Last month, I joined Microsoft Sr. Cloud Solution Architect Jeff Mitchell to present on the capabilities and integrations of Citrix Workspace and Microsoft’s Windows Virtual Desktop. If you were unable to attend, the on-demand recording is available at the bottom of our Technology in Practice home page.

We received a lot of great questions during the live Q&A portion of our webinar, and with the conclusion of Microsoft Ignite 2019, we wanted to summarize some of the common topics of interest around Citrix on Microsoft Azure.

What is Windows Virtual Desktop and what does it entail?
Windows Virtual Desktop is a platform that, with existing Microsoft licensing entitlements, customers can leverage to deliver multiple virtual app and desktop use cases from Microsoft Azure. This includes the following advantages for Citrix customers:

  • Entitlement to Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session deployed on Azure
  • Office365 optimization with FSLogix
  • Windows 7 virtual desktops on Azure with free extended security updates

How does Citrix integrate with Windows Virtual Desktop?
Citrix customers can leverage Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session using Citrix Cloud with Citrix Virtual App service, Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop service, or Citrix Workspace Premium Plus licensing. Additionally, customers can also use Citrix Managed Desktops.

When using the Citrix Cloud Virtual Apps and Desktop service with Windows Virtual Desktop, Citrix provides the brokering, provisioning, and management experience. Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session is deployed by using the multi-session VDA (formerly Server OS VDA) installed on your image hosted in your Azure subscription. This can be provisioned as a Machine Catalog using Machine Creation Services (MCS) and an Azure host connection, then provided to end users as a Delivery Group. If you are an existing Citrix Cloud customer, think of Windows Virtual Desktop as a new type of desktop model that can be deployed using the same processes used today!

Using Citrix with Windows Virtual Desktop provides multiple advanced capabilities such as full hybrid management, automated scaling and provisioning, and flexible image management. Check out our Day 1 Support blog post for more detail.

Can I still use a new or existing StoreFront and/or Citrix ADC deployment when using the Citrix integration of Windows Virtual Desktop?
One of the great advantages of Citrix Cloud with Windows Virtual Desktop is full hybrid management, including providing customers with the ability to leverage new or existing investments in the Citrix Access Layer (Citrix StoreFront/Citrix ADC), easing the transition into Citrix Workspace.

For StoreFront, the Cloud Connectors replace the Delivery Controllers and provide STA and XML services, enabling a Citrix Cloud site to be enumerated standalone or with existing Citrix sites. They can be added to a new or existing store following the same process used today. Using Citrix ADC capabilities like optimal Citrix Gateway routing can also enable the transition to Azure. For example, in a multi-region hybrid-cloud deployment, a user can access StoreFront on premises but access Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session apps or desktops with a seamless direct connection to Azure through Citrix Gateway.

A new or existing Citrix ADC can integrate directly into Citrix Workspace to provide similar routing capabilities described above or enable the usage of existing investments in a multi-factor authentication solution (VIP, RSA, etc.) if your organization has not yet transitioned to an IdP such as Azure AD or Okta.

What are the provisioning options available when using Citrix with Azure?
Citrix MCS is the image management and provisioning method for Azure workloads. However, like on-premises provisioning with MCS, Azure MCS includes the ability to use the MCS Storage Optimization to offload I/O to memory (for example when using Azure Standard Storage). Additionally starting with 1903, this disk can be persisted as a data disk for redirection of files like event logs or the Workspace Environment Management agent cache.

What is the recommended Azure instance type for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops workloads?
Last year, we were routinely recommending scaling up with the compute-optimized F series for our popular Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops workloads (due to performance and price). However, like all scalability practices, considerations can change, especially as more memory intensive browser-based workloads continue to gain prevalence. In the testing we presented on the webinar, the larger instances of the F-Series began to experience memory bottlenecks. The additional memory and higher Azure Compute Unit (due to a 1:1 CPU overcommit ratio) of the Dv2 series was advantageous to provide a lower $/user/hr when compared to the other instances.

From this latest data, for general purpose use cases the Dv2 series is a recommended starting point, with F-Series being recommended for high CPU, low memory use cases. As with any scalability practice, mileage may vary. We always recommend customers conduct testing based on their user’s workflow prior to reserving Azure capacity for their virtual app and desktop workloads.

— Kevin Nardone, Senior Enterprise Architect – Citrix Professional Services