Cloud Technology

Citrix NetScaler Stack with High Availability in AWS

Publish Date: November 3, 2017

Citrix NetScaler is gaining popularity in customer deployments as they mi-grate to the cloud. Citrix NetScaler is a web application delivery controller (ADC) which makes applications run almost run five times faster, reduces TCO for web applications with server offloading. It ensures that applications are always available with its application load balancing capabilities. It is deployed in many networks around the world to optimize, secure and control all enterprise and cloud services delivery and maximize the end-user experience for all users including mo-bile clients. One of the key differentiators for NetScaler is its agnostic ap-proach to supporting application delivery on any cloud. There is significant value in deploying a common set of application delivery services that can span on-premises and public cloud infrastructures.

Citrix networking solutions deployed in the data centre or the cloud, de-liver clear value for your business, Benefits are as given below.
Citrix-NetScaler-img1
AWS has been a dominant player in the public cloud space, and one of the useful tools available on AWS is CloudFormation, enabling administrators and developers exercise better control on how new infrastructure and resources are provisioned and updated. Think of it as a prescriptive and repeatable series of steps and instructions that allow you to create the same infrastructure stack – every time automatically.

Citrix solutions transform your business

Citrix custom designed solutions help service providers transform the business, tap new opportunities, lower the cost structure and also prepare for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV).

Citrix NetScaler is the networking solution of choice for service providers—in the core network and the data centre, and also for enabling service provider offerings for enterprise customers. NetScaler is easy-to-install, high-performance virtual software providing a range of vital networking functions. One can deploy any of these services in physical, virtual, or containerized environments, and can be smoothly orchestrated and automated as you transform your network.

You can explore further Citrix – NetScaler in context to use in below scenarios.

Drive a better mobile customer experience
Transform the mobile network
NetScaler in the Telco data centre
Powering managed service offerings
Build a better mobile operator network
Transition your infrastructure to SDN
Improve app performance for users
Consolidate multiple remote access solutions

Creating NetScaler Stack with High Availability in AWS
NetScaler in customer deployments as they migrate to the cloud. NetScaler is used to deploy a standard set of application delivery services that can span on public cloud infrastructure or on-premise.

What has NetScaler to with it? Now we have available Cloud Formation templates which can be applied while provisioning a new NetScaler VPX instance. These tem-plates significantly decrease the number of steps involved to setup and configure a new NetScaler.

Select Lunch button, as you can see by now, this now increasingly useful and essential that NetScaler is set up into Auto Scaler in backend group. The benefit of this template is that instances scaler, eliminating the need for an administrator to have to do manual configuration for new instance each time. Save time, Automation in NetScaler provisioning.

CloudFormation template set up for NetScaler with High Availability:

First create a stack, select “Yes” for the crate HA pair setting.
You need to specify the IP addresses for Primary and Secondary Manage-ment IP, both of which must be in the same subnet as management subnet-work.

Note: if you left this blank, a random available IP would be assigned from management subnetwork.

You need to specify management subnetwork (eth0 assign to NetScaler).
Finally, set up the client (VIP which is client facing) and Server IP (this is for backend server communications SNIP) address, including the related subnetworks (Eth01 (Ethernet) and Eth02 respectively).

So finally start with the new NetScaler CloudFormation template, it can be applied in AWS when you provision a new NetScaler VPX cluster.
There are many resources available online detailing how to install Citrix NetScaler on AWS. The following links provide some background information on Citrix NetScaler HA deployment options and detailed configuration for three different scenarios.
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Shiv Kishan Suthar -Technical Architect- IMS @ YASH Technologies

Azure Master of the Month | October-2018