To streamline the provisioning and deployment of NetScaler application delivery controllers (ADCs) and improve application performance, we have launched a new NetScaler VPX image in tech preview that has been developed specifically for Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV). NetScaler’s advanced application delivery and security capabilities combined with Nutanix’s hyperconverged infrastructure enhance application performance and reliability in virtualized environments:
- NetScaler VPX, a virtual form factor, provides comprehensive application delivery for all types of application deployments including traditional and microservices applications. It offers high performance with fast application development delivery, a comprehensive centralized management console, and orchestration and automation for application delivery across hybrid cloud environments.
- Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) is a virtualization solution within Nutanix’s hyper-converged infrastructure platform, designed to simplify and streamline the management of virtualized environments. It offers high performance, security, and scalability without the need for separate hypervisor licenses or additional management tools. Nutanix AHV integrates seamlessly with Nutanix’s Acropolis operating system, providing an efficient and cost-effective alternative to traditional hypervisors.
Deploying NetScaler VPX with Nutanix AHV ensures unlimited scalability, high availability, and comprehensive application security with Layer 3 to Layer 7 protection and built-in API protection.
NetScaler VPX and Nutanix AHV are complementary solutions, and together they provide secure remote access, enhanced security, web and application load balancing, and acceleration features all in a single virtual ADC.
The benefits of using NetScaler VPX with Nutanix AHV
NetScaler VPX and Nutanix AHV together provide a powerful solution for easy administration, web-scale flexibility, and cost efficiency. Key benefits of using NetScaler VPX with Nutanix AHV are:
- Scale your infrastructure up or out according to your business needs
- Reduce server costs by using server offloading and optimization capabilities
- Reduce the need for additional investments in network infrastructure by leveraging powerful compression and traffic optimization
- Mitigate IT risks associated with vulnerable web technologies and protect against potential data loss by leveraging built-in network- and application-level security features
- Ensure continuity of operations by leveraging the high-availability capabilities at the server and site levels
- Improve application end-user productivity and customer satisfaction with enhanced application performance
Use cases
Launching new applications and periodically updating them is a complex process that can be time consuming, resource intensive, and costly. However, with NetScaler VPX running in your virtualized Nutanix AHV environment, this process becomes streamlined and helps reduce the time required to deploy applications to the application end user. Some of the primary use cases for NetScaler VPX with Nutanix AHV are:
Global load balancing to ensure continuous availability
NetScaler VPX configured for global server load balancing (GSLB) provides disaster recovery and ensures continuous availability of applications by protecting against points of failure. GSLB balances the load across data centers by directing customer requests to the closest or best-performing data center, or to surviving data centers if there is an outage. The result is minimized network latency, improved reliability, and faster and more reliable response times for a better application end-user experience.
Server offloading and optimization
NetScaler enables more applications to be delivered to more users with far fewer servers by offloading the processing of functions that servers don’t do well, like TCP connection setup and management, HTTP content caching, and data compression. You can also achieve enhanced server efficiency through server specialization and support for dynamic workload management.
Securing network traffic, applications, and access
The foundation of NetScaler’s security capabilities is its integrated web application firewall (WAF), which safeguards organizations from application-layer attacks and prevents the loss of valuable corporate and customer data. Additionally, NetScaler provides a comprehensive set of authentication, authorization, and auditing (AAA) features, along with full-featured SSL/TLS offloading, to allow precise control over user access to applications under specific conditions.
Reducing ADC total cost of ownership
NetScaler provides a comprehensive suite of application delivery capabilities in a single, integrated platform. NetScaler VPX reduces costs by offering multiple value-added capabilities in a single virtualized form factor, unlike other application delivery solutions that require several separate physical devices for features such as global server load balancing, web application firewall, and SSL/TLS offloading.
How the former and new NetScaler VPX images for Nutanix AHV compare
The former NetScaler VPX image was a kernel-based virtual machine (KVM) that was supported through the Citrix Ready partnership with Nutanix. The new NetScaler VPX image improves ADC provisioning and performance and is now supported by NetScaler directly rather than by Citrix Ready partners.
To get early access to the new NetScaler VPX image for Nutanix AHV fully supported by NetScaler, register here.