vdi in a box 4aa4-2774enw

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Technical white paper

HP Client Virtualization SMB ReferenceArchitecture for Citrix VDI-in-a-BoxAn all in one VDI on HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 server

Table of contents

Introduction 2Value proposition 2Target customers and use cases 2

Solution architecture 3Solution deployment 3Hardware architecture 4

Software architecture 5Scaling and sizing 6Performance and testing 8

Server overview 9Metric descriptions 950 user solution 10100 user solution 14Conclusion 20

For more information 21Call to action 21About Citrix 21


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Introduction

Client virtualization used to be considered a large enterprise solution, but with improvements in virtualization software,BYOD (bring your own device) plans and lower overall costs/user, client virtualization is quickly getting into themainstream small and medium-sized business (SMB) market. This technical document, or reference architecture, isdesigned to help a channel reseller or customer design a simple Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) configurationstarting at 50 users. Based on the HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 server and Citrix VDI-in-a-Box the HP Client

Virtualization SMB Reference Architecture for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box (HP CV SMB RA for Citrix) is an appliance-likeconfiguration that removes the guesswork from sizing and deploying a virtual desktop solution. With the recommendedguidelines tested and validated by this reference architecture, you know upfront how many servers and what softwarelicenses you need to support various user workloads. And because the solution follows a building-block approach, itscales on demand with no re-architecture or expensive infrastructure to deliver predictable, repeatable performanceand costs.

Value proposition

By providing a blueprint that has been fully tested, pre-sized, and optimized, the HP CV SMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Boxhelps you achieve faster time to production.

The HP CV SMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box is developed using the following components:

Citrix VDI-in-a-Box software

HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 Server HP Flexible Series Thin Clients or HP Smart Zero ClientsBenefits of this solution include:

Rapid deployment In less than two hours you can import the VDI-in-a-Box software appliance to your HP ProLiantserver, configure your desktop images, and you are ready to deliver virtual desktops to your users. Nothing toarchitect or install. No additional infrastructure to deploy such as management servers, SQL databases, or storagearea networks.

Predictable, repeatable cost, andperformance Whether you use a single stand-alone HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8server or a grid of multiple servers, the performance capacity per server remains unchangedand that meanspredictable, affordable costs and performance.

Built-in high availability to protect your users in the event of server failure without requiring shared storage. Addadditional HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 servers to the grid and the system automatically balances the load across allserversand that ensures high availability.

Rich high-definition end-user access to applications Delivered securely no matter what the access device. UsingCitrix HDX and Citrix Receiver provided with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box, users experience excellent performance over WANand LAN environments.

Assured log-in performance Users can access the information they need, when they need it, even when numeroususers log in at the same time.

Integrated solution-level performanceTo reduce the demands on your IT staff, weve validated all the softwareand hardware components so everything works correctly, r ight out of the box.

Target customers and use cases

Typical VDI-in-a-Box customers need a simple affordable virtual desktop setup. These customers come from variousindustries such as, but not limited to

Education, such as universities and schools, and training centers Public service, such as libraries, city halls, and police stations Healthcare, such as hospitals and medical group offices Financial services, such as credit unions and insurance companies Manufacturing facilities


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In addition, regional or divisional offices of large organizations tend to look for simple and affordable virtual desktopsolutions where the HP CV SMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box may be a good fit. It is important to understand howemployees at these customer organizations connect to their VDI desktops. There are two types of users to consider.First, there are on-premise desktop users connecting to their desktops over wired and wireless connections, and thereare mobile executives, road warriors, or remote and offshore employee-users that access their desktops using variousmobile devices connecting through wireless connections sitting in off-premise locations such as external client sites. HPCV SMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box with HDX provides excellent user experience over both LANs and WANs enabling usersto connect anytime, from anywhere, on any device and support both the desk and mobile use-cases.

For customers looking to deploy desktop virtualization across a large enterprise targeting multiple use case scenariosand requiring more advanced management capabilities please refer to theHP CV2 Reference Architecture with CitrixXenDesktop for Hyper-Vand the technical documentation athp.com/go/cv.

Solution architecture

Citrix VDI-in-a-Box is a simple, all-in-one software that enables Microsoft Windows administrators to rapidly delivercentrally managed virtual desktops to any user, anytime, on any devicefor less than the cost of traditional PCs.Comparing a production deployment setup using a traditional enterprise VDI solution with a setup of VDI-in-a-Box thetraditional enterprise-class VDI deployment includes a pair of load balancers and connection brokers to manage theconnections to desktop sessions and ensure high-availability, as well as compute servers to run the desktops andmanagement servers to provision and control the environment. SANs, high-speed interconnects and clustered SQL

databases are also required.VDI-in-a-Box consolidates all of this functionality into its software virtual appliance and eliminates much of theinfrastructure in an enterprise implementation. With VDI-in-a-Box, the connection brokering, load balancing, highavailability, desktop provisioning and management are all built-in and managed through an intuitive web-basedconsole. This radically simplifies setup and management, and lowers costs.

Figure 1. How VDI-in-a-Box eliminates cost and complexity

Solution deployment

The components required to deploy this reference architecture are:

The HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 Server A hypervisor. VDI-in-a-Box runs on multiple hypervisors. This reference architecture has been tested with Microsoft

Hyper-V.

For more information on Citrix VDI-in-a-Box supported hypervisors, please go tothe Citrix VDI-in-a-Box website.

Citrix VDI-in-a-Box for Hyper-V which runs as a virtual appliance on any Hyper-V-enabled server. Endpoint devices. Recommendations for HP Thin Clients are provided in this reference architecture. In addition, for secure remote access, Citrix NetScaler can be used.
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Hardware architecture

The HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 server provides a full solution that is modular and scalable for an array of customerneeds. For the HP CV SMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box, the HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 Server can be configured to support50 and 100 user configurations running a standard medium user workload.

Figure 2. HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8

Table 1. Tested Server Specs for 50 and 100 Virtual Desktop Users

Server Specs for 50 Users Server Specs for 100 Users

HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 Server HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 Server

1 Intel Xeon E5-2680 @ 2.70GHz CPU 2 CPUs - Xeon E5-2680 @ 2.70GHz

96GB RAM 192GB RAM

8 Drives 10,000 RPM SAS * 8 Drives 15,000 RPM SAS *

HP Smart Array P420i/2GB with FBWC (RAID 0+1) HP Smart Array P420i/2GB with FBWC (RAID 0+1)*Can be expanded to 16 drives

Endpoint devices

VDI-in-a-Box uses Citrix Receiver along with Citrix HDX protocol to provide virtual desktops to almost any device formfactor: thin clients, desktop PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Through Citrix Receiver, VDI-in-a-Box provides fast,reliable virtual desktops to over 2 billion Citrix Receiver enabled devices. In addition, HP CV SMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box works with the following recommended HP thin clients:

Flexible Series Thin Clients: HP t610 or HP t510 Flexible Series Windows Embedded Standard 7 (WES7) Thin Cl ientsbenefit from full HDX capabilities while potentially improving server scalability as they are able to perform all of Citrixclient-side rendering features. These thin clients are ideal for customers requiring an advanced graphical userexperience. Customers selecting the HP t610 over the HP t510 will benefit from a more powerful CPU, graphics hardwareacceleration, quad-display, internal dual-antenna Wi-Fi, Fiber NIC, and PCIe expansion bay options. Customers whopurchase the HP t610 typically have a greater mix of remotely virtualized apps and locally embedded apps. Both the HPt610 family and the HP t510 come standard with dual core CPUs and legacy ports for powerful, flexible connectivity to abroad array of peripheral devices. Smart Zero Technology can also be deployed on the Flexible Series Thin Clients,providing the zero touch experience at the endpoint device.

For additional details go toHP Flexible Series Thin Clients.
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Figure 3. HP Thin Clients

Smart Zero Clients: HP Smart Zero Clients, like the Power Over Ethernet, All-in-One HP t410, offer customers greatvalue by combining zero client manageability with cost-effective hardware and HDX System on a Chip (SoC)performance. Leveraging HPs Smart Zero Technology, HP Smart Zero Clients intelligently boot and connect to HPs CVSMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box without user interaction. Upon verification and confirmation of user credentials, users canbegin their normal activities. A secure operating system means little manageability and enables the customer to focuson productivity in their growing business. Further, when Citrix delivers a new Receiver, HP Smart Zero Clientsautomatically update at startup using Smart Zero Service pointers a true zero touch capability.

For additional information go toHP Smart Zero Clients.

Software architecture

Citrix VDI-in-a-Box provides an end-to-end solution to deliver Windows XP or Windows 7 virtual desktops to any device,anytime, anywhere using the built-in Citrix HDX protocol.

A VDI-in-a-Box environment consists of:

VDI-in-a-Box

The VDI-in-a-Box software appliance is designed to make virtual desktop administration easy, automated and cost-effective for desktop IT while delivering a brill iant experience for users.

Key features include:

High-availability without shared storage: Traditional VDI solutions require shared storage to deliver high availability.In production settings this means a SAN with high-speed interconnects. This can get complex and requires additionalexpertise. VDI-in-a-Box eliminates this requirement and provides high availability and scaling using inexpensive direct-attached storage (DAS). Simply run VDI-in-a-Box on two or more servers and the grid automatically load balances andensures redundancy. An N+1 design where one extra server is added to the grid is used to ensure high availability. In theevent of a server failure, VDI-in-a-Box automatically balances the desktop load across all the remaining healthy serversto prevent outages.
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Eliminate centralized bottlenecks such as boot storms: By eliminating centralized bottlenecks such as separateconnection servers, management servers and shared storage pools, the VDI-in-a-Box grid architecture avoids issuessuch as "boot storms" that create bottlenecks in traditional VDI architectures.

On-demand scaling: You can start small with one or two servers and grow as your needs evolve by simply adding moreservers to the grid. No re-design is required. Adding servers to the grid is a snap because VDI-in-a-Box automaticallyprepares and provisions the new server and prepares it to run virtual desktops.

Simple intuitive management: Desktop administrators manage a grid of VDI-in-a-Box servers centrally with an intuitive

wizard-driven interface that abstracts virtualization details. The grid of servers appear as one logical server thuseliminating the need to manage the servers individually. Automated policy-based management cuts desktop supportcosts.Citrix Receiver

Citrix Receiver is an easy-to-install, free, client software that lets you access enterprise data, applications and desktopsfrom any computing device including smartphones, tablets and PCs. Users today typically use multiple computingdevices and crave a consistent computing experience across all of them. Organizations everywhere are struggling tocope with the rapid proliferation of these devices and give users the mobile, high-definition experience they demand.Working in tandem with a Citrix-enabled IT infrastructure, C itrix Receiver gives users consistent, secure, high-performance access from any device without introducing layers of management complexity for IT.Citrix Receiver is a client-based plug-in that is installed on the users endpoint device. This is to be used in-conjunctionwith Citrix VDI-in-a-Box when the user requires the ability to interact with their virtual desktop. When a user logs into a

VDI-in-a-Box site to access a virtual desktop, the website can detect that Citrix Receiver is absent from endpoint devices,and automatically prompt users to download and install it from the site.

Hyper-V

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is the hypervisor-based server virtualization product from Microsoft that allowsyou to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server. It is a stand-alone product that provides a reliable andoptimized virtualization solution enabling organizations to improve server utilization and reduce costs. Since Hyper-VServer is a dedicated stand-alone product which contains only the Windows Hypervisor, Windows Server driver model,and virtualization components, it provides a small footprint and minimal overhead.

The free Microsoft Hyper-V solution is sufficient and was used in the testing for this reference architecture. VDI-in-a-Boxis licensed on a per Concurrent User (CCU) basis as a perpetual license with annualized maintenance and support. For thisreference architecture, a 50 CCU and a 100 CCU configuration were tested.

Smart Zero technology

Available on HP Smart Zero (HP t410) and Flexible Thin Clients (HP t510 and HP t610), HP Smart Zero Technology givesyou a simple, reprogrammable, and affordable solution. It supports multiple protocols and can be reprogrammed on thefly, delivering a no-compromise, intelligent zero client experience for remote and cloud computing environments. WithHP Smart Zero Technology installed on the virtualization infrastructure, it allows end users to be up and running inseconds with no configuration or management required on the device side. Just set up your server, boot the client andconnect. HP Smart Zero Technology combines the benefits of a zero client with HP auto-sensing technology thatautomatically connects to the network and searches for the right client virtualization infrastructure and downloadseverything it needs to deliver a robust user experience. The user is up and running quickly with no local user interfaceand just three steps from log on to productivity.

For more details go toServer-Side Smart Zero Technology Component.

Scaling and sizing

This reference architecture provides sizing options for servers tested with 50 and 100 users running standard Mediumvirtual desktop workloads. The HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8 server was configured with the necessary CPU cores, RAM, anddisk spindles to support the given number of Windows 7 desktops.

Scaling and high-availability

VDI-in-a-Box provides on-demand scaling and provides built-in high-availability using the N+1 model. HP CV SMB RA forCitrix VDI-in-a-Box servers can be added as more desktop capacity is required. A newly added server is automatically
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configured and provisioned to run virtual desktops by the VDI-in-a-Box software. To provide high availability, all that isrequired is one additional server in the grid and VDI-in-a-Box automatically ensures that if a server fails, another serveris able to host the virtual desktops. Due to its Shared-Nothing architecture, all servers are equally replaceable. VDI-in-a-Box grid architecture delivers built-in high availability without shared storage or connection brokers. Templates andimages are stored on multiple servers so they are not lost if a physical server fails. When a physical server fails, theremaining servers in the grid have the needed information to create extra desktops to replace those on the failed server.When the failed server is repaired and rejoins the grid, the key operational and configuration information is sent to it andit then resumes desktop provisioning.

The figure below illustrates a single server sized to host 100 virtual desktops. The second figure illustrates two serversjoined together in a grid and sized to either run 100 virtual desktops with high availability or 200 desktops without high-availability. With high-availability, 100 desktops are run across the two servers. When one fails, the remaining serverwill run all 100 desktops until the failed server is repaired and joined back into the grid. In non -high availability mode,200 desktops can be run across the two servers. If a server fails only 100 desktops are available for use until the failedserver is repaired and returned to the grid. The third figure shows a 200 with high-availability or 300 desktopconfiguration. Likewise, more servers can be added to the grid to increase the capacity of the solution. This illustratesthe simplicity of VDI-in-a-Box and the advantages of its all-in-one appliance approach where everything that s needed,all the management software and all the hardware including local storage, is provided in a single appliance thusallowing a no think approach to production scaling with high availability.

100 Users

200 Users or 100 Users with High Availability

300 Users or 200 Users with High Availability

Calculating necessary storage requirements

While the CPU cores, server memory and IOPS figures have been pre-calculated within this reference architecture, itmust be determined by an individuals use case how much storage capacity will be required in any particularenvironment. Linked clones where desktops share a common golden image reduces storage significantly and isprovided out of the box with VDI-in-a-Box.


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With Linked clones, when desktops are created, a separate, small difference disk is created. All changes to thedesktopsuch as registry changes or installation of new applicationsare stored in its difference disk. All reads usethe parent disk or the golden image itself. The difference disk grows with use and grows over time. For non-persistentdesktops that are refreshed periodically, these difference disks are typically very small and are about 10-15% of thegolden image. However, since persistent desktops, are long running, as users add more applications or make otherpermanent changes to their desktops, their difference disks can potentially grow up to the size of the golden image.

Calculating your storage requirements should follow two basic formulas. You will need to know how many golden

images you will require, what the size of the each golden image is, and how many desktops/linked clones you will needto create from your golden images.

Formula 1: 2 X Size of Golden image X Number of Golden Images = Disk space (GB) for Golden Images

In this formula, you will determine how many golden images you will require, and multiply the size of those images bytwo. If you have two 20GB images, the formula will appear as follows:

Example 1: 2 x 20GB x 2 Golden Images = 80GB

The second part of the formula is determining how much space your linked clones will consume. The rule here is thateach linked clone will take up roughly 15% of the golden image size. Using the same 20GB image size, the linked clonestorage calculation for 100 desktops would appear as follows:

Formula 2: 15% X Size of Golden image X Number of Linked Clones = Disk space (GB) for Linked Clones

Example 2: 15% of 20GB x 100 Linked Clones = 300GB

In addition, it is recommended that 100GB of extra disk space be reserved for growth and another 100GB be reserved forswap space. As such, in this example 600GB of disk storage across the 8 disks would suffice (80 GB (rounded to 100) forthe golden images, 300GB for linked clones, 100GB for growth, and 100GB swap space). More disk space can be providedand will allow for greater expansion and the use of persistent desktops.

The figure below illustrates a single golden image plus five linked clone virtual desktops.

Figure 4. Disk Example

40 GB

55 GB

Please note that this figure illustrates sizing for frequently refreshed pooled desktops. Persistent desktops may growlarger over time as user data accumulates.

Performance and testing

The following information lists the key data for the HP CV SMB RA for Citrix VDI-in-a-Box testing. Single server hardwareconfigurations have been customized to accommodate 50, and 100 user deployments.

Tests were performed using Login VSI V3.6 to generate desktop workloads, and gather data. All tests were done usingthe standard user workload profile which consisted of exercising email, office applications such as word processing,spreadsheet editing, and slideshow creation, as well as viewing HD Flash video.


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Server overview

Server configuration summary

HP DL380p Gen8 100 user configuration 2 CPUs Xeon E5-2680@ 2.70GHz 192GB RAM 16GB DDR3 DIMMs, 1333 MHz, 12 DIMM slots per CPU

8 Drives 10,000 RPM SAS, RAID0+1

Environment

Test Rig and Workload Login VSI 3.6, Java VDI-in-a-Box client, 30 second launch interval (sequential), 10 launchers Profiles Configured with roaming profiles and deleting the locally cache profiles at logoff HDX and Session Resolution 1024x768, default HDX settings for ViaB (Flash Redirection enabled by default and used

in testing)

Hypervisor Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 with Hyper-V Desktop VM Windows 7 32-Bit, 1 vCPU, Dynamic Memory (1GB-2GB, 20% buffer), 1 NIC

Testing results

Information contained in this section provides data points that a customer may reference in designing their ownimplementations

Metric descriptions

VSImax Scores: Derived from the Login VSI Analysis Tool, this data determines the VSImax, which is the maximumcapacity of the tested system expressed as the number of Login VSI sessions. Within each workload test loop theresponse times of seven specific operations are measured at a regular interval: six times within each loop. The responsetimes of these seven operations are used to establish VSImax.

Hyper-V Physical Server Processor Analysis: This analysis checks the processor utilization of physical processors of thehost computer. The "\Hyper-V Hypervisor Logical Processor(*)\% Total Run Time" performance counter is more accurate

than using the "% Processor Time" counter on the host, root partition computer because the "% Processor Time" counteronly measures the processor time of the host, root partition computer only. The "\Hyper-V Hypervisor LogicalProcessor(*)\% Total Run Time" performance counter is the best counter to use to analyze overall processor utilizationof the Hyper-V server.

Note: Because the other server components (RAM, storage, etc.) were sized and configured proportionally, CPUutilization was the gating factor for determining the desktop host servers capacity.

Hyper-V Hypervisor Logical Processor Context Switches/sec: The rate of virtual processor context switches on theprocessor. This is the number of times a new Virtual Processor (VP) has been scheduled to a particular Logical Processor(LP).

Memory Available Mbytes: Available MBytes is the amount of physical RAM, in Megabytes, immediately available forallocation to a process or for system use. It is equal to the sum of memory assigned to the standby (cached), free andzero page lists. If this counter is low, then the computer is running low on physical RAM.

PhysicalDisk Calculated IOPS: Disk Reads and Writes/sec is the rate of read and write operations on the disk.

PhysicalDisk Avg. Disk Queue Length: Avg. Disk Queue Length is the average number of both read and write requeststhat were queued for the selected disk during the sample interval.

Network Interface Bytes Total/sec: Bytes Total/sec is the rate at which bytes are sent and received over each networkadapter, including framing characters. Network Interface\Bytes Total/sec is a sum of Network Interface\BytesReceived/sec and Network Interface\Bytes Sent/sec.


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50 user solution

The following are Login VSI test results for the server configured to run 50 Windows 7 desktops. The Login VSI testsindicate that VSImax was not reached. This means that good user experience was achieved with this configurationwhen running 50 users.


1 CPU 96GB RAM 8 Drives 10,000 RPM SAS, RAID0+1Figure 5. Login VSI Data (no VSI Max)


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Figure 6. CPU (Single, 16 logical cores)


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Figure 7. Memory (96GB Total)

Figure 8. Storage IOPS & Queue Length


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Figure 9. Network

100 user solution

The following are Login VSI test results for the server configured to run 100 Windows 7 desktops. The Login VSI testsindicate that VSI MAX was not reached. This means that good user experience was achieved with this configuration

when running 100 users.


2 CPU 128GB RAM 8 Drives 10,000 RPM SAS, RAID0+1


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Figure 10. Login VSI Data (no VSI Max)

Figure 11. CPU (Dual, 32 logical cores)


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Figure 12. Memory (128GB Total)


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Figure 13. Storage IOPS & Queue Length


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Figure 14. Network

Conclusion

The testing of the hardware and software configurations described in this reference architecture has been validated tobe a good fit for the 50 users and 100 users solutions. Together with Citrix VDI-in-a-Box and HP ProLiant DL380p Gen8

servers, the reference architecture delivers a predictable performance, building block based scalability, and the manybenefits of a traditional enterprise VDI without its complexity and startup cost, a very practical VDI solution for smalland medium sized businesses.


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For more information

To read more about HP and client virtualization, go tohp.com/go/cv

To read more about HP and Citrix, go tohp.com/go/citrix

To read more about Citrix XenDesktop, go tocitrix.com/XenDesktop

To read more about Login VSI, go tologinvsi.com

To help us improve our documents, please provide feedback athp.com/solutions/feedback.

Call to action

Contact your HP representative or HP reseller partner today to engage and discover how you can benefit from this clientvirtualization reference architecture. Achieve greater user mobility, anytime, anywhere access, and efficient usermanagement all without the cost and complexity of traditional enterprise VDI.

About Citrix

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is the company transforming how people, businesses and IT work and collaborate inthe cloud era. With market-leading cloud, collaboration, networking and virtualization technologies, Citrix powersmobile workstyles and cloud services, making complex enterprise IT simpler and more accessible for 260,000

enterprises. Citrix touches 75 percent of Internet users each day and partners with more than 10,000 companies in 100countries. Annual revenue in 2011 was $2.21 billion. Learn more atcitrix.com.

Get connectedhp.com/go/getconnected

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2012 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix, Citrix VDI-in-a-Box, Citrix HDX, Citrix Receiver, NetScaler, XenServer and XenDesktopare trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United StatesPatent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All o ther trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their resp ective owners.

Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The onlywarranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and servi ces. Nothing hereinshould be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable fo r technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

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