Performance Optimization

Performance Optimization of Terminal Servers is quickly evolving from a mystic art to a tested science. There are now many useful resources and tools to aid in performance optimization, and the quest toward more efficient use of hardware and better performance for end users is certainly a noble use of time. One notable web resource is http://www.tweakcitrix.com.

In addition to resources like the tweakcitrix web site, there are a variety of add-on tools to Citrix that provide performance enhancement and application control. Four products that we have used and recommend are

• RES PowerFuse PowerFuse is a software tool that reduces server pauses caused by misbehaving applications by intercepting an application that is using more resources than allowed (for example, if the threshold is set to 90 percent, and any application passes that percentage, it is relegated to a lower priority). PowerFuse also provides user and application lockdown, software metering, printer control, and other useful SBC tools. A demonstration copy can be found at http://www.powerfuse.com.

• AppSense AppSense has created an all-encompassing suite of tools for server-based computing that does everything from desktop lockdown and GUI policy configuration, to performance Process Management (IPM) technology, which dynamically manages the level of processor and memory utilization allocated to each user. More information and evaluation software can be found at http://www.appsense.com.

• triCerat tricerat has a similar printer, profile, and lockdown solution set to PowerFuse and AppSense. Although these solutions do not specifically map to performance enhancement, we have found that the user performance perception can be dramatically impacted by efficient profile deployment, application lockdown, and printer control. More information and evaluation software can be found at http://www.tricerate.com.

• RTO Software (formerly Kevsoft) TScale (also offered by Wyse as Expedian) improves server performance 30–40 percent by optimizing virtual memory use on the server. An evaluation copy can be found at http://www.wyse.com/products/software/expedian.htm or at http://www.rtosoft.com/evaluate_ts.html.

• Tigi Tigi drives, as discussed earlier in this chapter, are solid state drives that replace the standard hard drive or RAID sybsystem of a MetaFrame server. Due to the amount of processing and I/O bottleneck that is reduced by the use of a solid state drive, some MetaFrame servers may support up to twice as many users with a Tigi drive than with a standard drive bottleneck subsystem.