Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Altiris and Citrix - A process for keeping everything the same

There was a blog post on the Citrix Blogs yesterday by Doug DeLucca describing how Citrix uses HP Insight Control Server Deployment, http://tinyurl.com/3p6yq7a, that I commented on. I thought I would elaborate on my experiences using this product here. 


HP ICSD (formerly HP RDP) is based off Altiris Deployment Server 6.9 (should be SP5 by now). In my previous job, I was not only one of the Citrix Architects, I was also the Build Architect for all server builds and corresponding software minus the actual application going on the servers. HP ICSD allows for a repeatable process every time once it is designed correctly and any bugs worked out. The product severed me very well for almost 7 years.  


In respect to Citrix servers, it made easy to keep everything the same before application install. In large Citrix environments (previous ~400 servers and ~15k CCUs) consistency is paramount. After the initial builds were completed, HP ICSD was used for patching and reboot schedules. It made supporting that large environment a breeze because everything was consistent. As we know differences can cause 'Black Hole' issues and having different Shadow Keys can cause unpredictable issues when everything else looks the same.


I even used the same process for VMs whether ESX or XenServer minus a few pieces. Works great for Golden images for PVS also. 


The two products go hand in hand, IMO 

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