We announced many new features and improvements to Citrix DaaS and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops this year, and we were proud to share those with you during our What’s New and Next with Citrix webinar. For those of you who were able to join us live, thank you for your time and attention. We got a lot of good questions during our live Q&A session, and because we were limited on time we were not able to answer them all.
You can find all the answers to the questions we answered live in this blog, as well as answers to the questions we didn’t have time to answer. We’ve split the questions into four sections in line with our webinar topics to help you find any answers you may be looking for:
Bringing Cloud Innovations to On-Premises Deployments
Enabling Zero Trust Web and SaaS Application Access
Improving Management and Monitoring
With over 84 releases already this year, we know you have questions. Read on for more.
Bringing Cloud Innovations to On-Premises Deployments
What’s included with the different editions of the Universal subscription? And how does this affect traditional on premises Licenses?
We have the 4 editions of the Universal subscription. Advanced includes DaaS advanced in the cloud and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops advanced. Advanced plus is DaaS Advanced Plus and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Advanced. Premium is DaaS Premium and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Premium. Universal Premium Plus is DaaS Premium Plus and Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Premium.
As far as transitioning your additions from on premises to the cloud, your additions should automatically transition. With the Universal subscription, you get the full scope of all features both in the cloud and on-premises. The Universal subscription also means hybrid rights forever, so there is no need to renew your hybrid rights as long as you have an active universal subscription.
How do I change the Universal subscription?
Reach out to your local Citrix partner if you’re interested in switching to the Universal subscription.
With the WebStudio, will this be added to the Long Term Service Release (LTSR) version? Or is it only available for current release?
Though we do not have an official date for the next LTSR, we like to encapsulate all of the features from the past few years into the next LTSR. It is most likely WebStudio will make it into the next LTSR, so look out for next year’s What’s New Webinar for more information.
Is the web studio backwards compatible to 2203?
The web studio for on premises started functionality in 2212, so the 2203 LTSR from early 2022 will not be backwards compatible with web studio on premises. Keep a lookout for the next long term service release coming.
Enabling Zero Trust Web and SaaS Application Access
Does Secure Private Access on-premises architecture need any connection with the cloud?
No, Secure Private Access on-premises does not need any connection to the cloud, it’s fully on-prem and leverages all your existing on-prem infrastructure.
Does Secure Private Access on-premises work with the same version of the Enterprise Browser as the Secure Private Access service that our customers know?
Yes, it works with the same versions.
Is the Enterprise Browser part of the DaaS bundles?
Citrix Enterprise Browser is installed with the Citrix Workspace app, but requires the admin to publish at least one web or SaaS application via Citrix Secure Private Access to be unlocked.
Streamlining User Experience
With Hybrid being the new focus, will some of the workspace features be back ported to StoreFront? or will a new reinvigorated roadmap for Storefront be created?
The answer is, yes, and yes. We are looking at finding and putting features back into storefront where they make sense. We’re also taking a look at the whole storefront product, looking at the UI and usability that was in Workspace, and seeing where that fits to make a cohesive user experience, whether they are on Prem or in the cloud.
As we continue to flesh out this plan for Storefront you’ll see content coming from us more frequently, and will share that information as soon as it’s available.
Does EDT Lossy only enhance audio/voice, or does it also enhance app and desktop delivery?
EDT Lossy is a audio virtual channel, and the loss mode enablement of that virtual channel really just focuses on audio voice multimedia. Under low latency, you’re not going to really see a difference.
However, under high latency networks, we are going to be able to make intelligent decisions on whether we skip frames in order to keep things in sync. When we’re under high latency, when audio and video are out of sync, it could be distracting. So EDT keeps those types of audio and video events in sync to make it natural to the human eye and user in real time. For more on EDT Lossy, read the blog.
For collaboration tools in optimized mode, does EDT Lossy offer a superior experience for low-latency connections?
Audio transmitted over EDT Lossy mode delivers an improved experience for non-optimized audio.
Is EDT Lossy mode also available for on-premises use, and are there any client limitations associated with it?
EDT Lossy mode is accessible for on-premises deployment and can be utilized via direct connect. Starting in 2024, it will also be compatible with the Netscaler Gateway. To employ EDT Lossy mode, ensure you have CWA for Windows 2308 (TP) or 2311 (GA), and note that CWA for Linux and Mac will enter TP (Technology Preview) in 2311.
Are there any drawbacks to enabling EDT Lossy for low-latency connections?
There are no downsides to enabling EDT Lossy for low-latency connections. Audio over EDT Lossy is designed for real-time communication scenarios. However, depending on your specific use cases, if TCP is performing well, such as when streaming music, you can continue to utilize TCP without any issues.
Improving Management and Monitoring
What is the difference in simple terms between Citrix Monitor and Citrix Analytics?
Citrix Director, or Citrix Cloud’s DaaS Monitor is the go-to tool for troubleshooting of individual user sessions. Whether you’re a 1st- or 2nd-level help desk team member, or a Citrix administrator assisting a user over the phone with a hung session — Citrix Director is the solution you’d turn to.
Citrix Analytics on the other hand provides comprehensive coverage across all your delivery groups, on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops sites and Citrix DaaS sites, including historical data for the past 13 months.
Whether it’s identifying a specific user issue, performance trends across multiple delivery groups or physical office locations — Citrix Analytics offers clarity and guidance paired with proactive alerts and notifications.
Is Citrix Analytics included in DaaS?
Yes, Citrix Analytics is included in DaaS Premium Plus. However, Citrix Analytics is also an add-on which you can add to any Citrix DaaS edition and your On-Premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environment.
You can connect Citrix Analytics just by using an API — no need to install any agents!
All you need to do is onboard by clicking a single button within Citrix Director. Have a look at our TechZone PoC Guide to learn more.
Speaking of licensing Citrix Analytics:
The license is not limited to a certain user, amount of data, or number or session hosts. Further you can use your Citrix Analytics data to live query your historic data, create custom reports, poll information via RestAPI and export data to supported partners such as Splunk.
Are you using data from Citrix Analytics to represent what you were showing in the webinar?
No, the new Session Network Topology view is part of Citrix DaaS Monitor and does not require to have Citrix Analytics licensed or connected.
Regarding the new session recording features, is the security information and event management (SIEM) features available only for DaaS or also on-premises?
Yes, SIEM features provide insights for both — Citrix Cloud DaaS and On-Premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environments. Citrix Analytics makes use of Session Recording, which is included in all DaaS editions and in Premium Edition of On-Premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops licensing.
Can Citrix Analytics be used against on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops without a Citrix cloud connection?
Yes, you can make use of the Citrix Analytics SaaS Cloud service with your on-premises Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops site. Have a look at our TechZone PoC Guide to learn more.
As described in the guide, you do not need to install a cloud connector to connect your on-premises environment to Citrix Analytics. Instead you configure your Citrix site to forward events to the Citrix Analytics service. Analytics will then allow you to collect data from managed and unmanaged devices or even HTML5 based Workspace App clients, as the application or desktop launch instructions for Workspace App contain the logging destination.
With Session Network Topology view will the data be shown be limited if you have not paid for Analytics?
Citrix Analytics service is not required for the new Session Network Topology view, as the data is stored in the Citrix Monitoring database. This feature will be available as part of Citrix DaaS.
Are there plans to incorporate an automatic healing processes into Monitor or Analytics? For example: if a metric or anomaly is detected, trigger a series of actions automatically to drain and reboot
Citrix Analytics for Performance offers Web Hooks in combination with alerts. This allows you to automate actions such as sending messages to Microsoft Teams or Slack, but also to create support tickets in ServiceNow.
Citrix Analytics for Security offers automated actions such as logging of the user, locking the active directory account, or to start dynamically session recording when things look suspicious.
As part of our short- and long-term road map we keep investing in such automations. One recent example many customers were looking for is composite actions, which is triggering a series of actions.
Regarding the new reports and insights, will it be available from Citrix Director on-premises?
The custom reports and diagnostic insights features are part of Citrix Analytics and are not available from within Citrix Director on-premises or Citrix DaaS Monitor.
If you missed the webinar, don’t worry. You can watch the on-demand recording to hear more about all the updates and features released this year. Also, be on the lookout for our quarterly “What’s New” blog posts (check out our latest, What’s New with Citrix — CVAD 2308 and Cloud updates, here) for all things new with Citrix.
Disclaimer: The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion and are subject to change without notice or consultation. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions or incorporated into any contract.
