Updated
11 Nov 2022Form Number
SB0004PDF size
5 pages, 579 KBEnabling analytics and machine learning on growing business data
Meeting the Needs of the Mobile Workforce
Today's business and IT leaders know the pressures to enable a more flexible, mobile workforce are intense. Distributed workforces, demands for mobility, growing compliance pressures, security concerns, cost containment priorities, and BYOD (bring your own device) environments are just a few of the challenges they face. Client virtualization is a powerful solution to meet the need for flexibility and global availability of compute resources, while managing data security and compliance on mobile devices.
The Lenovo Client Virtualization Solutions for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops help your organization meet these business requirements by centrally managing the desktop image within the corporate IT environment rather than at the remote worker or office location. With user data, user profiles and application data files on centralized servers, data center security and manageability are extended down to the user resources. Users have anywhere, anytime, secure access to data and applications from any device, including tablets and smartphones.
Deliver Secure Desktops While Cutting IT Costs
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops delivers fully-functioning virtual Windows or Linux desktops and the applications employees need to remain productive. The virtual desktops are delivered securely and have the same look and feel as locally installed desktops - even with demanding applications, such as 3D CAD engineering or design apps.
Administrators can easily and centrally manage their master images while providing users with a customized and personalized desktop experience. Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops also enables automated desktop thin provisioning - giving desktops the appearance of having more physical resources than are actually available - to reduce the cost of VDI and shared storage below that of managing a local PC.
Highlights
- Simplify your IT infrastructure –focus on the applications that drive the business instead of spending a lot of time and effort on infrastructure management
- Manage both cloud-based and traditional enterprise applications as a unified public cloud service
- Deploy virtual desktops in under 30 minutes; easily managed from the virtualization console
- Reduce upfront CapEx by minimizing infrastructure requirements with cloud management
Simplify Solutions Infrastructure with ThinkAgile Systems
Hyperconverged systems have become the infrastructure of choice for VDI implementations. With compute, storage and virtualization co-located on a single node, organizations are able to share system resources with other applications, significantly reducing the cost per virtual machine (VM) of the VDI environment.
Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops has been certified on Lenovo ThinkAgile HX (Nutanix-based) and VX (VMware-based) hyperconverged servers. The ThinkAgile systems enable you to dramatically simplify your server, storage and virtualization deployments and pool your resources into a single virtualized infrastructure for more flexible and efficient utilization and management.
The ThinkAgile systems scale rapidly to meet the growing needs of your business. Start small with initial deployments for one hundred end users or less and linearly scale to tens of thousands of users without additional performance overhead, or complex management.
Powered by Lenovo
Reference architectures and technical briefs also exist for several Lenovo ThinkSystem servers. Systems of note include:
- SR665 V3 or SR645 V3 - 2U or 1U, 2-socket servers, respectively, based on AMD EPYC processors. Achieve high virtual desktop density with up to 96 CPU cores, DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen5 I/O lanes. Up to 8 single width GPUs are supported for power users employing 3D rendering or medical imaging applications.
- SR650 V2 or SR630 V2 - 2U or 1U, 2-socket servers, respectively, that provide extensive flexibility along with large memory and storage capacity to fit almost any customer environment
- SD530 - A dense 2U configuration that supports up to four 2-socket servers for customers with limited space in their data center
All Lenovo ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile servers are high performance systems, regularly holding numerous world performance benchmarks. ThinkSystem servers are consistently ranked high in x86 server customer satisfaction and #1 in x86 server reliability (ITIC).
Lenovo ThinkSystem servers with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops provide a high performance, cost effective client virtualization solution
ThinkSystem HX and VX hyperconverged systems
ThinkSystem SR665/SR650 V2
ThinkSystem SR645/SR630 V2
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MEININGER Hotels leverages Citrix on Lenovo ThinkAgile VX7520 appliances to enable flexible working for employees. “From check-in desk to the contact center, we can now offer every customer a responsive, high-quality service. Thanks to our Lenovo platform, we’re equipping our employees with the tools they need to make every stay special.” Rick Medford, Head of IT, MEININGER Hotels |
Complementary Hardware
All configurations support on-board storage, and the SR- and SD- systems support attached storage with the Lenovo ThinkSystem DE or DM series storage arrays. These all-flash and hybrid arrays offer a range of connectivity options, minimizing latency and maximizing performance.
Connecting the servers to the storage in this solution can be easily accomplished with network switches. The recommended offerings for this solution are 1 GbE switches for office and knowledge workers, and 10 GbE switches for power users (utilizing heavy graphics applications like CAD/CAM and AI model rendering).
Complementary Software
Lenovo offers a wide range of complementary software offerings for your Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops environments.
Data can be backed up with Veeam® Availability Suite™. Veeam Agents for Microsoft Windows and Linux work with Veeam Availability Suite to deliver comprehensive backup and recovery for ALL workloads — virtual, physical and cloud — with a single management console.
Lenovo XClarity™ Administrator is a centralized resource management solution that is aimed at reducing complexity, speeding response, and enhancing the availability of Lenovo server systems and solutions. It captures industry-leading proactive platform alerts, enabling administrators to migrate workloads or replace failing components without incurring downtime.
The delivery of graphics-rich desktops and workstations is facilitated by NVIDIA® virtual GPU (vGPU) software in conjunction with NVIDIA GPUs. Today's digital worker requires more graphics-intensive applications and operating systems to be productive. Windows 11 provides a rich, immersive experience and is the most graphically intensive operating system to date. NVIDIA GRID is designed to deliver Windows desktops and applications at full performance while NVIDIA Quadro Virtual Data Center Workstation (vDWS) software allows users to access their professional visualization applications with full features and performance from any device, anywhere.
End-to-End VDI Solution
Completing the Lenovo end-to-end client virtualization solution for Citrix environments are the endpoints. Lenovo offers a wide range of PCs, tablets, thin clients and smartphones for end user access. Lenovo streamlines device deployment and management, and simplifies the ability to rapidly deploy additional devices, scaling to thousands of connected devices.
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FNCB Bank runs many of its mission-critical applications on the Lenovo ThinkAgile HX platform, including Citrix for the bank’s back office and in-branch staff. “As we push ahead with our transformation initiatives, we’re confident we have the rock-solid IT platform and trusted partners we need to achieve our long-term growth goals.” Ron Honick, Senior VP, Operations and Technology Services Officer, FNCB Bank |
Optimized Configurations
Lenovo has designed and tested several configurations of Citrix on ThinkAgile HX. These configurations are optimized for performance and scalability. They can be used as is, as building blocks for larger installations, or as a base from which customizations can be made. The current Solution IDs include:
| Solution ID | Supporting |
|---|---|
| SID0000209 | 200 Office Workers |
| SID0000210 | 150/50 Office/Knowledge Workers |
| SID0000211 | 160 Power Users |
These recommended configurations can be found on Lenovo's Data Center Configurator tool at dcsc.lenovo.com. Just select "Deployment Ready Solutions" and then "Client Virtualization".
Increase Agility with TruScale IaaS
Lenovo TruScale Services allow you to have your VDI infrastructure on-premises with a “pay for use” cloud subscription instead of an outright purchase. This allows you to better tie your VDI expenses to your business use.
Lenovo TruScale removes layers of administration and management from stretched IT teams. It also creates opportunities to implement new solutions, with cloud-like functionality and flexible, pay-as-you-go, as-a-service models.
Services include assessment, design, configuration, installation, cloud deployment, data migration, concierge/tech desk services, maintenance, metering, service portal, security and compliance, upgrades, renewals and old tech retirement.
Konecta Peru utilizes Lenovo TruScale IaaS for its 1,500 user VDI environment.
"With Lenovo TruScale, we can ramp up resources one week and dial them down the next, only ever paying for what we actually use. This enables us to respond rapidly to changing business requirements as we continue to grow."
Carlos Rafael Alayo Velasquez, IT Director, Konecta Peru
Tying It All Together
In today’s rapidly-changing technology environment, empowering your data center transformation isn’t just a necessity—it’s also a journey. Regardless of your current environment, Lenovo Services is a true business partner that will take you from where you are, to where you want to be. At every stage, you’ll get our expertise and services to help you:
- Drive Digital Transformation. You’ll get the best architectures suited to your unique needs, along with our industry insights, expert guidance, and hands-on experience.
- Foster Innovation. Free up your internal resources to focus on initiatives that grow your business.
- Simplify Your Support Experience. Gain a trusted partner who understands your systems and solutions to fully support and optimize your data center.
Why Lenovo
Lenovo is a leading provider of data center infrastructure solutions. We partner with you to identify, design, install and support the solution that best ensures your organization’s needs are met throughout the IT lifecycle. Lenovo complements a portfolio of leading x86 infrastructure with a full range of storage, software, and comprehensive services that provides excellent performance, reliability, and security for your IT environment from the edge to the cloud.
For More Information
To learn more about Lenovo solutions for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, contact your Lenovo sales representative or Business Partner or visit: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/servers-storage/solutions/client-virtualization/
Other Resources:
Reference Architectures -
Lenovo Validated Design for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops with ThinkAgile HX
Lenovo Validated Design for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops with ThinkAgile VX
Lenovo provides a complete end-to-end Citrix VDI offering with end points, servers, software and services
Related product families
Product families related to this document are the following:
Trademarks: Lenovo, the Lenovo logo, Lenovo Services, ThinkAgile®, ThinkSystem®, and XClarity® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo. Linux® is the trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft® and Windows® are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.
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