Thursday, January 22, 2009

[THIN] Re: Citrix Disaster Recovery Assistance required

The quick answer is that from the client perspective you want to implement zone preference and failover. From the backend point of view you need to replicate and/or cluster the file and database resources. Each piece needs to be addressed for it’s own technology, i.e. SQL replication, file share (perhaps with DFS), etc.

 

 

Steve Greenberg

Thin Client Computing

34522 N. Scottsdale Rd D8453

Scottsdale, AZ 85266

(602) 432-8649

www.thinclient.net

steveg@thinclient.net

 


From: thin-bounce@freelists.org [mailto:thin-bounce@freelists.org] On Behalf Of Angela Smith
Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 9:24 PM
To: thin@freelists.org
Subject: [THIN] Citrix Disaster Recovery Assistance required

 

Hi

Im looking at upgrading our Citrix farm to incorporate DR capability which is currently lacking.  We have a 1Gb link between the 2 sites in the same city.  I was looking at implementing the following:

Primary Site (Site 1)
2 x Web Interface Servers using Windows Network Load Balancing (VMWare Virtual Server)   
1 x Dedicated Zone Data Collector (VMWare Virtual Server)   
10 x Citrix Presentation Server 4 (Physical Servers)
1 x SQL Server for Datastore (VMWare Virtual Server)
1 x File Server for Citrix Roaming Profiles and File Store (Physical Server)
1 x MS Print Server (VMWare Virtual Server)

DR + Secondary Site (Site 2)
1 x Web Interface (VMWare Virtual Server)
1 x Backup Zone Data Collector (VMWare Virtual Server)
10 x Citrix Presentation Server 4 (Physical Server)
1 x SQL Server for Datastore (backup only)
1 x File Server for Citrix Roaming Profiles and File Store (backup only)
1 x MS Print Server (VMWare Virtual Server - backup only)

We are running Citrix Presentation Server 4/Windows 2003.  File Server and SQL datastore data are replicated between both sites.  All Citrix Servers will use the File Server in Site 1 but we need to ensure Citrix Servers are load balanced across both sites. Can the following be achieved:

1) I need to build redundancy so if Site 1 is down, all users can connect to Site 2 automatically (its acceptable if they need to logout/login). Can this be achieved using Citrix PNAgent and Web Interface clients?  Do we need to implement DNS changes or can the failover be automatic?
2) We want to ensure Citrix users in Site 1 connect to Citrix Server in Site 1 and users in Site 2 connect to Citrix Servers in Site 2.  Will zone preference and failover settings achieve this?
3) Is one Zone sufficient or should I have a zone for each site?

Can anyone suggest any best practices / links to guides for such an implementation or better ways to implement such a solution.  I need to ensure the DR solution is as seamless as possible.

Thanks




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