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Pre-requisites for XenServer

Proof of Concepts
Version History
1.0 Steve Atkinson Document Creation 27/12/2007

1.1 Anthony Francis Updated for XenServer 5.0 and PVS 27/11/2008

1.2 Anthony Francis Formatted in new PoC Template 30/12/2008

1.3 Anthony Francis Updated for PVS 5.x deployment as part of E4XS PoC 14/07/2009

1.4 Anthony Francis Update for Essentials for XenServer 5.5 03/08/2009

1.5 Anthony Francis Re-entered success criteria/business case sections, along with 10/08/2009
expected completion date

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Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

Executive Summary..................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

PoC Planning .................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Customer Contact Details ........................................................................................................................................................... 6

Site Location and Contact Details ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Citrix Systems / Partner Contact Details .................................................................................................................................. 7

Success Criteria for Pilot............................................................................................................................................................. 7

Business Case .............................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Agreed / Actual PoC Time .......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Scope ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 8

Responsibilities ............................................................................................................................................................................. 9

Customer/Citrix Systems/Citrix Partner Responsibilities: .................................................................................................. 9

Pre-Installation Requirements ......................................................................................................................................................11

Hardware .................................................................................................................................................................................11

XenCenter Workstation .........................................................................................................................................................11

Located on the same IP subnet as the XenServer Network Specification....................................................................11

Local Storage ..........................................................................................................................................................................11

Shared Storage.......................................................................................................................................................................11

Provisioning Services 5.0 SP2 .............................................................................................................................................12

Provisioning Server: Network Requirements .....................................................................................................................12

Operating System...................................................................................................................................................................12

Software ...................................................................................................................................................................................12

Licensing..................................................................................................................................................................................12

Installation........................................................................................................................................................................................13

Environment Verification Questions ....................................................................................................................................13

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Installation Order ........................................................................................................................................................................15

Configuration Guidelines ...........................................................................................................................................................16

Toolkits and Useful Links ..............................................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
Executive Summary
It is the intention of Citrix to provide a Systems Engineer to install and configure Citrix XenServer for the purposes of
demonstrating key features of this technology. It is perceived that a successful POC will provide enough knowledge
to the customer for them to make informed decisions as to if / how they take the technology forward into semi and
fully production environments.

To ensure that it is fully understood what is needed from both parties it will be necessary to agree to the points listed
in this document. This will form the basis for the POC and will ensure that the most is obtained from it both while it is
running and moving forward into production and semi-production environments.

Overview
Citrix XenServer 5.5 is a server virtualization platform that makes data centre’s more agile and efficient through faster
application delivery, higher levels of availability and improved utilization of IT resources. XenServer delivers the
advanced features required by mission critical workloads (operating systems, applications and configurations) without
sacrificing the ease-of-use necessary for wide-scale deployments.

As a native 64-bit virtualisation platform built on the open source Xen hypervisor, XenServer installs directly on bare -
metal servers requiring no dedicated host operating system. The platform is ideal for rapid adoption of virtualization
for server consolidation, software development, and business continuity as well as comprehensive application
workload provisioning for virtual and physical infrastructure.

Key features include:


 High-performance, native 64-bit Xen hypervisor
 Broad support for Windows and Linux guest operating systems
 Simple deployment and installation
 Easy single-server management through XenCenter
 Active Directory Integration for XenCenter
 Disk based Snapshots for all Storage Repository types
 XenConvert P2V Windows Physical to Virtual Conversion tool
 Enterprise-ready performance and scalability
 VLAN support for virtual network isolation and aggregation
 Multi-server management
 XenMotion for live relocation of virtual machines
 Support for dynamic resource pools, shared storage, and quality of service

Essentials for XenServer 5.5, Enterprise Edition – provides advanced virtualisation management features on top
of the free XenServer virtualisation platform and optimis es business-critical server workloads, enabling data centre’s
to be flexible, efficient, and cost effective pools of computing and storage resources with:
 All features included in XenServer 5.5 plus:
 High Availability that automatically restart VMs upon host server failure
 Workload Balancing of VMs

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 StorageLink for deep storage integration and storage management for virtualisation
 Automated Lab Management for virtual environments
 Dynamic Workload Provisioning of virtual machines only
 Workflow Studio orchestration

Essentials for XenServer 5.5, Platinum Edition – provides advanced virtualisation management features on top of
the free XenServer virtualisation platform and optimises business-critical server workloads, enabling data centre’s to
be flexible, efficient, and cost effective pools of computing and storage resources with:
 All features included in Essentials for XenServer 5.5, Enterprise Edition plus:
 Dynamic Workload Provisioning of virtual and physical machines
 Stage Management

Additionally, Citrix offers OEM editions of XenServer which are available as embedded software in x86 servers from
HP, Dell, and other vendors.

PoC Planning
Details of what should be discussed with the customer regarding scope of the pilot, e.g . things like inclusion of certain
applications when testing XenApp.

Customer Contact Details


Primary Contact

Full Name
E-mail Address
Mobile Telephone
Office Telephone
Office Address

Technical Contact

Full Name
E-mail Address
Mobile Telephone
Office Telephone
Office Address

Site Location and Contact Details

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Site Name
Site Contact Name
Site Contact
Telephone
Site Contact E-mail
Site Full Address

Site Access Notes

Citrix Systems / Partner Contact Details


Citrix Systems / Partner Account Manager

Full Name
E-mail Address
Mobile Telephone
Office Telephone

Citrix Systems / Partner Technical Engineer

Full Name
E-mail Address
Mobile Telephone
Office Telephone

Success Criteria for Pilot

Criteria 1
Notes
Achievement Status

Criteria 2
Notes
Achievement Status

Criteria 3
Notes

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Achievement Status

Business Case
Enter any information that may be useful to help build a business case around the PoC .

Agreed / Actual PoC Time

PoC Start PoC End Date


Date (Expected)
<Date> <Date>

Week of Activity Effort Resource


<Date> <Activity> x hours <Customer>, Citrix

<Date> <Activity> x hours <Customer>, Citrix

<Date> <Activity> x hours <Customer>, Citrix

Scope

The POC will include


• Installation and configuration of a maximum of three XenServer hosts
• Setup of local & shared storage repository (Does not include SAN / NAS configuration)
• Setup basic network connectivity using the host network (Maximum of six server network card)
• Installation of XenCenter on an XP or Vista workstation
• Create a new Windows Server 2003/2008 and a XP/Vista VM
• Import/P2V a known good Windows 2003 Server VM onto the XenServer
• Test network connectivity to host network
• Ensure start-up, shutdown, suspend and reboot operations of the VM
• High availability aspects of XenServer
• This includes the XenMotion or VM automatic restart functions
• Setup of multipath and/or network card bonding
• Conference call or online GoToMeeting session prior to the site visit to di scuss the POC to ensure that
prerequisites are met and to further discuss any special arrangements It is also critical to get an idea of the
success criteria of the POC from a customer perspective.
• Mutual agreement of success criteria for the POC.
• An hour set aside (on site) for discussions regarding the completed POC and to look at how this can be
moved into a production environment This will also include a time where any questions regarding any other
aspects of the POC system can be asked

The POC will not include


Setup of the following

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• Setup or configuration of external storage systems such as SAN or NAS technologies, (see below for further
details)
• Setup or configuration of the following
• Networking hardware such as routers or switches
Any software applications (such as SQL, Exchange, and SAP) other than those stated as part of the XenServer
system.

Responsibilities
Customer/Citrix Systems/Citrix Partner Responsibilities:
 Staffing Requirements
 On-site Requirements
 Additional Requirements

 It is necessary to be accompanied by authorised personnel that can assist with anything that is needed to
complete the POC. They should be fully familiar with the testing environment and available throughout the
implementation of the POC
 For a POC, any integration with existing production services is discouraged. If any component of the POC is
to be integrated with an existing production system (e.g. DHCP server changes, Active Directory integration,
XenApp farm inclusion etc.) a legal disclaimer will need to be signed by the customer prior to the POC
engagement.
 An element of education will be provided during the building of the POC if desired which can be extremely
useful to continue the POC into production but this is not to be confused with structured training that can be
obtained though Citrix authorised training partners which can be obtained at any time.
 Valid application software and operating system licenses will be provided by the customer for the duration of
the POC.

The following points should all have been agreed, completed or provided before the Engineer be dispatched to site
 All prerequisites listed in the following section are met in full
 A conference call or meeting has occurred that has allowed the success criteria to be agreed
 Make, model number and specification of server hardware and shared storage to be used
 What is the workload being virtualised i.e. Windows Server 2003, XenApp and MS Office 2007, SAP R/3 or
Linux, etc
 Virtual Machines, (VMs) will be built via what process i.e. standard install , scripted installation, PXE
deployment solution, P2V or CD Image, etc
 Please note that 30-day evaluation licenses will be provided along with all XenServer skills. However any
workload specific skills such MS Exchange, SQL Server, SAP and even Citrix Xen App may need to be
provided by the CSA partner or the end-user to ensure a successful POC
 Mutually agreed date set for the work to be carried out
 Remote facilities to the systems that are being worked on as well as access to the consoles of these
systems
 Completion of the Citrix Systems demonstration agreement.

Failure to comply with any of these prerequisites will result in the engineer leaving site and not returning until they are
met in full.

The POC is focused on proving the basic concept of a XenServer system. Anything further may involve further
consultancy and is likely to be chargeable. A full working day starting is normally deemed to be sufficient time for the
POC, however if Platinum Edition is being evaluated as part of the POC a second day ma y be required. Any
additional time required may be chargeable.

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Support of the POC will be on a best endeavors basis by the engineer that installed the system plus any other
support arrangements setup prior to the POC.

It is in the interest of both Citrix and the customer to have a successful POC but this relies on preparation and a
mutually agreed time scale and desire to work together If this is possible then the POC should occur in a timely and
cost effective manner and its objectives be met in full.

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Pre-Installation Requirements
Hardware
• One or ideally at least two 64-bit x86 CPU(s) servers, 1.5 GHz minimum, 2 GHz or faster multi-core CPU
recommended.
• To support VMs running Windows, an Intel VT or AMD-V x86-based system with one or more (up
to 32) CPUs is required.
• To run Windows VMs, hardware support for virtualization must be enabled on the machine running
XenServer. This is usually an option in the BIOS. Consult your BIOS documentation for more
details
• Note: To ensure compatibility, it is recomm ended that branded servers be used for the project.
Lower cost “white box” units may give unpredictable results. Servers listed on the XenServer
compatibility list at www.citrix.com/xenserver/hcl offer the greatest chance of success.
• 4 GB minimum or more recommended depending on how many VMs will ultimately be hosted
• Locally attached storage (ATA, SATA, SCSI) with 16 GB of disk space minimum, 60 GB of disk space
recommended
• Product installation creates two 4GB partitions for the XenServer Control Domain; remaining space
is available for VMs
• Note: Any existing OS or software installed on the server will be deleted as part of the XenServer
installation.
• 100 Mbit/s or faster network interface card (NIC). A gigabit NIC is recommended for faster P2V and
export/import data transfers and for live relocation of VMs.
• Capability for booting from CD / DVD

XenCenter Workstation
• Windows XP SP2 (Preferred) or Windows Vista SP1
• 1GB RAM
• Disk Storage; Sufficient for initial O/S
• Routed network connectivity to the same subnet as the XenServer without a firewall

Located on the same IP subnet as the XenServer Network Specification


• As Fast as possible (Gigabit networking is recommended)
• All required IP addressed provided (Under normal circumstances only a single static IP address for the
XenServer would be needed)
• Wherever possible, the POC should be installed on an isolated network segment

Local Storage
• Single locally installed disk storage on the XenServer is sufficient for the storage of VMs and the XenServer
operating system as stated above.

Shared Storage

Shared virtual machine storage will be required if features such as XenMotion and High Availability are to be tested.
Any shared storage will be configured by the customer prior to the engineer arriving. The storage must be:
 iSCSI, Fiber Channel or NFS-based
 The storage on the SAN should have been pre-configured with the appropriate LUNs, volumes or
aggregates.
 Physical connectivity between the XenServer and the storage should already be configured
 Supported HBAs or iSCSI hardware should have been pre installed in the server(s)

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Provisioning Services 5.0 SP2
• Service account – PVS service account in AD with appropriate rights to SQL Server database, full Admin
rights to PVS servers and vDisk CIFS share, http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120080
• Operating Systems - Windows 2003 Server SP2 (32 or 64-bit) Windows 2008 Server (supported in
Provisioning Server 5.0.sp1a and greater
• Processor - Intel or AMD x86 or x64 compatible; 2 GHz minimum; 3 GHz preferred; 3.5 GHz Dual Core/HT
or similar for loads greater than 250 target devices
• Memory - Minimum of 2 GB RAM; 4 GB preferred
• Network Adapter - Static IP, 1 GB Ethernet preferred; but Dual 1 GB Ethernet with no HP NIC Teaming
software can be used to test NIC Fail-over Note: Two NICs often perform better than a single dual -ported
NIC and should be connected to separate switches
• Hard Disk and Storage - 65GB CIFS share on a file-server or HA Cluster

Provisioning Server: Network Requirements


• Port Fast Port Fast must be enabled
• Network Card PXE 0.99j or greater
• Network Addressing DHCP

Operating System

All required Microsoft Operating Systems and Applications such as MS office all be provided a s ISO files on a
CIFS/NFS share local to the XenServer host(s).

Required ISO file are:


• Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2
• Windows Server 2008

Software

Detail any 3 rd party software that will be needed, e.g. database servers, web servers, etc.

Licensing

Citrix XenServer 5.0 will be used and a license will be activated on -site. All Microsoft and third-party licenses will be
provided by customer.

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Installation
Environment Verification Questions

1. Will this PoC run on new or existing hardware?


2. If new hardware is required, is there adequate power and cooling?
3. Does this hardware conform to the minimum requirements listed above?
4. Will the server hardware be located on an isolated test/lab or in a production environment?
5. Will the storage hardware (NAS/ iSCSI, SAN) be located on an isolated test/lab or in a
production environment?
6. What is the network type and speed?
7. Are there any VLANs? Yes
8. Is NIC bonding required as part of the PoC?

Please complete the tables listed below with the details of the server and storage h ardware to be used:

XenServer Host 1
Make Model
CPU #Sockets #Cores
Type/Speed
RAM
#NICs (PIFs) Speed
Mbps
SCSI
Controller/HBA
Disk Type Disk Size #Spindles

XenServer Host 1 FC HBA Details WWID Switch Location


QLogic FC HBA 1
QLogic FC HBA 2

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XenServer Host 2
Make Model
CPU #Sockets #Cores
Type/Speed
RAM
#NICs (PIFs) Speed
Mbps
SCSI
Controller/HBA
Disk Type Disk Size #Spindles

XenServer Host 2 FC HBA Details WWID Switch Location


QLogic FC HBA 1
QLogic FC HBA 2

Storage
Array
Make Model
#NICs Speed
Mbps
Disk Type Disk Size #Spindles **

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Installation Order

1. Shared storage pre-configured


2. Install XenServer 5.0 on two XenServer hosts using NIC 2 for management
3. Install XenCenter on a Windows workstation
4. Activate free XenServer Licenses on two XenServer hosts
5. Create a Resource Pool from XenServer host 1
6. Create NIC bond for Production, (NIC 0/1)
7. Add XenServer host 2 to Resource Pool
8. Enable and configure multipathing, (enter and exit maintenance mode)
9. Reboot each XenServer host, starting with Pool Master
10. Create an Hardware HBA, (Fibre Channel) SR on shared storage device
11. Install HP Insight Agents of XenServer hosts
12. Install <Customer> XenApp 5.0 Windows Server 2003 32-bit build on a VM via RIS, (Reference
XenApp 5.0 build VM)
13. Install XenTools on reference XenApp 5.0 build VM
14. Copy reference XenApp 5.0 build VM
15. Create PVS device creation template with 4GB write-cache disk
16. Install Provisioning Services 5.0 SP2 on Two physical HP DL380 servers
17. Configure PVS 5.0 SP2 on one of the PVS server
18. Install PVS 50.SP2 hot-fix 8524
19. Create vDisk directory structure on both PVS servers and CIFS share
20. Create and format vDisk for XenApp 5.0 build
21. Create collection for XenApp 5.0 Build
22. Create device for reference XenApp 5.0 build VM
23. Configure vDisk assignment and boot order for PVS reference XenApp 5.0 build VM device
24. Install PVS target device client on XenApp 5.0 build VM device
25. Reboot reference XenApp 5.0 build VM verifying that it is connecting to PVS ser ver
26. Run XenApp Prep Tool
27. Run Imagebuilder process on reference XenApp 5.0 build VM to populate new vDisk
28. Create additional VMs in XenCenter noting their MAC addresses
29. Create additional VM devices in PVS in the XenApp 5.0 Build collection using the MAC addr esses
from step 24
30. Start newly created VMs and check that they are part of the XenApp farm
31. Configure PVS 5.0 SP2 on the second PVS server
32. Configure HA in PVS and test

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Configuration Guidelines
The shared storage device will need to be configured with at least one 65GB LUN, however if two 65GB LUNs where
created.

Hostname HP CPU NIC Memory Disks IP Address Citrix


Blade Function
Type

Hostname HP CPU NIC Memory Disks IP Address Citrix


Blade Function
Type

Domain NTP Servers DNS Servers Default Subnet VLAN


Gateway Mask

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Server NIC MAC Address Network
Hostname Number

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Toolkits and Useful Links
The XenApp on XenServer Test toolkit

http://community.citrix.com/cdn/xs/XenServer+Resource+Kit

XenServer and Provisioning Server Port Usage Information

http://support.citrix.com/servlet/KbServlet/download/17370-102-190240/Port%20Usage%20Visio%20Diagram.zip

Best Practices for Configuring Provisioning Server on a Network

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX117374

How to Configure DHCP on Cisco 6509

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX115113

Service Account Configuration for Accessing SQL

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120080

Performance of HP ProLiant BL460c G6 in a HP SBC environment

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA2-5116ENW.pdf

Best Practices for Deploying XenApp on XenServer for HP ProLiant Servers

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA2-5115ENW.pdf
Antivirus Software Configuration Guidelines for Access Essentials/XenApp

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX114522

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