Citrix Access Suite 4 for Windows Server 2003: The Official Guide, Third Edition

Given the improved functionality, stability, and performance available in a server-based computing paradigm founded on Windows Server 2003 and Citrix MetaFrame XP, most businesses will want to upgrade as soon as possible. Like any major overhaul of the corporate infrastructure, migrating to the Windows Server 2003/Citrix MetaFrame XP environment is not without its limitations and pitfalls.

Introduction to Migration

This chapter addresses upgrade and migration concepts and considerations, both from an OS (Windows server) perspective, and from the server-based computing (Terminal Services/Citrix MetaFrame) perspective.

Why Migrate?

The benefits of migrating away from Windows NT 4.0 are well documented and plentiful. Heading the list are the dependency on NetBIOS name resolution services and the lack of integrated directory services. Given that most organizations will migrate away from versions of the Windows operating systems with a finite life expectancy, the benefits of migration in a server-based computing network are simple: Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 domains provide the extensible global structure that works hand-in-hand with the global deployment of server-based networks. MetaFrame XP and Windows Server 2003 provide greater fault tolerance, resilience, manageability, and flexibility. They also offer a licensing model more appropriate to a computing paradigm that is no longer tied to the user's workstation, and provide superior accessibility, scalability, and security.

That said, large-scale migrations and upgrades are never easy and are always subject to long nights and unforeseen problems. To that end, a combination of Microsoft best practices for upgrading the operating system and domain, as well as Citrix best practices for MetaFrame XP migration are needed. A subset of Microsoft's strategies related to server-based computing is covered in the "Migration Limitations and Restrictions" section that follows. However, administrators should develop a specific project plan detailing all of the Microsoft-centric steps required for domain and server upgrades. From the Citrix perspective, Citrix Consulting Services (CCS) developed a specific philosophy for managing migration.

CCS Citrix Migration Methodology

The CCS migration methodology is made up of the following five main phases:

In addition to the five main phases, a management checkpoint is included at the end of each phase to review deliverables and assess overall project status. Project management is also required throughout each phase. The CCS migration methodology is depicted in Figure 20-1.

Figure 20-1: The CCS migration methodology

The five phases of the CCS methodology are explained in the following sections.

Analysis The analysis phase is broken down into four segments:

The following deliverables are created during the analysis phase:

In addition, if a proof of concept is conducted, those results are also published during the analysis phase.

Design The design phase includes the following segments:

The following deliverables are created during the design phase:

Implementation The implementation phase includes the development and testing of any components or scripts that were identified and planned during the design phase. Examples of implementation phase deliverables include

Readiness The readiness phase consists of the following two main segments:

The testing and pilot segments are used to verify that the native MetaFrame XP architecture and the migration architecture will scale to support production users.

Production Rollout The production rollout phase consists of the installation and configuration of the non-pilot portion of the production environment. This includes the rollout of the migration architecture that will evolve into the native MetaFrame XP architecture.

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