Citrix NetScaler goes virtual with NetScaler VPX

Citrix NetScaler VPX is a virtual appliance providing the same Web application delivery features as Citrix NetScaler appliances. It makes sophisticated application delivery functionality available as a virtual appliance that can be easily deployed on-demand on industry-standard server infrastructure. By virtualizing Web delivery controllers, IT can provide its users faster performance, greater application availability and better security for more applications.

NetScaler VPX enables IT organizations to:

• Provide availability, security, acceleration and server offload for Web-based applications, using the same set of services available in NetScaler appliances.

• Run Web application delivery services within virtualized infrastructures.

• Increase physical flexibility by gaining the ability to use in-place server capacity to run NetScaler.

• Increase functional flexibility by using NetScaler physical and virtual appliances together to separate high-volume shared network services from application-specific Web application delivery needs.

• Increase financial flexibility and investment protection by having the ability to purchase only the capacity that is needed and to easily add further capacity as required.

• Facilitate and even fully automate the process of provisioning a customized set of delivery services required to support new instances of Web applications.

• Migrate a Web application along with its related delivery services from one set of resources to another, including to a completely separate datacenter.

• Account for demand that exceeds the resources available at a given site by automatically spinning-up additional instances of a Web application and its related delivery services in a second datacenter, or at a cloud service provider’s facility.

The functionality, flexibility and affordability of NetScaler VPX will be of interest to anyone responsible for rolling out or supporting Web applications in any size organization.

• Traditional networking teams in large organizations – NetScaler VPX provides a more cost effective, flexible way to deploy NetScaler within test and lab environments, makes it easy for developers to factor in NetScaler functionality during application design, and delivers the flexibility to cost effectively deploy NetScaler in front of every Web application.

• XenApp customers – NetScaler VPX provides secure remote access, global server load balancing and load balancing for Web Interface and XML broker.

• Application owners – NetScaler VPX can quickly and affordably deploy advanced NetScaler capabilities on a per-application basis with embedded video, interactive Web 2.0 capabilities or unique security requirements.

• Public and private cloud providers – NetScaler VPX complements existing NetScaler MPX appliances to create a comprehensive, centrally managed Web application delivery fabric. NetScaler VPX instances can be provisioned and de-provisioned on demand using datacenter capacity and automation processes already in place. Also, since multiple NetScaler VPX instances can be deployed on a single physical server, it delivers the benefits of multi-tenancy at a fraction of the cost of proprietary hardware solutions.

• SMBs and departments – NetScaler VPX makes advanced Web application delivery functionality for applications available at a price that fits their budget.

• Major application ISVs – NetScaler VPX can directly integrate major application ISVs into their turn-key solutions, providing a better user experience for their customers while also cutting deployment time and cost.

Harness the power of virtualization
NetScaler VPX extends the NetScaler product family to organizations and departments of all sizes, providing a cost effective and highly adaptable means to implement advanced application delivery services. Itself a virtualized solution, NetScaler VPX supports the full spectrum of Web application infrastructures and deployment techniques, ranging from conventional designs involving dedicated physical hardware to the highly dynamic, highly virtualized approaches that have more recently emerged, along with the many possible permutations and combinations in between.

Learn more about how to configure a virtual NetScaler system — it’s very similar to configuring a physical system — by watching this how-to video.