NAV 2009 on Citrix

ALopez27
ALopez27 Member Posts: 42
edited 2010-04-07 in NAV/Navision Classic Client
We have NAV users at three locations, the main location (with most NAV users) are where the NAV server resides, however, we are running Citrix connections for ALL users (including the local office), does this make sense at all? When would you ever run NAV on citrix if the db resides at same location? For the other two remote locations, is this the only option to get acceptable performance?

A.L.

Comments

  • William_Holland
    William_Holland Member Posts: 15
    Hi there,

    no, paying for Citrix licenses doesn't make sense if you're at a server location. Connect straight to the database instead (from a cost/performance point of view). There may be administrator's reasons for having a single maintenance (through Citrix) though. We use terminal server (remote desktop connection) abroad which works just fine, and come with the operating system at no additional cost.
  • matttrax
    matttrax Member Posts: 2,309
    If you are doing actual desktop control / deployment, sure. But if you are just doing it to deploy the application, it seems kind of silly.
    Matt Traxinger - ArcherPoint
  • rdebath
    rdebath Member Posts: 383
    Citrix licenses are quite expensive still there can be good reasons to use a Citrix server.

    Both clients.

    NAV 2009 refuses to install on any version or service pack of windows that officially unsupported. It doesn't matter if it'll work or not. In addition it installs a great deal of unused code when it does install; for example every 'supported' version of DotNET when the Ordinary client uses no version of DotNET and the RTC users just V2. If your standard install is partitioned this huge lump of code can easily fill the C: drive.

    "Classic" client.

    All processing is done on the client machine if the link to the server from ONE client is slow or loses packets it's possible to slow down the entire system.

    The Role tailored client.

    For something that's touted as a something like an RDP client or very simple web browser this is an incredibly heavy application. If the phrase "Old crap" could apply to your machines or network it won't work well.

    The RTC requires a working Domain to work between machines. If you don't have a DC or it's 'flaky' the RTC will not work properly.

    Summary.

    All these issues can be solved by throwing money at the problem, so it comes down to which costs less. Citrix is normally a poor solution because it's likely the other issues will have to be fixed later anyway, however, the Partner may not have been believed when they said how 'unsuitable' the existing systems were.
    Robert de Bath
    TVision Technology Ltd
  • David_Singleton
    David_Singleton Member Posts: 5,479
    rdebath wrote:
    For something that's touted as a something like an RDP client or very simple web browser this is an incredibly heavy application.

    Well it was never touted as a thin client in any way at all, these were just rumors spread by the community. :whistle:
    David Singleton
  • ALopez27
    ALopez27 Member Posts: 42
    On NAV 2009 Classic, there is clear performance issues using citrix on the local office (where the NAV db is installed), the citrix clients are much slower when doing processing intensive tasks, what would cause the citrix clients to be significantly slower then the local installed clients? in other words...I’m not sure that I understand what it is about running NAV through Citrix that would affect how long it takes a submitted transaction to finish. Does anybody have any ideas on that?

    A.L.
  • rdebath
    rdebath Member Posts: 383
    Lots of things could make the Citrix connections slower.

    Without any clues I'd fall back on the "the server is overloaded" response and say you should upgrade it.
    Robert de Bath
    TVision Technology Ltd

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