Citrix Access Gateway and Branch Repeater Performance Report

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Citrix Access Gateway and Branch Repeater Performance Report

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Contents

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Microsoft Outlook and Exchange ............................................................................................................... 3

Microsoft SharePoint ..................................................................................................................................... 4

Microsoft File Service .................................................................................................................................... 5

Product and solution overview ........................................................................................................................ 6

Citrix Access Gateway ................................................................................................................................... 6

Citrix Branch Repeater .................................................................................................................................. 7

Turbocharged Access Gateway .................................................................................................................... 8

Performance results and analysis ..................................................................................................................... 8

Microsoft Exchange workflows ................................................................................................................... 9

E-mail edit ricochet .................................................................................................................................. 10

Remote file attachment ricochet ............................................................................................................ 12

Common Internet file system workflow ................................................................................................... 14

CIFS offline edit ricochet ........................................................................................................................ 14

Microsoft SharePoint workflow ................................................................................................................. 16

MOSS offline edit ricochet ..................................................................................................................... 16

Test environment ............................................................................................................................................. 19

Hardware and software configuration ...................................................................................................... 20

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 20

Introduction More users than ever are accessing their corporate applications and data via a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as the Internet. Whether one works in the telecom or technology industry, the finance sector, manufacturing or even entertainment, chances are that some level of remote access is used to get the job done. Citrix® Access GatewayTM is an industry-leading solution for providing secure access for enterprises with large remote and mobile workforces1. Access Gateway is a secure application access solution that provides administrators granular application-level control while empowering users with access from anywhere.

However, user satisfaction and productivity depends on more than just a secure connection to the network. In many cases, poor quality and slow and unreliable Internet links hinder one’s ability to accomplish work quickly and efficiently.

This report documents the Citrix solution to turbocharge Access Gateway secure access performance by adding application acceleration using Citrix® Branch Repeater™ products. This marks an end to staring at that hourglass when attempting common tasks such as sending and receiving e-mail attachments, file downloads, Microsoft® SharePoint® collaboration and backups from, say, a hotel room.

The Citrix RepeaterTM Plug-in integrates seamlessly with the Access Gateway Plug-in to provide a high-definition user experience to the remote and mobile worker. The Repeater Plug-in provides the benefits of Branch Repeater solutions to remote users in small branch offices, homes, airports or other locations that do not enjoy the luxury of a Branch Repeater appliance. Citrix Repeater Plug-in is a PC software WAN optimization solution that works in conjunction with a Citrix Repeater appliance located in the datacenter. Adaptive protocol acceleration, compression, prioritization and QoS provide a LAN-like experience over any type of WAN link—whether it is DSL, T1 or even cellular broadband.

Microsoft Outlook and Exchange

The benefits resulting from this accelerated, remote access solution are compelling. For example, Microsoft Outlook® and Exchange transactions such as sending and receiving large e-mail attachments are up to 50 times faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway.

1 Gartner – Magic Quadrant for SSL VPNs, December 2008.

Figure 1: Microsoft Outlook acceleration with turbocharged Access Gateway2

Figure 1 compares the time it takes to send a 7 MB PowerPoint attachment over a 3G WAN connection. The chart plots the baseline time without Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in, the cold run with Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in (the first time the Repeater Plug-in has seen the data), and the warm run with Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in (the Repeater Plug-in has seen the data before).

Microsoft SharePoint

SharePoint transactions—such as downloading and uploading documents to a document library—also are up to 50 times faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway.

Figure 2: Microsoft SharePoint acceleration with turbocharged Access Gateway3

Figure 2 compares the time it takes to download a 7 MB PowerPoint document from a SharePoint document library over a WAN connection. The chart plots the baseline time without Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in, the cold run with Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in (Repeater Plug-in has not seen the data before), and the warm run with Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in (Repeater Plug-in has seen the data before). Windows file sharing transactions such as copy/paste from a file server are up to 30 times faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway.

2 3G WAN, 354 Kbps download, 768 Kbps Upload, 350 ms latency, 7 MB PPT file e‐mailed multiple times 3 3G WAN, 7MB PPT file downloaded from SharePoint multiple times

Microsoft File Service

Microsoft File Service transactions—such as downloading and uploading documents are up to 30 times faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway.

Figure 3: CIFS protocol acceleration with turbocharged Access Gateway4

Figure 3 compares the time it takes to download (copy and paste) a 7 MB PowerPoint document from a remote file server over a WAN connection. The chart plots the baseline time without Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in, the cold run with Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in (Repeater Plug-in has not seen the data before), and the warm run with Citrix Repeater and the Repeater Plug-in (Repeater Plug-in has seen the data before).

Saving time for the user is just one of the benefits. Citrix HDXTM Broadcast and the Repeater Plug-in reduce the number of packets sent over the network, generating cost savings on volume-based billing plans. Similar cost saving is seen where payment is by time; the user completes the tasks quickly and disconnects faster. On shared branch links, the ROI can be immediately seen on the saved cost of not adding more bandwidth since the same bandwidth can now serve more users and sessions. Turbocharge and HDX means that Citrix delivers a high-definition experience enabling users to view and interact with content and media.

4 3G WAN, 7MB PPT file downloaded copied and pasted multiple times

Figure 4: WAN utilization without turbocharged Access Gateway5

10.3 MB of data transferred

Figure 5: WAN utilization with turbocharged Access Gateway6

0.10 MB of data transferred

Figures 4 and 5 are graphs taken from Apposite Technology®’s Linktropy® WAN emulator, which was used for the performance testing. Figure 4 shows that without the Repeater Plug-in, downloading a 10 MB PowerPoint deck over a cable WAN consumes an equivalent amount of bandwidth (10.3 MB) at a throughput of well over 600 Kbps. In contrast, Figure 5 shows that only 0.10 MB of the bandwidth is consumed when transferring the same file with the Repeater Plug-in. Also noticeable in these graphs is the distinct difference in the amount of time required to download the file.

Product and solution overview

Citrix Access Gateway

Citrix Access Gateway is a secure application access solution that provides administrators granular application-level policy and action controls to secure access to applications and data while allowing users to work from anywhere. It gives IT administrators a single point of control and tools to help ensure compliance with regulations and the highest levels of information security across and outside the enterprise. At the same time, it empowers users with a single point of access—optimized for roles, devices and networks—to the enterprise applications and data they need. This unique combination of capabilities helps maximize the productivity of today’s mobile workforce.

The Citrix Access Gateway product line consists of three editions: Citrix Access Gateway, Standard Edition, Advanced Edition and Enterprise Edition.

Citrix Access Gateway, Standard Edition Citrix Access Gateway, Standard Edition is easy to deploy, simple to manage and the most cost-effective secure remote access solution on the market. The Access Gateway appliance is deployed in an organization’s DMZ, and secures all traffic with standards-based SSL. Remote users connect via an easy-to-use, Web-downloaded and updated client, enjoying a rich desk-like experience. 5 Cable WAN, 768 Kbps download, 768 Kbps upload, 90 ms latency 6 Cable WAN, 768 Kbps download, 768 Kbps upload, 90 ms latency

Citrix Access Gateway, Advanced Edition Citrix Access Gateway, Advanced Edition extends access to more devices and users, including browser-only access and mobile devices. Extensive SmartAccess capabilities provide flexible, highly granular policy based access control, including tight integration with Citrix® XenApp™ and Citrix® XenDesktop™.

Citrix Access Gateway, Enterprise Edition Citrix Access Gateway, Enterprise Edition is the premier Citrix SSL VPN security solution, aimed at the most demanding needs. The unique combination of capabilities allows administrators to reduce the ongoing cost of secure remote access and improve the user experience.

Turbocharged Access Gateway is supported by Access Gateway 4.5.5, Standard Edition, Access Gateway 4.5 HF1, Advanced Edition and Access Gateway 9.0, Enterprise Edition and later versions. The Access Gateway Plug-in supports version 4.3.26 or later of the Repeater Plug-in.

Citrix Branch Repeater

Citrix Branch Repeater is a branch optimization solution that accelerates application delivery to globally distributed users while dramatically reducing bandwidth costs and simplifying branch infrastructure. Branch Repeater solutions reduce IT costs and increase user productivity by simplifying branch startup and management, and providing users the best access experience.

The Branch Repeater product line consists of four products: Citrix Branch Repeater, Citrix Branch Repeater with Windows Server, Citrix Repeater (formerly known as WANScaler) and the Repeater Plug-in for Citrix Receiver.

Citrix Repeater Deployed in the datacenter, Citrix Repeater appliances optimize application traffic across multiple branches that have Branch Repeaters, as well as remote and mobile users who use Repeater Plug-ins.

Repeater Plug-in for Citrix Receiver Deployed on remote users’ desktops and laptops, the Repeater Plug-in software provides remote users many of the same acceleration benefits that Branch Repeater offers to the branch users. Combined with Access Gateway, the Repeater Plug-in improves user experience and productivity by providing fast, secure remote access.

Branch Repeater appliances Deployed in branch offices, Branch Repeater appliances accelerate application delivery to distributed branch offices and other remote locations (factories, retail outlets, clinics, etc.). Branch Repeaters require Citrix Repeater appliances in the datacenter. Branch Repeater with Windows Server integrates and consolidates WAN optimization, application acceleration and Windows services (DHCP, DNS, file, print, etc.) onto a single appliance.

Turbocharged Access Gateway

A turbocharged Access Gateway improves worker productivity and effectiveness by addressing the need for speed. Turbocharged Access Gateway combines the capabilities and benefits of Access Gateway and Citrix Repeater. In a turbocharged deployment, Access Gateway and the Repeater Plug-in on the user’s device work in tandem with Access Gateway and Citrix Repeater appliances located at the organization’s datacenter or central server location.

The basic concept behind turbocharge is that when you configure Access Gateway with Repeater integration, the user benefits from the adaptive compression and protocol acceleration functionality of the Repeater Plug-in. A set of acceleration rules are defined on both Access Gateway and Citrix Repeater to determine which specific traffic should be accelerated.

On the user’s device, Access Gateway and the Repeater Plug-in complete the other side of the connection by communicating with their respective appliance counterparts. After a user establishes a secure SSL VPN connection to Access Gateway using the Access Gateway Plug-in, the Repeater Plug-in automatically communicates with Citrix Repeater through the secure VPN tunnel, and downloads the list of acceleration rules. Then, the plug-ins automatically begin accelerating the appropriate traffic in concert with the appliances located in the datacenter.

Performance results and analysis The “Citrix Branch Repeater Performance Report” studied the benefits of SSL VPN WAN acceleration for three major categories of workflows, which included Microsoft Exchange e-mail, Microsoft Windows® file sharing and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS).

Citrix selected three different WAN connections for the “Citrix Branch Repeater Performance Report.” WAN connections represent a sampling of WAN connections that a typical remote employee would utilize as their Internet connection. An Apposite Linktropy WAN emulator was used to simulate the WAN connection between the user and the datacenter. Both the WAN emulator and Citrix Repeater were configured with the following send and receive bandwidth values.

WAN Type Effective throughput upload/download

Latency (RTD)

3G 768 Kbps / 354 Kbps 350 ms ADSL 1.5 Mbps / 354 Kbps 120 ms Cable 768 Kbps / 768 Kbps 90 ms

Table 1: WAN parameters used in the report

The performance results and analysis section presents the specific test results and benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway for each of the workflows. The individual workflow topics discuss the results in the following consistent manner:

Workflow description – The workflow description is a detailed explanation of the individual components that compose a given workflow. Each individual step within a workflow was individually measured.

Key benefits of turbocharge – An explanation of average (over 3G, ADSL, cable) time that the workflow took to complete with and without Citrix Repeater. A graph plots the individual steps in the workflow (in minutes) and a measure of how many times faster the warm run took to complete is overlaid on the graph. How many times faster or #X times faster was calculated in the following manner:

1. #X times faster = Time without Citrix Repeater / Time with Citrix Repeater

Productivity gains – An explanation of the amount of time a user saves performing the workflow when using Citrix Repeater. To expand the productivity savings to a more useful scale, we assume a typical user would perform the workflow two times a day or 10 times per week. The weekly time savings were calculated in the following manner:

1. Total workflow time without Citrix Repeater = Step 1 + Step 2 + Step 3 + etc.

2. Total workflow time with Citrix Repeater = Step 1 + Step 2 + Step 3 + etc.

3. Weekly total without Citrix Repeater = 10 x Total workflow time without Citrix Repeater

4. Weekly total with Citrix Repeater = 10 x Total workflow time with Citrix Repeater

5. Weekly time savings = Weekly total without Citrix Repeater – Weekly total with Citrix Repeater

Bandwidth reduction – An explanation of the average (3G, ADSL cable) bandwidth savings achieved during the individual steps of a workflow. Bandwidth savings were calculated in the following manner:

1. Total compressed MB = Sent compressed MB + Received compressed MB

2. Total uncompressed MB = Sent uncompressed MB + Received uncompressed MB

3. Average bandwidth savings = [(Total uncompressed MB – Total compressed MB)/ Total uncompressed MB ] *100

Microsoft Exchange workflows

The Microsoft Exchange workflows studied the benefits of Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) protocol acceleration between Microsoft Outlook running on the client device and Microsoft Exchange 2007. The Microsoft Outlook workflows more specifically studied the benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway when a user sends or receives large e-mail attachments over WAN connections.

E-mail edit ricochet

The e-mail edit ricochet workflow consisted of four individual steps that a user would perform during a typical e-mail-based document revision cycle. First, the user attached a 7 MB PPT presentation titled Version 1, which was stored in his My Documents folder, and sent it to a teammate requesting a review. Next, the user received an 8 MB edited version of the presentation titled Version 2. The user accepted the changes and saved the document as Final Version. The user then sent his teammate the Final Version and later forwarded that same e-mail and attachment to his manager. This workflow measured the four steps as follows:

• The send transaction times were measured from the time Send/Receive was clicked until the e-mail was removed from the outbox.

• The receive transaction time was measured from the time the Send/Receive was clicked until the e-mail appeared in the inbox.

Key benefits of turbocharge

The benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway begin the very first time Citrix Repeater accelerates the MAPI traffic associated with sending the Version 1 e-mail attachment. Across all three WAN connections, sending the initial e-mail is up to two times faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway. When the users receive and send the Version 2 and Final Version e-mails, Citrix Repeater recognizes familiar data objects in the e-mail and achieves even greater acceleration. On average, Citrix Repeater can process the MAPI traffic over 45 times faster than an un-accelerated VPN session during the warm runs. The ADSL connection yielded the highest level of acceleration, over 56 times faster during a warm run.

Figure 6: Average e-mail edit ricochet transaction time

Figure 6 displays the average transaction time for the 3G, ADSL and cable WAN connections with and without a turbocharged connection.

Productivity gains

In the e-mail edit ricochet workflow, the user is able to complete the entire sequence in anywhere from nine minutes (cable) to 25 minutes (3G) less than it would take using an un-accelerated connection. If we expand this workflow across a workweek, where the user might perform this type sequence two times a day or 10 times per week, the time savings become even more pronounced.

Figure 7: Extrapolated weekly workflow productivity gains

Figure 7 represents the total time to complete ten unique e-mail edit ricochet workflows with and without the Repeater Plug-in as well as the number of hours saved by using a turbocharged connection. On average, a turbocharged VPN user can free up over 6.5 percent of his time in this scenario during a 40-hour workweek (3G-3.7 percent, ADSL-5.3 percent, Cable-10.7 percent).

Bandwidth reduction

The Repeater not only makes a turbocharged VPN connection faster and more efficient, the accelerated connection consumes less bandwidth. Looking at the average bandwidth savings across all three WAN connections, we begin with an immediate 50% reduction in bandwidth consumed when e-mailing the “version 1” PowerPoint. As the user moves through the workflow, Repeater recognizes more and more common data objects and frees up 98% percent of the bandwidth.

Figure 8: Average bandwidth savings for 3G, ADSL and cable

Remote file attachment ricochet

The remote file attachment ricochet workflow consisted of four individual steps that a user would perform during a typical document upload and e-mail attachment cycle. First, the user uploaded a 7 MB PPT presentation titled Version 1, to a remote file server located in the datacenter. Next the user composed an e-mail, clicked the attach file option, browsed to the file server and attached the 7 MB PPT over the WAN. Once Outlook completed the process of attaching the file, the user sent it to a teammate. Finally, the user forwarded the same e-mail and attachment to his manager. This workflow measured the four steps as follows:

• Upload Version 1 – The upload time was measured from the time it took to copy and paste the document from the local device to the remote file server.

• Attach Version 1 – The attach time measured the time from clicking Insert until the e-mail regained focus and the attachment process was complete.

• Send Version 1 – The send transaction time was measured from the time Send/Receive was clicked until the e-mail was removed from the outbox.

• Forward Version 1 – The send transaction time was measured from the time Send/Receive was clicked until the e-mail was removed from the outbox.


The benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway begin the very first time Citrix Repeater accelerates the CIFS traffic associated with uploading the PowerPoint presentation to the remote file server. Across all three WAN connections, uploading the presentation is 2 times faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway. Attaching the file over the WAN is 15 times faster, which is particularly significant because during this process the e-mail becomes frozen and the user must sit idle and wait for it to complete. During the send and forward phases of the workflow, Citrix Repeater can process the MAPI traffic over 43 times faster than an un-accelerated VPN session. The ADSL connection yielded the highest level of acceleration, over 58 times faster during a warm run.

Figure 9: Average remote file edit ricochet transaction time


Productivity gains

In the remote file attachment ricochet workflow, the user is able to complete the entire sequence in anywhere from nine minutes (cable) to 29 minutes (3G) less than it would take using an un-accelerated connection. If we expand this workflow across a workweek, where the user might perform this type sequence two times a day or 10 times per week, the time savings become even more pronounced.


Figure 10 represents the total time to complete ten unique remote file attachment workflows with and without the Repeater Plug-in as well as the number of hours saved by using a turbocharged connection. On average, a turbocharged VPN user can free up over 7 percent of his time in this scenario during a 40-hour workweek (3G-3.5 percent, ADSL-6 percent cable-12 percent).

Bandwidth reduction

Citrix Repeater not only makes a turbocharged VPN connection faster and more efficient, the accelerated connection consumes less bandwidth. Looking at the average bandwidth savings across all three WAN connections, we begin with an initial 8 percent bandwidth reduction during the cold run, file upload. As the user moves through the workflow, Citrix Repeater recognizes more and more common data objects and frees up 99 percent of the bandwidth.


Common Internet file system workflow

The Microsoft Windows File Sharing workflows studied the benefits of Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol acceleration between the client device and a Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 configured as a file server. The Microsoft Windows File Sharing workflow more specifically studied the benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway when a user downloads, edits and saves, and uploads documents stored on a remote file server over WAN connections.

CIFS offline edit ricochet

The offline edit ricochet workflow consisted of three individual steps that a user would perform during a typical document editing cycle. First, the user downloaded a 7 MB PPT presentation titled Version 1 from a remote file server located in the datacenter. The user saved the presentation to his My Documents folder and then edited the PowerPoint presentation adding 3 MB of new content. The user saved the changes as Version 2 and uploaded the presentation, now 10 MB, back to the remote file server. Finally, at some point in the future the user re-downloads the Version 2 presentation. This workflow measured the three steps as follows:

• Download Version 1 – The download time was measured from the time it took to copy and paste the document to the local device.

• Upload Version 1 – The upload time was measured from the time it took to copy and paste the document to the remote file server.

• Download Version 2 – The download time was measured from the time it took to copy and paste the document to the local device.


The benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway begin the very first time Citrix Repeater accelerates the CIFS traffic associated with downloading the PowerPoint presentation from the remote file server. Across all three WAN connections, the initial download is up to 2 times faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway. When the user uploads and later downloads Version 2 Citrix Repeater

recognizes familiar data objects and achieves even greater acceleration. On average, Citrix Repeater can process the CIFS file transfer over 23 times faster than an un-accelerated VPN session during the warm runs. The Cable connection yielded the highest level of acceleration, over 27 times faster during a warm run.

Figure 12: Average CIFS offline edit ricochet transaction time

Figure 12 displays the average transaction time for the 3G, ADSL, and Cable WAN connections with and without a turbocharged connection.

Productivity gains

In the offline edit ricochet workflow, the user is able to complete the entire sequence in anywhere from five minutes (cable) to 17 minutes (3G) less than it would take using an un-accelerated connection. If we expand this workflow across a workweek, where the user might perform this type sequence two times a day or 10 times per week, the time savings become even more pronounced.


Figure 13 represents the total time to complete ten unique offline edit ricochet workflows with and without the Repeater Plug-in as well as the number of hours saved by using a turbocharged

connection. On average, a turbocharged VPN user can free up 4 percent of his time in this scenario during a 40-hour workweek (3G-7 percent, ADSL percent, Cable-2 percent).

Bandwidth reduction

Citrix Repeater not only makes a turbocharged VPN connection faster and more efficient, the accelerated connection consumes less bandwidth. Looking at the average bandwidth savings across all three WAN connections, we begin with an immediate 18 percent reduction in bandwidth consumed when downloading the Version 1 PowerPoint. As the user moves through the workflow, Citrix Repeater recognizes more and more common data objects and frees up 83 percent of the bandwidth.


Microsoft SharePoint workflow

The Microsoft Office SharePoint Server workflows studied the benefits of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) acceleration between Microsoft Windows XP® and a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. The Microsoft Windows File Sharing workflow more specifically studied the benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway when a user downloads, edits and saves, and uploads documents to a SharePoint server over WAN connections.

MOSS offline edit ricochet

The offline edit ricochet workflow consisted of three individual steps that a user would perform during a typical document editing cycle using Microsoft SharePoint. First, the user downloaded a 7 MB PPT presentation titled Version 1 from a document library on a SharePoint site. The user saved the presentation to his My Documents folder and then edited the PowerPoint presentation adding 3 MB of new content. The user saved the changes as Version 2 and uploaded the 10 MB presentation back to the document library. Finally, at some point in the future the user re-downloads the Version 2 presentation from SharePoint. This workflow measured the three steps as follows:

• Download Version 1 – The download time was measured from the time it took to download the document from the SharePoint document library to the local device.

• Upload Version 1 – The upload time was measured from the time it took to upload the document to the SharePoint document library.

• Download Version 2 – The download time was measured from the time it took to download the document from the SharePoint document library to the local device.


The benefits of turbocharging Access Gateway begin the very first time Citrix Repeater accelerates the HTTP traffic associated with downloading the PowerPoint presentation from the SharePoint server. Across all three WAN connections, the initial download is 10-20 percent faster with a turbocharged Access Gateway. When the user uploads and later downloads Version 2 Citrix Repeater recognizes familiar data objects and achieves even greater acceleration. On average, the Citrix Repeater can process the HTTP file upload and download over 32 times faster than an un-accelerated VPN session during the warm runs. The Cable and 3G connections yielded the highest levels of acceleration, over 39 times and 37 times respectively faster during a warm run.

Figure 15: Average MOSS offline edit ricochet transaction time


Productivity gains

In the offline edit ricochet workflow, the user is able to complete the entire sequence in anywhere from four minutes (cable) to 7 minutes (3G) less than it would take using an un-accelerated connection. If we expand this workflow across a workweek, where the user might perform this type sequence two times a day or 10 times per week, the time savings become even more pronounced.


Figure 16 represents the total time to complete ten unique offline edit ricochet workflows with and without the Repeater Plug-in as well as the number of hours saved by using a turbocharged connection. On average, a turbocharged VPN user can free up 3 percent of his time in this scenario during a 40-hour workweek (3G-4 percent, ADSL-2 percent, cable-2 percent).

Bandwidth reduction

Citrix Repeater not only makes a turbocharged VPN connection faster and more efficient, the accelerated connection consumes less bandwidth. Looking at the average bandwidth savings across all three WAN connections, we begin with an immediate 31 percent reduction in bandwidth consumed when downloading the Version 1 PowerPoint. As the user moves through the workflow, Citrix Repeater recognizes more and more common data objects and frees up 99 percent of the bandwidth.


Test environment Citrix conducted the “Citrix Branch Repeater Performance Report” testing in a laboratory network. The network consisted of datacenter and a remote workspace connected by a simulated WAN. In the datacenter, Access Gateway, Enterprise Edition sits in the DMZ and is the entry point into the datacenter. Downstream and inline from the Access Gateway is Citrix Repeater. Connected to Repeater is a Citrix® XenServer® hosting the domain infrastructure virtual machines. The domain infrastructure included a Windows Server 2008 Active Directory domain, an Exchange 2007 server and a Microsoft SharePoint 2007 server.

Figure 18: Citrix Branch Repeater Performance Report test network

In the remote workspace, Dell® Precision™ 380 workstations, running Windows XP SP2, acted as the client devices. The client devices were domain members with the Repeater Plug-in and Access Gateway Plug-in installed. The Access Gateway Plug-in would first establish the SSL VPN tunnel between the device and Access Gateway. Next, the Repeater Plug-in and Citrix Repeater appliance communicated through the VPN tunnel to establish communication and download the acceleration rules.

An Apposite Linktropy WAN emulator connected the remote workspace and the datacenter. The Linktropy was set to simulate a 3G, ADSL and cable WAN.

For more information on configuring a turbocharged Access Gateway, please reference the “Turbocharge Access Gateway Deployment Guide and Reference Architecture” – CTX121035.

http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX121035

Hardware and software configuration

The lab used in the Citrix Branch Repeater Performance Report utilized the following hardware and software:

Component Operating system Hardware Microsoft Active Directory Windows Server 2008 VM on Citrix XenServer

2GB RAM, 2 dual-core CPUsMicrosoft SharePoint 2007 Windows Server 2003 VM on Citrix XenServer

2 GB RAM, 2 dual-core CPUsMicrosoft Exchange Server 2007 Windows Server 2003 VM on Citrix XenServer

2 GB RAM, 2 dual-core CPUsWAN emulator Version 3.0.7 Apposite Linktropy Mini Citrix Repeater Version 5.5 0.125 Repeater 8540

Citrix Access Gateway Enterprise Release 9.0.66.12 Model 7000 Citrix XenServer Version 5.0 Dell PowerEdge 1050

Client device Windows XP Professional SP2

Dell Precision 380

Table 2: Hardware configurations used in the report

Software Version Microsoft Office 2003 Service Pack 2

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional Version 8.1.3

Table 3: Software applications used in the report

Conclusion In an era when teams are increasingly virtual, mobile and remote workforces are on the rise, and users have moved further and further away from their data, a proven remote access strategy is a must have for any organization. In parallel, organizations are asking their employees to be more versatile, increase productivity and reduce expenses. Together, these trends have driven secure remote access via the Internet into the limelight as one of the most important links into and across an organization.

Turbocharging Access Gateway addresses the forces being exerted on the organization, the IT department and employees. Access Gateway is an industry leading SSL VPN offering unparalleled access to user data, applications and Citrix Delivery Center™. Citrix Repeater improves this experience by accelerating traffic over the slow WAN links to create a fast and responsive LAN-like connection. Citrix Repeater can also extend its reach out to branch offices with the addition of Citrix Branch Repeater. Only Citrix offers such an elegant and integrated solution with the Citrix Delivery Center.

With a turbocharged Access Gateway users can get more done and are more productive. Remote and mobile workers can perform their daily work with efficiency that rivals that of office workers.

• Sending and receiving e-mail, especially with attachments is up to 50 times faster

• Downloads, uploads and copying and pasting to a remote file server is up to 30 times faster

• SharePoint workflows with document libraries is up to 50 times faster

Moving beyond the enriched user experience, the organization sees immediate benefits with the turbocharged solution.

• Overall employee productivity is increased.

• Help desk calls from remote employees is reduced.

• WAN bandwidth is made available.

About Citrix

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is the leading provider of virtualization, networking and software as a service technologies for more than 230,000 organizations worldwide. Its Citrix Delivery Center, Citrix Cloud Center (C3) and Citrix Online Services product families radically simplify computing for millions of users, delivering applications as an on‐demand service to any user, in any location on any device. Citrix customers include the world’s largest Internet companies, 99 percent of Fortune Global 500 enterprises, and hundreds of thousands of small businesses and prosumers worldwide. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies worldwide in more than 100 countries. Founded in 1989, annual revenue in 2008 was $1.6 billion.

©2009 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Citrix®, Access Gateway™, Branch Repeater™, Citrix Repeater™, HDX™, XenServer™, XenApp™, XenDesktop™ and Citrix Delivery Center™ are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Citrix Access Gateway and Branch Repeater Performance Report

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