Mastering NetScaler VPX™

Book description

Learn how to deploy and configure all the available Citrix NetScaler features with the best practices and techniques you need to know

About This Book

  • Implement and configure all the available NetScaler Application Delivery features and monitor NetScaler VPX performance in your environment
  • Packed with real-word NetScaler deployment scenarios to help you see the configuration principles in action
  • Integrate NetScaler with other Citrix technologies, including CloudBridge, Application Delivery Controller, HDX Insight, and Command Center

Who This Book Is For

If you're an administrator with prior experience using NetScaler then you have everything you need to make the most of this book.

What You Will Learn

  • Configure the more commonly used NetScaler VPX features such as basic load balancing, authentication, NetScaler Gateway, and StoreFront
  • Configure the AppExpert features such as Responder, Rewrite, AppExpert templates, parsing HTTP, TCP, and UDP data
  • Integrate NetScaler with other Citrix technologies such as CloudBridge, Insight Center, and Command Center
  • Optimize traffic using caching, front-end optimization, and compression
  • Dive deep in the security, caching, and compression enhancements
  • Protect your environment with AAA and Application Firewall, or from HTTP DDoS attacks
  • Troubleshoot an environment using tools such as TaaS and WireShark

In Detail

Citrix NetScaler is one of the best Application Delivery Controller products in the world. The Application Delivery Controllers are commonly used for load balancing purposes, to optimize traffic, and to perform extra security settings.

This book will give you an insight into all the available features that the Citrix NetScaler appliance has to offer. The book will start with the commonly used NetScaler VPX features, such as load balancing and NetScaler Gateway functionality. Next, we cover features such as Responder, Rewrite, and the AppExpert templates, and how to configure these features.

After that, you will learn more about the other available Citrix technologies that can interact with Citrix NetScaler. We also cover troubleshooting, optimizing traffic, caching, performing protection using Application Firewall, and denying HTTP DDoS attacks for web services.

Finally, we will demonstrate the different configuration principles real-world Citrix NetScaler deployment scenarios.

Style and approach

This easy-to-follow guide explains as much as possible about each feature and its configuration. Each topic is explained sequentially in the process of configuring and deploying the feature.

Table of contents

  1. Mastering NetScaler VPX™
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Mastering NetScaler VPX™
    3. Notice
    4. Credits
    5. About the Authors
    6. About the Reviewer
    7. www.PacktPub.com
      1. Support files, eBooks, discount offers, and more
        1. Why subscribe?
        2. Free access for Packt account holders
        3. Instant updates on new Packt books
    8. Preface
      1. What this book covers
      2. What you need for this book
      3. Who this book is for
      4. Conventions
      5. Reader feedback
      6. Customer support
        1. Downloading the example code
        2. Downloading the color images of this book
        3. Errata
        4. Piracy
        5. Questions
    9. 1. Configuring the Standard Features of NetScaler®
      1. The basic features
        1. NSIP
        2. MIP
        3. SNIP
        4. VIP
        5. IP set
        6. Net profile
      2. Load balancing
        1. Active/active load balancing
        2. Active/passive load balancing
        3. Load balancing StoreFront™
      3. Configuring authentication
        1. LDAP integration
        2. Two-factor integration
      4. Configuring NetScaler® AAA
      5. Citrix Receiver™ authentication
        1. Troubleshooting
      6. NetScaler Gateway™
        1. Session policies
        2. Integration StoreFront™
          1. Citrix Receiver™
          2. Receiver for Web
        3. Citrix® StoreFront™
        4. Group policies
        5. SmartAccess filters
      7. Summary
    10. 2. Using the Features of NetScaler® AppExpert
      1. AppExpert applications and templates
      2. HTTP Callouts
        1. How HTTP Callout works
        2. Configuring HTTP Callout
      3. Rate limiting
        1. Configuring rate limiting
      4. Policies and expressions
        1. Policy binding
        2. Evaluation order
        3. Parsing policies
      5. Rewrite
        1. The working of the rewrite feature
          1. The GoTo expression
          2. Rewrite actions
        2. Configuring a rewrite policy
      6. Responder
        1. Configuring a responder policy
      7. Rewrite versus responder
      8. Summary
    11. 3. Integration with Citrix® Components
      1. NetScaler® Insight Center
        1. Licensing
        2. Reporting
          1. Web Insight
          2. HDX Insight
          3. WAN Insight
        3. Installation
        4. Configuration
          1. System menu
      2. Authentication
        1. Insight deployment management
        2. Thresholds
        3. Updating NetScaler® Insight Center
      3. Troubleshooting
      4. CloudBridge™
        1. Appliances
          1. Link capacity
          2. User capacity
          3. Disk capacity
        2. Deployment modes
        3. CloudBridge™ Connector
      5. Installation
        1. Compression
        2. Encrypted traffic acceleration
        3. SSL compression
        4. Traffic shaping
          1. XenApp®/XenDesktop® acceleration
      6. The Citrix® Command Center
        1. Software
        2. Supported devices
        3. Hardware appliances
        4. High availability
        5. Distributed agents
        6. Device profiles
        7. Device groups
        8. Port settings
        9. Device discovery
        10. Automatic back-up
        11. Tasks
        12. Change management
        13. SSL certificate management
        14. Reporting
        15. Citrix NetScaler® syslog
          1. AppFirewall Signature syslog analytics
      7. Summary
    12. 4. Traffic Management
      1. Content switching
      2. DNS
      3. Global Server Load Balancing
        1. Load balancing methods
        2. Active/passive GSLB
        3. Troubleshooting GSLB
      4. DataStream
        1. Setting up generic SQL load balancing
        2. Master/slave deployment
      5. AppQoE
      6. Summary
    13. 5. Tuning and Monitoring NetScaler® Performances
      1. Tuning the network and virtual environment
      2. TCP and SSL profiles
      3. HTTP/2 and SPDY
      4. Monitoring network traffic
        1. nstrace
        2. nstcpdump
      5. Analyzing network trace files using Wireshark
      6. Analyzing network traffic using Citrix NetScaler® Insight
        1. Troubleshooting NetScaler® Insight
      7. Summary
    14. 6. Security Features and Troubleshooting
      1. Management best practices for security
      2. Security features in NetScaler®
      3. HTTP DoS protection
      4. Access-lists
      5. SSL settings
      6. Admin partitions
      7. Analyzing issues using Citrix® Insight Services
      8. Setting up AAA – authentication and authorization
        1. Authentication policy
        2. Authorization policy
        3. Authentication profiles
        4. Troubleshooting AAA and setting up audit policies
      9. Summary
    15. 7. Real-World Deployment Scenarios
      1. A small PoC VDI environment
      2. An enterprise VDI multisite environment
        1. Citrix® StoreFront™ multisite configuration
        2. Citrix® StoreFront™ optimal NetScaler Gateway™ routing
        3. Citrix® StoreFront™ subscription synchronization
      3. An enterprise VDI active-passive environment
      4. A global web services environment
      5. An active-active data center for application hosting
      6. An active-passive data center for disaster recovery
      7. Reverse proxy
      8. Summary
    16. Index

Product information

  • Title: Mastering NetScaler VPX™
  • Author(s): Rick Roetenberg, Marius Sandbu
  • Release date: November 2015
  • Publisher(s): Packt Publishing
  • ISBN: 9781785281730