Designing App and Desktop Solutions with Citrix XenDesktop 7 (CXD-400)

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About this Course

This course provides students with the ability to successfully assess and design a XenDesktop 7 app and desktop solution based on the top key projects and architectures that a majority of Citrix customers implement, across different industries and use cases. Students may also have an opportunity to build a design for their organization and will have access to all of the tools and reference materials required to support their work. This course prepares learners for the 1Y1-400 Designing Citrix XenDesktop 7 Solutions exam, a requirement for the Citrix Certified Expert – Apps and Desktops. This exam and certification are currently in development and are expected to release in Q4 2013.

Audience Profile

This course is recommended for desktop virtualization solution designers such as Architects, Consultants, and Engineers. 

At Course Completion

Upon successful completion of this course, learners are able to:

  • Identify the various components and communication protocols of the Excalibur architecture
  • Apply architectural understanding to desktop virtualization solutions
  • Conduct an organizational assessment focusing on business capabilities and requirements, applications, and users
  • Design desktop virtualization solutions
  • Verify and present design recommendations
  • Troubleshoot desktop virtualization designs 

Prerequisites

Before taking this course, Citrix recommends that students have:

  • Intermediate knowledge of Citrix Desktop Virtualization Components/Concepts
  • Basic understanding of project management and documentation best practices
  • Basic presentation skills
  • Windows Server Knowledge (Windows Server 2012) including
  • Basic Networking Knowledge
  • SQL Server - General understanding of databases, permissions, security, high availability
  • General understanding of physical and virtual storage
  • Familiarity with hypervisor technologies (XenServer, Hyper-V, or vSphere)
  • Completed the following courses or can demonstrate equivalent knowledge: CXD-102
  • Introduction to XenDesktop 7, CXD-300 Deploying Citrix XenDesktop 7 Solutions 

Course Outline

Module 1: Architecture

  • Identify the various components included in the XenDesktop 7 architecture
  • Determine how the various components communicate and which protocols they are using
  • Apply architectural understanding to desktop virtualization solutions
  • Troubleshoot desktop virtualization design

Module 2: Business Drivers

  • Identify specific business drivers for multiple verticals
  • Facilitate a discussion with the project team at an organization to prioritize business drivers

Module 3: Data Capture

  • Identify best strategy for data collection given a specific organizational environment.
  • Identify the types of application data to collect, the method for collecting them, and application data collection tools

Module 4: User Segmentation

  • Identify the different FlexCast models
  • Identify considerations in selecting the most appropriate method for segmenting users

Module 5: Application Assessment

  • Understand the process of application assessment
  • Demonstrate rationalization of applications in a given case organization
  • Assess a suite of applications based on business needs and compatibility to a given XenDesktop delivery model.

Module 6: Project Management

  • Understand the importance of project management for a successful implementation
  • Identify roles for a project plan

Module 7: User Design

  • Make key decisions regarding user groups and device (endpoint) design
  • Organize user groups for Design document
  • Identify and prioritize top user issues
  • Design user profile strategy
  • Design a printing strategy

Module 8: Receiver

  • Define how applications will be delivered
  • Design Citrix Receiver deployment and maintenance

Module 9: Resource Req. Recommendations

  • Identify recourse requirements
  • Make key design decisions regarding resource recommendations

Module 10: Access

  • Design an authentication point (Storefront and NetScaler Gateway) strategy
  • Determine session and access policies, including user authentication and remote access
  • Design virtual desktop operating systems access
  • Calculate bandwidth for the desktop virtualization solution

Module 11: Desktop

  • Make key design decisions regarding machine catalogs and groups
  • Design a personalization strategy including user profiles, user policies and personal vDisk usage.
  • Design an appropriate printing strategy

Module 12: Application Delivery Design a solution that meets application inventory and integration requirements Identify characteristics of the applications that will impact placement as well as the application delivery architecture for the XenDesktop environment Design an application delivery strategy

Module 13: Desktop Delivery

  • Design a Desktop delivery topology, including Sites, XenDesktop Controllers per site, and load balancing
  • Design the underlying infrastructure, including database selection, license servers and Active Directory Integration
  • Identify the XenDesktop user and virtual desktop baseline policies

Module 14: Networking Layer

  • Make key high availability design decisions
  • Integrate the XenDesktop infrastructure with the network infrastructure
  • Understand WAN optimization, Multistream ICA, and DHCP functionality

Module 15: Storage and Provisioning Layer

  • Make key design decisions regarding storage solutions
  • Identify the features and differences between PVS and MCS
  • Design a provisioning strategy with either PVS or MCS

Module 16: Platform Layer

  • Make key design decisions regarding the hypervisor to be used in desktop virtualization solutions
  • Make accurate hardware calculations, including VDI hardware, shared hardware, application hardware, and control hardware

Module 17: Operational

  • Understand potential migration approaches
  • Design a system monitoring strategy
  • Make key design decisions regarding decisions regarding application delivery
  • Migration approach
  • Backup and System Monitoring
  • Backup
  • System Monitoring

Module 18: Verification

  • Verify assess and design decisions using Citrix online tools
  • Develop a complete stakeholder presentation
  • Effectively present and support design decisions
  • Capstone Exercise