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• http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/01/15/xenapp-6-5-hosted-shared-desktop-sizing-example/
• http://blogs.citrix.com/2013/01/07/whats-the-optimal-xenapp-6-5-vm-configuration/
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd882521.aspx
• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321363

Server virtualization

When deploying any application on Citrix (XenApp), it's critical to have enough RAM to satisfy your Citrix server's requirements based on the number of anticipated clients as well as the RAM load of the applications that will be running on the server.

When determining the necessary RAM footprint, keep in mind that DAT-MAIL client computers *at a minimum* require DAT-MAIL, .Net Framework 4 and Pervasive SQL client drivers. DAT-MAIL's peak working set is typically around 142 meg.

In addition to DAT-MAIL, a DAT-MAIL user's overall RAM footprint on the XenApp client may need to include enough resources to run our EDocs Manager product, the USPS MDR Client and will include the Java runtime required by the USPS MDR Client.

Citrix indicates that XenApp-published applications require anywhere from 341MB to 1024MB per user.

"As a general rule of thumb, memory requirements should be calculated by multiplying the number of light users by 341MB, normal users by 512MB and heavy users by 1024MB (this number includes operating system overhead)."

This RAM footprint figure may not include enough memory to run a database-intensive application with .Net components while working with large Mail.Dat files. Citrix has published other recommendations to calculate RAM by providing as much as 4 Gigabytes of RAM for each user. If the client will be running other apps (or XenDesktop vs XenApp), you may find that RAM consumption skews toward the 4 GB figure.

While these numbers are far apart, administrators should keep in mind that no two apps are alike and experiences can vary depending on the mix of hardware involved and the load on the machine and the network it uses. These numbers were taken directly from Citrix materials referenced at the top of this document.

Clients who will be running the USPS MDR Client in 64 bit mode may require additional RAM beyond what is described above.

Virtualized machine specifications

Window Book publishes server and client specifications for physical hardware but virtualized machines can be configured with much better granularity and thus, can use fewer resources.

IMPORTANT: These are MINIMUM suggested requirements with no specific CPU chipset, motherboard or disk platform in mind, as these technologies change rapidly in both performance and cost. For your hardware, your network and your mail volume, more resources might prove to be cost-effective. Performing process benchmarking on your servers would be a prudent step in arriving at the optimum mix of cost vs. performance.

Virtualized Client - MINIMUM Requirements

• 1 CPU
• 1 GB of RAM
• 30 GB of disk including Window Book applications, the Windows OS, the Windows paging file and at least 20% free space.
• Display must be able to accommodate 1024 x 768 or greater display mode.
• Windows 7 Professional or higher. Home versions of Windows cannot be used due to networking limitations of those versions.
  Vista not supported, XP Pro SP3 may be used but not recommended.

Microsoft SQL Server

Our products support Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 and SQL Server 2012.

You may use existing instances as long as Windows Authentication may be used on those instances. Our products can be run on the same machine as SQL Server if you prefer, but it is not required. Keep in mind that SQL Server will use as much RAM as is available, but not enough to produce paging. It will release RAM as other processes demand it of the OS.

.Net products

EDocs Manager, Automation Scheduler and DAT-MAIL Prep are .Net products and have no special requirements for Citrix beyond Citrix's documented per-client RAM requirements.

Improving performance

Even in a virtualized environment, there are things you can do to improve performance.

For example, if the DAT-MAIL Import Daemon is being used in your installation, try to run it on the PC where your data is stored. If the Import Daemon must to be run on a separate Windows instance, try to run that instance on the same vSphere or Hyper-V server as the VM where the DAT-MAIL data is stored.