What is Citrix Provisioning Server?

The Citrix Provisioning Server enables organizations to reduce the number of systems that they manage, even as the number of computers continues to grow. This solution simultaneously provides the efficiencies of a centrally managed solution with the benefits of distributed processing.

This solution’s infrastructure is based on software-streaming technology. Using Provisioning Server, administrators prepare a device (Master Target Device) for imaging by installing any required software on that device. A vDisk image is then created from the Master Target Device’s hard drive and saved to the network (on a Provisioning Server or storage device). Once the vDisk is available from the network, the target device no longer needs its local hard drive to operate; it boots directly across the network. The Provisioning Server streams the contents of the vDisk to the target device on demand, in real time. The target device behaves as if it is running from its local drive.

Why to Monitor Citrix Provisioning Server?

Snags in the normal functioning of the Provisioning server – for instance, the inability of the server to connect to the database/License server, or, the existence of corrupt image files on the server - can not only delay virtual desktop provisioning in XenDesktop environments, but can also cause inexplicable errors in the streaming of vDisk contents to target devices.

To ensure that such anomalies do not scar the user experience with the Provisioning server, 24 x 7 monitoring of the server is essential. Besides promptly capturing current performance issues, periodic monitoring can also provide early warning signals of probable issues. eG Enterprise offers a 100%, web-based Citrix Provisioning Server monitoring model that periodically monitors the Citrix provisioning servers in a farm to promptly alert administrators before anything untoward happens.