Part 2: Citrix Monitoring — EdgeSight/Director vs. Third-Party Tools

Part 1 of yesterday’s “Citrix Monitoring Tools” article described inherent Citrix monitoring functionality and presented an overview of Citrix EdgeSight/Director. Part 2 will cover specific features of EdgeSight/Director, based on a comparison with key third-party monitoring solutions. However, before we delve into that core subject matter, applications should be discussed.

Application Monitoring

A key deficiency of most monitoring tools is a lack of deep insight into applications. While the generally available tools provide a view into application executables and basic resource consumption, details such as when an application hogs a single processor, delays obtaining backend queries, network failures associated with off-premises data sources, and similar application-related issues are largely underrepresented in monitoring solutions.

One key vendor that focuses on the virtualized applications, but not the virtualization infrastructure, is AppEnsure. Although AppEnsure is not a full XenApp/XenDesktop monitoring solution, in which deep application monitoring is required, its unique end-to-end visibility of application functionality may be needed. Please see http://www.appensure.com.

Key Vendors and Comparative Analysis

Citrix includes a number of monitoring tools as part of Platinum licensing. Depending on the platform and version of Citrix in use, the functionality and efficiency of the monitoring tools, EdgeSight and Director, varies. For example, EdgeSight provides significant data for XenApp 6.x environments, but because it does not scale for XenDesktop 5.x, it is not a realistic solution for XenDesktop. Especially where migration to a newer version is being considered, the feasibility of using Citrix’s inherent monitoring tools should not be assumed.

Citrix monitoring tools, as well as those from key third-party vendors, were reviewed for functionality and technical complexity as they would realistically be used in production environments. Because the inherent Citrix monitoring tools may not provide all of the required functionality, an analysis of key third-party offerings is presented, based on data available as of July 2014. As this marketplace changes rapidly, readers should consult specific vendor websites and documentation for updates regarding the latest products.

For a complete review of the key vendors and the associated feature set, please see the white paper entitled Monitoring XenApp/XenDesktop by Means of Citrix and Third-Party Tools, which is available from The Virtualization Practice. This paper can be downloaded from: [tvp_dm id=569].

 

Vendor/Functionality	eG Innovations	Lakeside SysTrack	Smart-X ControlUp	Splunk	Citrix Director 2.1 / EdgeSight 5.4	Citrix Director 7.x
Key Monitoring Tools by Platform
XenApp 6.x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Dir for 6.5 only	No
XenDesktop 5.x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited scalability for ES	No
XenApp / XenDesktop 7.x	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Basic Functionality
Server Health Monitoring	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ICA/HDX Channel Monitoring	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Login Performance (inc. Profile)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Delegated Admin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Additional Modules/Components
Network	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Storage	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Limited
Hypervisor	Yes	Yes	Q3/14	Yes	No	Yes
Other	Available	Endpoints, desktops	Endpoints, servers	Any machine data	n/a	NetScaler

 

Full use of EdgeSight/Director in pre-7.x as well as 7.x requires Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop Platinum licensing as well as NetScaler Enterprise or Platinum licensing in order to obtain HDX Monitor data. Thus, to obtain the full value of Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop Platinum, the key value-add functionality of Director and AppDNA should be utilized. If it is determined that Director is not sufficient for monitoring and AppDNA is not utilized, it is possible that the Enterprise version of XenApp/XenDesktop may suffice in conjunction with a third-party tool.