Citrix Optimization Pack for Azure Virtual Desktop

Introduction

Citrix Optimization Pack for Azure Virtual Desktop is a new Citrix offering for optimizing Azure Virtual Desktop workloads. Currently, it includes the Workspace Environment Management service, a lightweight, scalable user environment management solution that simplifies IT administration and optimizes desktops for the best possible user experience.

With the Citrix Optimization Pack, you can use the Workspace Environment Management service to manage, optimize, and secure your native Azure Virtual Desktop environments. Organizations can realize the following benefits:

• Less logon times and better logon performance
• Optimum resource consumption
• Controllable desktop behavior
• More secure user environment

For information about other benefits, see the highlights of the Workspace Environment Management service.

Important:

• To manage Azure Virtual Desktop with the Workspace Environment Management service, you must purchase Citrix Optimization Pack.
• This product documentation, including other information sources this article links to, is not specific to the Workspace Environment Management service. All information applies to Citrix Optimization Pack as well, unless otherwise stated. For a complete list of Workspace Environment Management features that do not apply to Citrix Optimization Pack, see Features not applicable to Azure Virtual Desktop.

Prerequisites

• Machines and users are Active Directory or Azure Active Directory Domain Services joined

• Citrix Cloud Connectors are domain joined

System requirements

For information about system requirements of Citrix Optimization Pack, see System requirements.

Limits

Citrix Optimization Pack is designed for small and medium-sized and large-scale enterprise deployments. On the server side, Citrix Optimization Pack monitors the communication flow between front-end and back-end components and scales up or down dynamically based on data in transit.

When evaluating Citrix Optimization Pack for sizing and scalability, consider the limits. The values in the article indicate the limits of a single Citrix Optimization Pack instance.

Get Started

Use the following sequence to set up your Citrix Optimization Pack deployment.

Tip:

For step-by-step instructions on deploying Azure Virtual Desktop, see the Microsoft documentation at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-au/azure/virtual-desktop/overview.

Step 1: Onboarding

Sign up for a Citrix account and request a trial of Citrix Optimization Pack as described in Subscribe to Citrix Optimization Pack for Azure Virtual Desktop. For information about the onboarding procedure, see Sign up.

Step 2: Set up a resource location and install Cloud Connectors

Resource locations contain infrastructure servers (such as Active Directory and Citrix Cloud Connectors). For more information, see the Cloud Connector method.

Step 3: Install and configure the agent

Each Azure Virtual Desktop that Citrix Optimization Pack manages must have a Workspace Environment Management agent installed on it. Those machines must belong to the same Active Directory domain or Azure Active Directory Domain Services domain as the configured Cloud Connectors. Ensure that the machines in each resource location are joined correctly.

For information about installing the agent, see Install agents.

Prerequisites and recommendations for agent installation

To ensure that the agent works properly, review all the information in Prerequisites and recommendations.

More information

The Citrix Tech Zone documentation articles provide information that helps establish goals and define use cases and business objectives and informs you of configuration considerations.

• To learn how Citrix Optimization Pack improves the overall experience and enhances the security of the deployment, see Tech Brief: Workspace Environment Management.

• To learn the architecture and deployment considerations for Citrix Optimization Pack, see Reference Architecture: Workspace Environment Management.

• To learn how Citrix Optimization Pack optimizes resource utilization, logon times, and RAM usage, see Tech Insight: Workspace Environment Management. Watch the videos there.