This blog post was co-authored by Allen Furmanski, Principal Product Marketing Manager of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.

At the end of March, we delivered our What’s new and next with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops webinar update for the first quarter of 2021. Thanks to everyone who attended. For those who missed it (or who would like to view it again), the recording is available on demand.

During the webinar, we discussed recent feature additions and improvements across our on-premises and cloud releases and gave an update on our upcoming Long-Term Service Release (LTSR).

We received a lot of great questions from our audience during the sessions, many around Service Continuity, an exciting new feature that is approaching general availability. Service Continuity helps to ensure virtual apps and desktops are still accessible in the event of a network disruption. Here’s a recap of key topics from the webinar and the Q&A:

Service Continuity

What is the timeline for support of thin client devices?
Most Windows 10 devices should work now in the preview. Some Linux-based devices may work, too, as we roll out that preview. But please note that we are currently working with vendors for broader support as the distros tend to be customized. We’re regularly updating our technical documentation on this feature.

Is Service Continuity supported with on-premises Citrix Gateway?
No. Service Continuity requires the Citrix Gateway service, which allows for the proper platform control, network routing, and failover procedures to occur during outages.

Is there a cost to use Service Continuity with the Citrix Apps and Desktops service?
No. The feature is included with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service and its variants.

How does Service Continuity compare with Local Host Cache?
Local Host Cache has been part of Citrix Cloud for a long time (and even longer on premises). It’s designed to help when the Cloud Connector cannot communicate with Citrix Cloud. Service Continuity is much more comprehensive and is a design-for-failure of the entire Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service. This allows users to connect to resources during Citrix Workspace outages and/or Cloud Delivery Controller outages.

How does Service Continuity work for multi-tiered apps when they are can’t connect to the internet?
Service Continuity provides platform resilience, but apps themselves need to be architected with their own resiliency capabilities.

In the event of an outage, can users connect to apps and desktops across different endpoint devices or only to devices where the resources were previously accessed?
Any supported endpoint device where users have previously run the Citrix Workspace app should allow them to connect to most new and existing apps and desktops during an outage. The resources wouldn’t have had to be previously launched because Service Continuity silently downloads secure, long-lived token files upon logging in to Citrix Workspace.

If we’ve configured our on-premises Citrix ADCs as a backup plan in case Citrix Cloud has an outage, can we use Service Continuity instead?
Service Continuity will provide greater levels of availability than before and help mask cloud-related outages; however, every environment is different and this includes availability requirements, network topology, and other configurations. In short, you’ll likely use your backup environment less, though it still could prove helpful at times to have additional redundancy.

Citrix Analytics

Is Citrix Analytics available for on-premises environments?
Yes. Many Citrix Analytics customers run only on-premises environments, and Citrix Analytics is their first Citrix Cloud service.

Can Citrix Analytics report on Citrix license usage?
Yes. There is an included Usage Analytics available for free with all Citrix Workspace packages, as well as for Citrix Content Collaboration.

Is there a separate license for Citrix Analytics?
Yes. Citrix Analytics is sold separately as Security Analytics or Performance Analytics or in a discounted bundled with both Security Analytics and Performance Analytics. Talk to your local sales rep. Most customers realize a very quick ROI with Citrix Analytics.

Citrix Cloud

Is it possible on Microsoft Azure to change existing machine catalogs to use standard SSD storage instead of premium SSD storage to save on costs?
You can now select Standard SSD Azure disk types when provisioning a new catalog. This selection cannot be changed so existing catalogs will need to be recreated from the base image.

How do I get trials of Citrix Cloud services?
There are trials for individual cloud services that are delivered through the Citrix Cloud platform. Typically, the functionality in the trial is the same as the purchased service, so these trials can be suitable for proof-of-concepts or pilots. You will need to create a Citrix Cloud account, if you do not have one already. Once you’ve created a Citrix Cloud account, you can access the various tiles that indicate which service is available for a trial or demo.

How does Citrix Cloud licensing/subscriptions compare to on-premises pricing?
The pricing is very attractive and well-aligned to OpEx vs. CapEx models. Citrix Cloud services also offers greater innovation, agility, and scalability in many situations when compared to on-premises. Reach out to your local sales rep or partner for more details.

How does Citrix Cloud work with Azure Virtual Desktop (formerly Windows Virtual Desktop)?
We are bringing greater choice and options to customers who are looking at DaaS solutions. Customers can get even more from their Azure Virtual Desktop when deployed through Citrix. It’s a similar story that we’ve had providing value and savings on top of Remote Desktop Services and Terminal Services for years. Learn more about unlocking cost savings with Citrix and Azure Virtual Desktop.

What integrations exist for the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service and AWS?
Full provisioning and power management exist with VMs on AWS. Refer to our AWS partner page and our AWS reference architecture to learn more.

What integrations exist for the Virtual Apps and Desktops service and Oracle Cloud?
Validated architectures and other materials are available on our alliance page.

Is support of Microsoft Azure ephemeral OS disks planned?
Yes. Support for ephemeral OS disks are currently under development.

What’s the maximum number of VMs supported on Microsoft Azure single resource group?
There is no longer a limit. You can now create and use a single Azure resource group for updating and creating catalogs in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service. This enhancement applies to both the full scope and narrow scope service principals. The previous limit of 240 VMs per 800 managed disks per Azure Resource Group has been removed. There is no longer a limit on the number of virtual machines, managed disks, snapshots, and images per Azure Resource Group. Learn more.

Automated Configuration Tool

How do we migrate MCS-based catalogs from on-premises to cloud?
Follow the steps outlined in this documentation to migrate MCS-based catalogs. Once the migration of the control layer is complete and verification is done, return to this documentation and follow the steps under “Migration steps – Configure machines running VDAs to register to the Cloud Connectors.”

Can we use this tool to migrate from one on-premises environment to another?
No. The Automated Configuration Tool is designed to migrate from one or more on-premises source environments to Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service environments in Citrix Cloud. It can also migrate from one Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service environment to another.

How can we migrate to Citrix Cloud if we didn’t want to use the Automated Configuration Tool?
There is a manual process for migrating to Citrix Cloud if you don’t want to use the Automated Configuration Tool. You can find those details in our technical documentation on migration from on-premises to Citrix Cloud.

Miscellaneous

Is Citrix continuing its investment in on-premises releases?
Yes. Feature enhancements for Current Releases and Long-Term Service Releases are ongoing.

What are the cost benefits of Citrix Cloud over on-prem solutions?
We’ve created several resources to illustrate the cost benefits of cloud over on-premises deployments. Moving to the cloud offers a number of OpeX and CapEx savings, but it’s also important to factor in some of the soft-cost benefits (i.e., technology that’s always up to date, increased agility, faster time to value, etc.).

Are these new features discussed today going to be available in LTSR VDAs?
No. By definition, LTSRs are long-term service releases with a “hardened” set of features that doesn’t change over time. We release Cumulative Updates (CUs) for LTSRs to fix issues and improve performance without adding new features. We would recommend having multiple environments with one or more on LTSR and one or more on Citrix Cloud or Current Releases (CRs) to have a proven, standardized experience with the latest innovation.

How do you load balance non-domain joined VDAs?
We have a number of resources that highlights how this is possible. Admins have the ability to do vertical and horizontal load balancing based on user saturation for supported OSes and Catalog types.

With Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, can we have VDAs with different versions? Like 7.15 CU1, CU2, CU4 and 1912 LTSR CU4? Can we upgrade a single VDA or set of VDAs without upgrading all of them? Can you have different VDA versions in the same catalog?
It really depends on the Catalog type. With a Static Catalog you may do this as the changes persist. It may not work for all the new policies pushed from Citrix Studio.

Do you have a public roadmap to share?
Yes! You can find the roadmap here.

Will there be a new non-Silverlight-based browser-based console for Citrix App Layering (ELM) coming soon since Silverlight support ends October 2021?
Yes, there will be. Our teams have been aware of the EOL of Silverlight and have been planning for the migration from Silverlight since last year. Learn more in this blog post.

Miss the webinar? View the on-demand recording for the all the inside scoops. Also, be on the lookout for our monthly “What’s New” blog post on all things new with Citrix Workspace, including Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops.

For Citrix Investors

This release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Those statements involve a number of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, including risks associated with the impact of the global economy and uncertainty in the IT spending environment, revenue growth and recognition of revenue, products and services, their development and distribution, product demand and pipeline, economic and competitive factors, the Company’s key strategic relationships, acquisition and related integration risks as well as other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Citrix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information contained in this press release or with respect to the announcements described herein. The development, release and timing of any features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion and is 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.