Performance Validation of Remote Applications

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Performance Validation of Remote Applications
Load Testing Citrix and Windows Terminal Server
deployments

• Siva Darivemula Director of Product Marketing,
  Performance Center, HP
• Rob Harper Director Citrix NA Sales SI/ISV
  Group

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Agenda

• Introduction
• Overview of Remote Applications and Technologies
• Application Delivery with Citrix
• Deploying Remote Applications
• Key issues
• Challenges
• Planning and Best practices
• Performance Validation of Remote Applications
• Citrix
• RDP/Windows Terminal Services
• QA

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When performance is less than expected
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Remote Application Delivery

• Trends driving remote business application
  delivery
• Globalization
• Telecommuting
• 27 of workers are remote/telecommute
• Increased points of sale/service
• 62 companies are increasing branch locations in
  2007
• Nemertes Research, 2007
• Challenges in providing remote application access
• Costs of development, deployment, maintenance,
  and upgrade
• Predictable and Reliable Performance under
  various workloads
• Security and integrity
• Ease of use
• Training, education, and support
• Solutions
• Web browser
• Remote Presentation Server
• Citrix ICA

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Scope and Complexity

• A customer that we know of..
• 10000 users 40 unique applications (15 custom),
  11-tier server farm spread across two continents,
  5 VPNs and 11 Network configs
• Test cases, script management, etc. etc.
• Other issues unique to remote desktops
• Remote access is one of the top failures in
  e-business transactions
• Many standard desktops
• Accounting for presentation layer
• User interactions
• Key strokes, mouse clicks, screen coordinates
• Not limited to one protocol but all traffic over
  the network
• Synchronization
• Ensure user is not ahead of whats on the screen

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Citrix and HP Partnership

• Rob Harper - Director Citrix NA Sales SI/ISV
  Group

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Citrix-HP Relationship Summary

• HP Software
• 2004, 2005 and 2006 HP Software Achievers Award
  winner
• Multiple joint solutions and integrated offerings
• Focused technical resources
• Servers
• 50 share of Citrix Presentation Server
  implementations
• 150 public case studies with Citrix and HP
  Servers
• HP engineer on-site at Citrix Engineering in Ft.
  Lauderdale
• Thin Clients, iPAQ, laptops, etc.
• Services
• Global SI Agreement
• CI and Managed Services engagement
• Printers
• HP Printer validation testing
• We are mutual customers

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13 October 2009
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Citrix Presentation Server 4.5
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Presentation Server 4.5 is
An end-to-end applicationdelivery system for all
Windowsapplications, both client/serverand
desktop
Best Performance Scalability
Lowest Total Costof Ownership
Highest Security
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Key Benefits

• Lowest-cost Windows application delivery
• Strongest protection for applications and
  intellectual property
• Outstanding application performance over any
  network
• Rapid application delivery to all users, anywhere
• Continuous application availability and
  reliability
• Best end user application experience

Presentation Server is used by more than 180,000
customers worldwide
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Presentation Server 4.5 New Technologies
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x64 Platform Support
Increasing server scalability and utilization

• Increases user density per serverup to 500
  users per server
• Dramatically reduces implementation costs
• Lowers costs of expansion
• Reduces recurring data center costs
• Bridges transition to x64 platform

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Scalability Testing Importance

• x64 Platform is a new game for scalability
• If moving from an older version, often new
  hardware as well
• New features can change farm designs
• Less need for application silos with Application
  Streaming
• Resource optimization technologies
• Ensure stability and performance of new
  environment

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Planning and Preparation
Application Performance Testing Best Practices
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Establish High Level Goals
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Identify and Triage the Business Process
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Load distribution by location per process

• Identifying user and load generation requirements
  per location for each business process
• Plan load generation tailored to the needs of
  site and business process

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Document User Steps and Data

• Capture real user behavior and interactions
• Incl. SME and experienced users
• Utilize solutions such as RUM and Screen Recorder

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Data Parametrization

• Capture data values across critical use cases in
  the business process

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Transactions for User Response Time

• Establish SLA parameters and violation thresholds
• Do this before any test script development or
  execution

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Capture results and key performance metrics
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Performance Validation for Citrix Applications
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Primer on Citrix Testing

• Understand how presentation layer works
• Network bandwidth
• User sessions
• Client interaction on user machine
• Bitmap presentation
• Mapping of keyboard and mouse movements to x, y
  screen coordinates
• Agent vs Agent-less scripting
• Agent developed by HP installed on Citrix server
  provides
• Easy to script by object name addition to
  function library for Citrix such as
  ctrx_obj_mouse_click()
• Improved replay by providing detailed information
  with object names along with coordinates vs. just
  coordinates
• Additional functionality for Right
  click-expandadd tree views
• Active Object Recognition visual object display
  within snapshot

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Citrix Agent for HP LoadRunner

• A separate executable installed by us on the
  Citrix Server
• Records additional information during recording
• Sends information back to Load Runner via Citrix
  channels
• During replay, tells us useful information about
  the state of the server
• Citrix provided us with a programmable API,
  including extensive callbacks

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Why Citrix Agent

• Not enough information available at client side
  to create more robust script, most of Citrix
  network traffic is bitmaps
• Object information using agent is running on
  Citrix server
• No Agent
• users can add manually sync_on_bmp calls
• different resolutions/color sets .
• sync_on_bmp uses hash codes which are not self
  descriptive

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Set up

• Load Generator and VUGen
• ICA client should be installed on the same
  machine used for script development
• Citrix server configuration
• Close session when inactive or break in
  connectivity from client
• New/clean session for each user failure or
  reconnection

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Scripting with VUGen

• Snapshot view
• Active screen
• Add step with context
• Add sync point offline

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Recording (1/2)

• Recoding options
• Window Sizing
• Identical to display setting in VUGen and load
  generator
• Enables LR to display windows in the size
  selected from dropdown menu
• Window name under recorder
• Recording with a prefix or suffix for window name
• Useful when name returned by citrix server is
  dynamic
• High client resolution
• (1280x1024, 1600x1200)

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Recording (2/2)

• Save snapshot under Recorder
• Allows user to correlate each step within the
  script with the visual snapshot
• Slower recording of script

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Keyboard vs Mouse

• Mouse clicks are recorded using object name and
  screen x, y coordinates
• Somewhat unreliable, esp. when coordinates sent
  tot Citrix server do not match
• Use keyboard whenever possible

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Window resizing

• Do not resize window during recording
• Allowed by LoadRunner
• Changes x, y screen coordinates
• Can be resized after recording by going to tree
  view and right select on properties

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Display Setting and color resolution

• Display setting should be the same during
  scripting and load generators
• Same screen resolution and color quantity for
  recording and playback

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Recording a complete session

• Perform complete business process from end to end
• End session cleanly by logging out of AUT
• All windows closed
• Start and end should be the same
• Separate login and logout from business process
  actions

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Synchronization

• Very important for successful playback of script
• Esp. when clicking objects within a window
• Allows virtual user to wait for event to occur
  before moving on to the next step
• VUGen recording toolbar provides two options for
  adding synchronization during script recording
• for bitmap
• For text

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Synchronization after recording

• Go to tree view and click on the object snapshot
• With object selected, add the type of
  synchronization to be inserted
• Insert Sync on text waits until text is
  displayed on screen
• Insert Sync on Object Info waits until object
  attributes have specific values

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Add logic to synchronization
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Timeout setting

• Global setting can be adjusted through script
  runtime settings or Timing tab
• Default unless Citrix authentication is slow
• Waiting time applies globally to all
  synchronizations within script
• Adjust depending on server performance
• Typing rate defines delay between keystrokes of
  virtual user
• Very useful for slowing user interaction or
  limited bandwidth environments

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Continue on error setting
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M.A. Mortenson Architecture
Minnie Portable Load Server
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Test Script
Structure script into separate Actions to
maximize maintainability
Use TAB and PAGE DOWN, not mouse click / drag
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System Scalability
Payroll process kicks in
End-to-end process response time over load
Result Adv Benefits (top line) and Time-entry
(bottom line) scaled welluntil Payroll back-end
processing kicked into high gear minute 22
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System Capacity
Linux resources over load

• Result Payroll Activity Report consumes heavy
  DB cpu and degrades interactive processes.

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Performance Validation for RDP
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What are Terminal Services?

• Delivering Windows-based applications to any
  computing device
• Based on the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)
• Closed spec - Microsoft proprietary

Mouse Keyboard
Display Updates
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LoadRunner support for RDP

• New in 9.0
• Recording using RDC and VUgen
• Mouse and keyboard events
• Recording similar to Citrix ICA

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RDP Recording Script View
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RDP Recording Tree View
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Supported Environments

• Servers Windows 2000 and Windows 2003
• Connection to Windows XP is not supported
• Clients Standard MS TS clients
• Remote Desktop Connection (RDC)
• Remote Desktop Web Connection (ActiveX)
• Multi with other protocols (Web especially)

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jetBlue Experience

• The TraxTM application environment
• 2-Tiered
• Powerbuilder client
• Absence of Middle Layer
• RDP Deployment
• Global distribution of Users
• Nearly 100 Business Processes
• Multiple Interfaces
• Aggressive delivery timeline
• Beta participant for LoadRunner 9.0

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The RDP Protocol feedback from jetBlue

• VuGen 9.0
• Ease of use
• Similar to Citrix protocol
• Tolerance if objects on AUT are moved
• Controller 9.0
• Enhanced scheduling
• Analysis 9.0
• New interface
• Easier to generate reports

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The Learning Curve

• For an Intermediate User, the initial experience
• 2 Days to get acquainted with the protocol
• 1 day to nail down the metrics
• For subsequent uses
• Very little ramp-up
• Eg It takes about ½ a day to create a
  login/logout script
• Keep in mind that the RDP Client is a form of
  Terminal Emulator which is not constrained by the
  nuances of the AUT. However it does not eliminate
  the need to understand the AUT as it may not be
  as intuitive as a Web Application.
• Opening up an RDP session is like Opening the
  Wardrobe to Narnia.the key is to make sure that
  AUT changes are controlled and communicated.

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BlueTips for the RDP User

• Understand the Business Processes and
  Transactions
• Create a Performance Test Plan and understand the
  User Experience
• Application changes need to be controlled and
  communicated
• Monitor all layers of the application environment
• Understand and document the Terminal Server
  Configuration

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VuGen Record and Playback
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Controller

• Snapshot here

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Analysis

• Snapshot here

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Recap
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Recap

• Remote Application Access is strategic to
  business success
• Performance is a critical for successful
  deployments
• Citrix Category Leader
• One of our leading protocols
• MSFT RDP
• Added in LoadRunner 9.0
• Performance Testing Considerations
• Protocols support any activity over the network
  not specific to one application
• Very large deployments to support many customers
• Remote Access is single point of failure for
  business activity
• Leverage the tools provided by HP Software for
  successful outcomes when deploying remote access
  technologies
• Use the agent and record/replay capabilities
• Industry leadership based on innovation,
  alliances, and technology.
• Access white papers and resourcers available on
  LoadRunner site

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QUESTIONS?