVID-19, with work-from-home becoming a key part of many organizations’ business continuity plans. Citrix is committed to assisting organizations of all sizes to empower employees to work safely and remotely in a secure way, and we’ve introduced a special offer to help customers quickly adopt Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service.
One common question we get is is how to ensure that applications running in the cloud can access databases, servers, or Active Directory back in the data center. Provisioning of MPLS-based Microsoft ExpressRoute typically takes many weeks and the costs can be high. A better solution is to use Citrix SD-WAN. We’ve integrated SD-WAN into the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops admin workflow to simplify configuration and waived the licensing fee for the SD-WAN VPX virtual branch appliance in the CMD Azure VNet. It’s included at no additional charge with the customer’s SD-WAN subscription.
“Providing secure and reliable network connectivity is typically one of the first topics of conversation when helping our customers migrate to a cloud-hosted desktop solution and provide connectivity back to on-prem data centers or other cloud resources, so we are all excited to see Citrix SD-WAN being integrated into the Citrix CMD DaaS solution.”
— Trevor Mansell, EVP, Cloud Managed Services, XenTegra
It’s Easy to Get Up and Running!
So, what does it take to quickly get up-and-running with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service and Citrix SD-WAN? Along with a subscription and allowance for Azure consumption charges, the minimum additional requirement is an appliance (two for high availability) to serve as the master control node (MCN) to pair over the internet with the SD-WAN VPX in the CMD environment, plus a subscription based on data capacity. This MCN can be a low cost SD-WAN 210 or a larger appliance as needed. Alternatively, it can be a virtual appliance running on a Citrix ADC SDX or on a server. (Citrix SD-WAN VPX is supported on Citrix Hypervisor, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware vSphere/ESX, Ubuntu KVM and Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor.) Citrix Solution Advisors will help you with setting up SD-WAN networking, using our cloud-based Orchestrator, or you can do it yourself if you have networking expertise.
Once the MCN is in place, adding SD-WAN to the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service environment is done by filling out this screen in the admin workflow:
Working from Home? No Problem!
For small branch offices and for at-home workers in critical roles requiring always-on network connectivity, the new SD-WAN 110 is a great option. Two models are currently available — the SD-WAN 110 SE and the 110 LTE-WiFi-SE with integrated LTE modem and WiFi radio.
“With features like zero-touch deployment and the new 110 SoHo appliances, we can now significantly reduce the effort (and the cost) to get all users securely connected to their services for business-as-usual under the most challenging conditions. Citrix SD-WAN for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service provides organizations of all sizes an agile, cost effective way to securely realize the potential of their cloud strategies. Its nominal additional cost to the CMD bill of materials will be returned many times over in user productivity and operational efficiency, plus it brings the added bonus of a significant improvement in service visibility for admin or compliance purposes.”
— Al Taylor, Co-founder, cloudDNA
For details around deployment and configuration, please see our Citrix Docs page. Ready to try it? Reach out to your local partner or Citrix representative, who can help you get started. And learn how Citrix can provide the support you need to keep your employees safe and operations running throughout the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
