Manufacturer Boosts VDI Performance With Azure

A prominent manufacturing company faced significant performance and scalability challenges with its aging on-premises Citrix infrastructure. End-user productivity was hampered by slow virtual desktop performance, and the IT team lacked the ability to scale resources cost-effectively. By partnering with CDW to migrate its entire Citrix environment to Microsoft Azure, the manufacturer achieved a highly resilient and scalable solution. The transformation resulted in seamless, high-performance virtual desktop access for its workforce, a drastic reduction in performance-related IT tickets and the ability to scale virtual desktop instances in minutes.

This leading manufacturer relied on a Citrix virtual desktops infrastructure (VDI) to provide critical application access to its employees. The entire environment, including VDI, Microsoft SQL servers and Windows Servers, was hosted in an on-premise datacenter. However, the aging hardware struggled to keep up with user demands.

The company experienced frequent performance issues that led to a high volume of incidents logged by end-users. Furthermore, the on-premises infrastructure could not scale up or down efficiently to adjust to changing workload demands. Adding capacity would have required significant capital investment in new hardware, a costly and time-consuming process. The manufacturer needed a modern, cost-effective solution that could deliver consistent performance and agile scalability.

After assessing the challenges, the decision was made to re-platform the entire Citrix infrastructure to Microsoft Azure. CDW architected a solution designed for high availability, performance and scalability, using a suite of Azure services.

The solution included:

• Azure virtual machines: To host the Citrix VDI workloads, controllers and database servers.

• Azure storage: Premium solid-state drive (SSD) storage was utilized to ensure high-speed data access and eliminate I/O bottlenecks.

• Azure networking: A robust network architecture was established within Azure to facilitate secure and efficient communication between all components.

• Azure ExpressRoute: A dedicated 50 Mbps circuit was implemented to create a private, high-speed connection between the company's on-premises environment and Azure, ensuring reliable and secure hybrid connectivity.

The new infrastructure was configured with a focus on performance and resilience. The Citrix backend, including the SQL servers, now operates seamlessly on virtual machines optimized for their specific workloads.

Following the successful migration, the manufacturer’s workforce gained access to a dramatically improved Citrix environment. The agility of the Azure platform allows the IT team to scale virtual desktop instances up or down within five minutes, providing a powerful tool for managing costs and performance.

The impact was immediate and clear:

• Eliminated performance issues: The combination of optimized Azure virtual machines and premium storage resolved the persistent performance problems, leading to a smooth and responsive user experience.

• Reduced IT incidents: The number of IT tickets related to Citrix VDI performance and network connectivity dropped significantly, freeing up IT resources to focus on strategic initiatives.

• Gained agile scalability: The company can now adjust its VDI resources on demand without needing to procure or provision physical hardware.

• Secured hybrid connectivity: The Azure ExpressRoute circuit provides fast and secure connectivity, enabling efficient data transfer between the on-premise datacenter and the cloud.

This digital transformation has provided the manufacturer with a modern, powerful and resilient platform that supports its workforce today and is ready to scale for the future.