Anyone here using a Citrix XenServer home lab?

Just curious if many here have played around with Citrix XenServer. I'm still a Citrix noob, but so far I find Citrix to be very impressive. I have a cheap build setup that cost <$200 (Celeron processor, 8GB ram). Using XenServer 5.6SP2, I have no HCL compatibility issues (biggest worry was onboard NIC).

I still need to setup an Access Gateway, but for now, remote access is being accessed over VPN.

I have XenDesktop and XenApp setup. Both work incredibly well, even over 3G/VPN. I don't fully understand why, but they actually work a LOT better over Web Access vs. Console of XenServer. My instances of Server2008 or Windows 7 are VERY fast VM's, currently using 1GB ram each. I was surprised even over 3G they fly. Definitely not what I'm use to from using VMWare or VirtualBox on top of Windows 7.

Right now my Active XenServer consists of:

Server2008R2 Desktop Delivery Controller for XenDesktop
Server2008R2 Domain Controller
Server2008R2 XenApp 6 evaluation .vhd
Windows 7 VM
Windows XP VM

I also have a couple CIFS ISO libraries. I have a bunch more VM's but not all are active at once.

I have NetScaler Virtual Appliance for the Secure Gateway but I'm still configuring certificates. It uses 2GB ram so I do need to get more ram as the above environment uses 5.7GB total of my 8GB XenServer. I want to have a little more headroom. I could have more Active VM's if I lower ram amounts but I haven't compared results yet as everything works great with 1GB each.

I'm surprised how easy it was to get all of this working so far. Citrix has some great tutorials on YouTube. Still got a ton more to learn, but I'm really enjoying Citirx. I also really like Citrix Receiver for iPhone. Works great!

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Comments

nosoup4u

I set one up last month for labs and general tinkering. I am using an old pre-core Intel I had lying around and maybe 8gb of ram.

I have 2008 r2 dc
Winodws 2011 sbs storage (i dont think I set this one up correctly)
windows vista (For upgrades and transfers)
Windows 7
windows xp

I am very impressed so far with it but honestly I have no idea what I'm doing

gunbunnysoulja

Ha, the "I have no idea what I'm doing" was how I felt the first day, knowing I wanted to get XenDesktop and XenApp running but having no idea how. The tutorials are really great. Still got a ton to learn but I'm really enjoying it so far.

Next up is trying it out with a Thin Client (Windows Thin PC).

umarbhatti

HI All
I am thinking about also setting up a Citrix Lab next yr, so i can get my Citrix Cert (XenApp 6.5).
My machine had 6GB of RAM would it be worthwhile to upgrade the RAM?
I shall be running all my setup in a VM enviroment, so installing Server2008 R2 or Server2012 and running a couple of VMs

ajs1976

gunbunnysoulja wrote: »

Both work incredibly well, even over 3G/VPN. I don't fully understand why, but they actually work a LOT better over Web Access vs. Console of XenServer.

This is what XenApp and later XenDesktop are designed to do. I used to have people log into Citrix servers using dialup connections. It would be a little slow but you could still work.

The XenServer Console is just designed for admin task. I have noticed the same with the VM console and will normally RDP to a server and only use the console when I have too.

sratakhin

I never used XenServer but we have Citrix VDI-in-a-Box at work. It's kind of like Xen-whatever, but much easier to set up and manage. I tried to estimate how much bandwidth it needs and it looks like it can play HD videos using only 1 mbps connection. Just browsing and light work requires less than 128k.

ajs1976

I believe VDI-in-a-Box is a appliance running a hypervisor and preconfigured VDI. Citrix purchased another company to get it and i'm sure by now there are parts of XenServer and XenDesktop there if they were not to begin with.

gunbunnysoulja

umarbhatti wrote: »

HI All
I am thinking about also setting up a Citrix Lab next yr, so i can get my Citrix Cert (XenApp 6.5).
My machine had 6GB of RAM would it be worthwhile to upgrade the RAM?
I shall be running all my setup in a VM enviroment, so installing Server2008 R2 or Server2012 and running a couple of VMs

You could get by with 6GB. Depends on how many VM's you want. I have 5.7GB ram used for XenDesktop server, XenApp server, Domain Controller, and 2 dedicated Windows 7 machines. XenServer itself doesn't use too much ram. All machines above use 1GB each.