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Citrix Vs VPN??

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by jbinner

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We currently use Citrix solutions to access our network. Citrix is a dedicated server, with 5 other servers present. We are investigating a switch to VPN from Citrix. My main concern now is the speed hits of VPN.

The first and foremost reason for switching FROM Citrix is speed. It is in my expereince that VPN would be slightly faster. Am I wrong in this?

Setup is a T-1 Line from the "main" data center, with factional T-1 in our Florida Office, and cable modems in other locations. We also have home users, with either cable or DSL. The solution I am looking at now is SonicWall appliance at the main location, and Sonicwall VPN software for all outlying locations. Thoughts please??

11 replies

by mtle

Take a look at Citrix Secure Gateway, it free and will leverage your existing Citrix investment. The documentation is very straight forward and the overhead is small.

by jbinner

The lack of "speed" right now, with using the Citrix client, is the main issue. With the metaframe needing to refresh the screen, much like PCANywhere in my view, it tends to bog down and slow the network.

I am looking to VPN to remove that problem and direct network to the shares, software, exchange, etc.

by bsod_420

I currently use SonicWall products and have had great success with reliability, security and speed. I have a central office,several home users and 2 branch offices (one connects to our leased T1 the other has cox business cable). New sonicwalls also boast some great content filtering options and anti-virus features.

by gulsath

I'm about to go from SonicWall VPNs to Citrix Secure Gateway. Overall I have been happy with the VPNs. We are implementing 768K dedicated connections between the branches though and will have two heavily armed servers load balancing Citrix. Here's hoping.

by pmanjunk

I've used Sonicwalls for the past three years plus with great success between datacenters.
When I set up a Sonicwall small office firewall from a home cable network I ran into a problem. I was not able to obtain a static IP address. The cable company (Comcast) said this wasn't available at any price. Therefore, I could not find a way to set up the trust between my home office and the datacenters.
I eventually gave up this idea.
The Sonicwall's performed as advertised and never let us down, though.
Speaking of that, it's one of those situations that nobody has any knowledge that it exsists, and because it worked so well (and invisibly) we never received any credit for doing anything so well. Oh, well. You only hear about the equipment that breaks. :|

by roidude

If used correctly, VPN will certainly be much slower than utilizing Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Server (which has built-in SSL VPN capability by configuring the Secure Gateway). This is because Citrix allows the applications to execute on the back-end servers. You see only screen prints across the Interent which consume very little bandwidth. A session running over Citrix, therefore, will always be much faster than any VPN.

Performance aside, Citrix' new Access Gateway combines both the network security of IPSec with the application level security and ease of access of SSL VPN. There is no other VPN solution of which I am aware that can begin to compete.

Steve Kaplan
Co-Author: Citrix MetaFrame Access Suite for Windows Terminal Services: The Official Guide

by raydiant1

Isn't the Citrix vs VPN speed issue more complex than just straight speed? For example I use a laptop with a docking station at work.
When I go home I take my laptop and connect to the Internet.

If I use Citrix then the bandwidth is being used all the time for keystrokes and screen updates but all the grunty processing and large files are handled by the server I am logged on to.

If I use a VPN then a lot of the time (depending on what I am doing) I am using the processing power of my laptop - like editing a document. Just like working at my office. If I have to get that document off the document management system I have to download the whole document and not just the screen shots which eats bandith - while I do it.

While Citrix gives a consistent experience, VPN is more feast then famine. Isn't this the case?

by jbinner

I guess the overhead becomes an issue with switching to VPN though...right now the only thing we send across Citrix is the screen refreshes; all data and programs run on our servers here. That is the "Pro" for Citrix. What is the con though?

If all things become equal, we have another use for the citrix server, and would save thousands with one Sonicwall, Vs. a NEW Server for our other project.

I guess the other things to consider are having to install software on ALL remote and mobile users, rather then just ONE Citrix client.

Citrix is giving us a conference call today at 2:30 to discuss. I am neutral right now on EITHER technology, so we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the replies, keep em coming!

by gulsath

I've been researching our use of Citrix for about a year. We're scheduled to install Feb. 10. I'm going to have a point to point connection from each branch to this one. I've never been real wild about the thought of a VPN so I'm looking forward to this method.

by gulsath

I think I can get more functionality out of the Citrix SAM though. By the way, you should be able to set at your work side, the IPSEC Gateway to 0.0.0.0. This doesn't always work as specified. Here we use the IP the CEO's cable company assigns. It does change every now and then, but we can see that quickly by the alerts that come in.

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