Goliath for NetScaler Frequently Asked Questions Document Date: May 2015 www.goliathtechnologies.com
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I. Frequently Asked Questions Q: What versions of the NetScaler are supported? Goliath for NetScaler supports all NetScaler versions: VPX, SDX, MPX. Q: What licensing and firmware doe Goliath for NetScaler require? Either enterprise or platinum licensing is required. Firmware required includes: 9.3 build 61.2 and later, 10.0 build 73.5 and later, 10.1 build 112.15 and later, and 10.5 build 54.9 and newer. Please note, for Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop performance the 10.5 build 54.9 and newer is required. Q: Does Goliath for NetScaler monitor Cloudbridge or brank repeater? Goliath for NetScaler does support Branch Repeater in build 10.5 when AppFlow support was added, but not previous versions due to a Branch Repeater architecture limitation. Goliath for NetScaler does not yet support Cloudbridge, but if you are interested in gaining insight to Cloudbridge, we are looking for Design Partners to work with. Q: Does the Goliath for NetScaler retrieve data by SNMP? Goliath for NetScaler captures information from the NetScaler using AppFlow. Q: Since our NetScaler isn t updated to 10.5 what data will we not be able to see that we would if we upgraded? With not having 10.5, you will not be able to view the metrics around Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop sessions. Q: How easy is this to deploy? Goliath for NetScaler is deployed as a virtual appliance and includes a wizard for configuring Appflow settings on the Wizard, which makes it easy to deploy and get the technology up and running. The whole process usually takes 30-60 minutes 3
Q: Users are complaining about not being able to launch applications in XenDesktop. Is this something Goliath for NetScaler can help with when we re determining root cause? No, this information is not captured by the NetScaler, however Goliath Performance Monitor has the ability to help troubleshoot this. Q: Would Goliath for NetScaler allow me to identify website page errors in real time? Yes, we will pick up 400 & 500 level errors in real time with the added detail of which page on which server the problem took place Q: What exactly can Goliath for NetScaler alert on? Q: Can these alerts be set for specific thresholds? Goliath for NetScaler can alert on latency Citrix, Connection, and Page latency, and error events that occur. Thresholds can be defined to alert proactively which will be sent via Syslog. Q: Are all reports out of the box? Yes all of the reports are out of the box. If additional reports or formatting is needed, then we do support building custom reports. Q: We don t have XenApp or XenDesktop, but still use NetScaler. Will Goliath for NetScaler still work? Yes, we provide insight into load balancing activity to provide insight into activity going through the NetScaler. Q: Can you define if an ICA/XenApp/XenDesktop bottleneck is taking place internally or externally? Yes, Goliath for NetScaler has the ability to identify the performance of an end user connection from the End Point to the NetScaler vs from the NetScaler to the session host. 4
Q: Are the reports customizable? Yes, we support exporting the reports in a CSV format so the data can be manipulated in Excel, and we also support building custom reports which will then be embedded back in your install. Q: Does it use Microsoft SQL server and if so what version? Goliath for NetScaler uses a MySQL database to store the data, but if you want to use Microsoft SQL server then we would configure the SQL Q: How longs does Goliath for NetScaler keep data for? The data is kept for however long you wish. You can configure it to be kept for 30 days, 3 months, 6 months, a year or anywhere in between. Q: Does Goliath for NetScaler work for XenApp published desktops as well as applications? Yes, we support published desktops as well as published apps and XenDesktop VDI is also supports Q: How much does Goliath for NetScaler cost? Q: How is Goliath for NetScaler licensed? Goliath for NetScaler is licensed per device, not user. It costs $2,500 per NetScaler device. Q: Is this proprietary software running on top of the NetScaler or is this a service you re offering? Goliath for NetScaler is deployed next to the NetScaler, on the same subnet, so it can receive data from the NetScaler. This is an on-premise solution. 5
Q: What are the system requirements for this appliance? Goliath for NetScaler runs on the operating system Ubuntu and requires 8 vcpus, 50 GB of Disk Space, a minimum of 4 GB or RAM. The appliance also needs to have a static IP address reserved and a hypervisor or either VMware ESX/ESXi, Citrix XenServer or Hyper-V. Q: Are you able to track Citrix Receiver versions per user? Yes we receive Citrix Receiver version information Q: How far back in time do the reports go? Goliath for NetScaler reports are customizable, so you can select how long you would like to keep data for. Q: Goliath for NetScaler seems very similar to Citrix Insight, what is the value of it over Insight? Goliath for NetScaler actually complements Insight by adding capabilities to allow admins to leverage the NetScaler and the data from the NetScaler to support IT Operations. This is accomplished by providing reporting, alerting, and our Live Share functionality to share live reports in real time. Furthermore we can retain the data for longer periods of time to allow analysis capabilities, and export the data to other tools like Splunk. Q: Can Goliath for NetScaler tie back to individual applications within a XenDesktop, a.k.a. nonpublished apps? No, if this type of detail is needed, Goliath Performance Monitor has the ability to achieve it. Q: Is the data collected purely AppFlow data? Q: Can you collect Syslog data? Yes the data for analysis is purely sourced from AppFlow. Goliath for NetScaler supports sending alert notifications and data on as syslog. 6