1.What is ICA?
ICA means Independent Computing Architecture
Features of ICA:
•Application publishing is supported by ICA.
•Low bandwidth is sufficient for ICA.
•Encryption is possible I ICA.
•Keyboard and Mouse inputs are present in ICA.
•ICA ensures session reliability.
2.What is RDP?
RDP means Remote Desktop Protocol. RDP works only under TCP/IP. It does not support applications to run in a browser. This Session reliability is not ensured by RDP.
3. What is Citrix Access Gateway?
CAG is a universal Secured Socket Layer Virtual Private Network appliance.
Features:
•It is a blend of the best features of IPSec and SSL VPN.
•It allows easy access to the users and secure access to the company.
•Any information resource can be gained by using CAG with secure, single point access, always-on features.
• Any firewall is supported for Citrix Access Gateway.
•Supports various types of applications, including IP telephony.
•Any application that is hosted on Citrix Presentation Server can be accessed in a secured manner.
4.Explain the load evaluators are supported in Citrix?
The load evaluators are supported in Citrix are CPU Utilization, Memory Utilization, IP Range, Page Swap, Page Faults, Disk Data I/O, Context Switches, Scheduling, User Application Load, and Server Application Load.
5. Do you have any idea about the ICA file in Citrix?
ICA stands for Independent Computing Architecture.
•It contains published application information.
• The ICA file has Windows ‘ini’ format.
•It is organized in such a way that MetaFrame Presentation Server Clients can interpret.
•ICA file will initialize a client’s session running on the server.
•The MetaFrame Presentation Server‘s clients use the ICA protocol for input formats and address the input to the server for further processing.
6. Do you know what is the limit of refresh time for Local Host Cache in Citrix?
•LHC refresh time is 30 minutes.
•LHC can be created when IMA is stopped.
7. Tell me how to set the refresh time? Can you please explain how to see the LHC information?
Use the option “dsmaint recreatelhc” or “dsmaint refresh lhc” -> restart IMA.
•The LHC information is available in the file imalhc.mdb.
•This file is available in c:program files citrix independent management architecture directory.
8. What is a Delivery Controller?
•Delivery Controller is the Core component of XenDesktop v5 & above, using FMA.
•It is the server that centrally manages the XenDesktop site.
•At least one delivery controller is installed on a site.
•The delivery controller communicates with the database.
•It runs several services that manage.
•The hypervisor resources.
•The user authentication and authorization/access.
•The broker between the user requests and their virtual desktops and applications.
•Monitoring.
•The power management (shutting down of virtual desktops when needed), and so on.
•It includes the functionality of Data Collector and Desktop Delivery Controller (DDC) roles that existed in previous XenDesktop versions up-to v4 that uses IMA.
9. What is the impact to end users if Delivery Controller (FMA) is unavailable?
•If none of the Delivery Controller Servers are available in a Site, VDA fails to register themselves with Delivery Controllers and thus will be unavailable for new session launches. Thus users cannot access their applications or desktops. However, the sessions that are already connected will continue to work.
•If just one of the Delivery Controllers is unavailable, the FDA instantly (15-90 seconds) auto loan-balances to other available Delivery Controllers in the Site.
•If a specific service on Delivery Controller is unavailable then its respective resources will become accessible for users. If Delivery Controller is unavailable.
10. What is a Data Collector?
•Data Collector is the component of IMA used in XenDesktop up to v4. It is a Zone level role.
•By default, in a XenDesktop farm, the initial Desktop Delivery Controller (DDC) installed is the farm master acts as the Data Collector, performing desktop resolution operations during starting the desktop and managing the hosting infrastructure.
•Data collector exists as an in-memory database that maintains dynamic information about the servers in the zone, such as server loads, session status, published applications, users connected, and license usage.
•Data collectors receive incremental data updates and queries from servers within their zone. Data collectors relay information to all other data collectors in the farm.
•The data collector communicates information to the data store on behalf of the other servers in the farm.
•They act as communication gateways between zones in server farms that have more than one zone.
11. What is the impact to end users if Data Collector (IMA) is unavailable?
•Data Collector is a Zone level role. If a Data Collector is unavailable, a new data collector is automatically elected for the zone based on a simple ranking of servers (indicated by server’s election preference setting) in the zone.
•The Data Collector election process is almost instant, automatic (without administrative interference) and is not dependent on the data store thus existing as well as incoming user sessions are unaffected by the election process.
12. What are differences between StoreFront (SF) and Web Interface (WI)?
StoreFront validates the user credentials with the help of the Active Directory domain controller which wasn’t the case with WI. StoreFront will check the application subscription data store for the existing user subscriptions and then store those in the memory.
13. What are the ICA and Session Reliability ports?
•The Independent Computing Architecture (.ICA) uses TCP 1494 port. ICA was initially defined for Intelligent Console Architecture.
•The Session Reliability/Citrix Gateway Protocol (CGP) uses TCP 2598 port.
14. What is Connection Leasing?
Connection Leasing is a XenDesktop built-in capability, which lets users connect or reconnect to their most recently used applications and desktops, even when the site database is unavailable. However, this doesn’t help new or first time user scenarios. With Connection Leasing enabled each DDC, or Controller, caches the users connections to his or her recently used applications and or desktops. By default connections are cached for a period of two weeks.
15. Does connection leasing allow users without a current session to connect to Citrix apps while the database is down?
Yes. The delivery controller will keep a list of previous connections from the user. Those previously used connection parameters will be used in the future if the database is unavailable. The default time frame is 2 weeks, but this can be modified with PowerShell.
16. Is the local text echo functionality part of XenApp 7.6?
HDX has been enhanced over many years to improve upon the responsiveness and interactivity of the user session, something Local Text Echo did but in a slightly different manner. So Local Text Echo, as it was in 6.5, is not part of 7.6, but HDX includes interactivity enhancements that make the need for Local Text Echo obsolete.
17. Do you know how to implement policies to streamed applications?
•Open the application profile with Streaming Profiler.
•Move to Target and click on Edit->Target Properties.
•Move to Rules Tab.
•Add an Ignore Registry rule that is similar to the description I CTX10352.
•The GPO’s of the domain will be applied.
•Customize GPO configuration.
18. Do you have any idea about Citrix XML broker?
•It functions as an intermediary between the farm and Web Interface.
•XML Broker receives the credentials of users from the Web Interface.
•XML Broker retrieves the applications which have user permissions to access.
•This is done by Independent Management Architecture and returns to the Web Interface.
•Once the user is authenticated, the XML broker locates the server in the farm.
•XML Broker returns the address of the service rendering server to the Web Interface.
•XMS Service functions between Web Interface and IMA service.
19. Tell me what is Speed Screen Latency Reduction?
•SLR is built into MetaFrame Presentation servers and ICA client systems that provides users to experience smooth typing, where the latency is high between ICA client and the server.
•Smooth typing experience is provided while writing MS Word documents, where the latency is 200 / 500 or even 1000ms of latency between them.
•Speed Screen Latency Reduction provides local text echo.
•This allows characters to be appeared on the ICA client device screen.
•After pressing a key, the ICA client sends the key press code to the server.
•The server processes the key sent, places the character into the screen buffer.
•Finally it sends the latest screen image to the client device.
20. What is load balancing in Citrix?
Load balancing is a feature that distributes client requests across servers for optimum utilization of the resources.
•In a real-time scenario, the services are provided to a large number of clients from a limited number of servers.
•To reduce the load on servers, the system selects certain servers.
•These servers implement certain criteria to forward incoming requests.
•There are virtual servers that identify the server using the load balancing criteria.
•When the client connects to the server, the virtual server terminates the connection and initiates a new connection with the selected server.
•The load balancing feature manages the traffic from layer 4 (TCP / UDP) to layer 7(FTP,HTTP)
21.Explain XML Service of Citrix?
•An interface for HTTP is provided as a service to the ICA browser.
•TCP packets are used by this XML Service.
•TCP in XML Service allows it to work across many firewalls.
•The port that supports Citrix XML Service is 80.
22. Can you please explain what is shadowing?
•The Shadowing feature enables one user to join remotely to another user.
•One user can access the session of another user remotely. By joining remotely, the user accessing another user, can diagnose or take technical support from the other user.
23. How to remove a dead server from the Citrix Management Console?
Execute the DSVERIFY SERVERS /CLEAN /FORCE for optimizing the Data Store.
•DSVerify can run on any of the servers in the farm.
•MetaFrame feature release 3 has a command line tool known as DSCHECK.
•Use the following command using DSVerify command line tool: DSCHECK / CHECK
•Another way can be right click on the ‘server in the farm’ and click ‘Remove Server from Farm’.
•Use this option when the servers are no longer operational.
24. Tell me what is the use of Independent Management Architecture?
•IMA has a data store, a database to store MetaFrame XP configuration information.
•IMA has a protocol to transfer the changing data between MetaFrame XP servers including server load and current user connections.
•IMA verifies the connections between Citrix Presentation Server and Citrix Management Console.
•Its architecture is separated from Windows Management Architecture.
•IMA is linked with MetaFrame Common Object Model (MF-COM) services.
•These links enable the removal of individual servers from Citrix Management Console.
25. What are the services provided by Citrix?
The services that are provided by Citrix are:
•Citrix Virtual Memory Optimization Service.
•Encryption Service.
•Citrix XTE Service.
•Independent Management Architecture.
•Citrix SMA Service (Switch Monitoring and Accessories).
•Secure Gateway Service.
•Diagnostic Facility Common Object Model (COM) Service.
26. What is the purpose of Zones?
•Data collectors persist information about the user’s session, Zones and published applications.
•A farm has a subset known as Zone.
•Zone has various server members.
•One of the server members is Zone Data Collector.
•Communication is established among Zones using ZDCs.
•Zones are useful in traffic controlling.
27. Do you know what Citrix is?
•Citrix is an application deployment system.
•Applications are delivered to remote systems.
•Using Citrix, one can access the customized applications.
•Citrix allows users to share documents among users.
•Emails can be accessed using citrix.
•Citrix allows file transfer from home computer to office computer.
28. Can you explain what is Local Host Cache (LHC) and what is the purpose of LHC?
•The LHC is a name given to the MS Access database which is created on every local MPS server.
•It stores the partitions of the Data Store to keep the server function, when an outrage occurs.
•When the data store goes offline, the server will continue functioning normally
•The LHC database enables the data store functionality up to 48 hours.
•LHC will ensure the data accessibility is pertinent locally, even though the database is not available.
29. Do you know how Citrix works?
•To work with Citrix, install the Terminal Services of OS.
•Citrix allows multiple users to execute multiple applications on its server.
•At the time of running the applications, the screenshots are sent to the client system.
•The keyboard inputs and mouse movements are sent to the Citrix Server.
•Then the accessibility to the applications is done by the client.
•Citrix will back up the applications’ data, if required by the client.
30.Explain what are the effective uses of Citrix?
•Users can gain access to remote systems by configuring dial up settings.
•Users can backup data on the remote drive from their workstations.
•Microsoft Outlook accessibility is faster for dialup users
•Cloud computing is made effective using Citrix
•Allows maintaining virtualization to manage virtual data centers and maintain virtual work styles.
