What is Amazon AppStream 2.0?

Amazon offers two different services, Amazon WorkSpaces and AppStream 2.0, that can be used to deliver apps remotely either streamed via a browser or within a virtual workspace (desktop). Amazon AppStream 2.0 allows organizations to publish individual applications that are then streamed to end users on any device using an HTML5 browser, providing those applications as SaaS (Software as a Service).

AWS AppStream Logon Simulator - An Overview

For years, slow logons and login failures have been the most common complaint in Amazon Apptream infrastructures. For an Amazon AppStream user, slow logons can lead to frustration, lower productivity and efficiency. For an Amazon AppStream administrator, logon slowness is a complex problem that takes a long time to resolve. There are dozens of steps involved in the logon process and they involve multiple steps right from authentication, enumeration to successful logon. Identifying which step is exactly causing the slowdown is often time consuming and laborious.

To ensure great Amazon AppStream user experience, administrators need to monitor their infrastructure proactively and be alerted to issues in advance, before users notice and complain. In order to do so, administrators need a consistent measure of Amazon AppStream logon performance – one that is available 24x7, even when there are no users accessing the host pools. Collecting logon metrics of real user activity is challenging. Metrics have to be collected from different tiers involved. Even then, it is difficult to get a consistent assessment of Amazon AppStream logon performance because different users have different profiles and policies associated with them. Furthermore, there will be times when no one is logging in to Amazon AppStream infrastructure , and at those times, it is important to know if Amazon AppStream logon is working and whether users can launch their applications and desktops successfully.

The eG Logon Simulator, a part of the eG Enterprise, is a purpose-built solution for delivering proactive visibility into the logon performance in Amazon AppStream infrastructures. Using an agentless approach, the eG AWS AppStream Logon Simulator simulates a user logging in to an AWS AppStream Web Client through a browser, reviewing the list of applications/desktops accessible, clicking on a selected application or desktop, launching a desktop by initiating a session and then logging off. By emulating the exact same process that users go through when they logon to AWS AppStream Web Client, the eG AWS AppStream Logon Simulator provides a realistic measure of the user experience during logon. Since every simulation tests the entire AWS AppStream infrastructure, the results represent the cumulative health of all of the tiers supporting logons.

Unlike traditional simulation tools that require recording of a script that captures the typical steps a user performs, the eG AWS AppStream Logon Simulator requires no recording and hence, is simple to implement. Installed on any desktop that has the Chrome browser configured, the simulator targets the configured AWS AppStream Web Client logon URL and launches applications/desktops 24x7 at pre-configured intervals and tests the application/desktop logon availability and performance. When a problem is detected, the offending step is clearly highlighted, so administrators can start working on a resolution immediately.

The simulation can be configured to run from different remote locations, to understand the logon performance from each location. By testing the simulated session from different locations and at different times, administrators can diagnose and resolve logon issues before users experience them and call up the helpdesk. Licensing is based on number of simulation locations, not on the number of logons simulated.