Citrix NetScaler Standard Edition provides small and medium enterprises comprehensive layer 4-7 traffic management, enabling increased Web application performance and availability and reduced application delivery costs. Citrix NetScaler Standard Edition is a highly integrated application delivery system that combines L4 load balancing, L7 content switching, and SSL encryption offload in an integrated, easy-to-use solution.
Offering the same Citrix NetScaler technology proven in large enterprise application infrastructures, NetScaler Standard Edition is a cost-effective solution for small and medium enterprises, or for larger enterprises that need to accelerate the performance of low-traffic intranet applications. It can be deployed within 30 minutes to enterprise applications such as ERP, CRM, HRM and data warehousing solutions, as well as internal and public-facing Web-based applications. The AppExpert Visual Policy Builder, system setup wizard, load-balancing configuration wizard, intuitive performance dashboard and automated protocol optimization provide industry-leading deployment speed and management ease.
Intelligent load balancing and content switching
Citrix NetScaler provides the industry’s most comprehensive layer 4-7 traffic management. Deployed in front of application servers, NetScaler delivers fine-grained direction of client requests to ensure optimal distribution of traffic. In addition to Layer 4 information (protocol and port number), traffic management policies for TCP applications can be based upon any application-layer content. Administrators can granularly segment application traffic based upon information contained within an HTTP or TCP request’s body, as well as L4-7 header information such as URL, application data type or cookie. Numerous loadbalancing algorithms and extensive server health checks provide greater application availability by ensuring client requests are directed only to correctly behaving servers.
Accelerated application performance
Citrix NetScaler Standard Edition delivers multiple TCP optimizations to improve the performance of the network and server infrastructure. For example, TCP connection multiplexing reduces thousands of short-lived client connections into a much smaller number of long-lived, persistent server connections. This and other TCP optimizations reduce server load, improving server performance and accelerating application response. NetScaler TCP optimizations are transparent to clients and servers, accelerating the delivery of any enterprise or Web-based application while requiring little or no configuration. The optional Citrix AppCompress module improves end-user performance and reduces bandwidth consumption by compressing Web application data, regardless of whether it is encrypted or unencrypted, before it is sent to the client.
SSL acceleration
NetScaler integrates hardware-based SSL acceleration to offload the compute-intensive processes of SSL connection setup and bulk encryption from Web servers. SSL acceleration reduces CPU utilization on servers, freeing server resources for other tasks. SSL acceleration is automatically enhanced by TCP optimizations and is fully integrated with the AppCompress option.
Application security
Patented Citrix Request Switching technology enables NetScaler to proxy legitimate client requests and block illegitimate requests. NetScaler Standard Edition includes always-active defenses against damaging denial-of service (DoS) attacks without performance penalties. The network can be further secured via L3-4 access control lists.
Reduced deployment and operating costs
Citrix NetScaler reduces application delivery costs by reducing the number of required servers and by optimizing usage of available network bandwidth. The intuitive AppExpert Visual Policy Builder enables application delivery policies to be created without the need for coding complex programs or scripts. In addition, NetScaler reduces ongoing operational expenses by consolidating multiple capabilities in a single solution managed with either a Web-based graphical user interface (GUI) or a powerful command-line interface (CLI). For multiple NetScaler appliances, the separately available NetScaler Command Center provides centralized administration of system configuration, event management, performance management and SSL certificate administration. As the complexity of network traffic and application deployments increases, NetScaler Standard Edition can be upgraded to NetScaler Enterprise Edition or NetScaler Platinum Edition, protecting investments in Citrix NetScaler solutions.
Netscaler system architecture
Citrix NetScaler application delivery solutions are purpose-built using an advanced, multi-layered system architecture. At the core of this architecture is the AppExpert Policy Engine, which provides full, bi-directional visibility of Web application traffic and a common policy framework used by all NetScaler functional modules.
