Citrix OpenCloud Access

Citrix OpenCloud Access - the addition to the Citrix OpenCloud platform expands reliability, performance and security of the corporate data-center on any external or internal environment of "cloud" calculations, facilitating connection of corporate users to any "cloud" service regardless of type of the used hypervisor, network or the application. The new products Citrix OpenCloud provide to users the practical solution in the conditions of growth of number of various suppliers of the competing original "cloud" stacks. Instead of waiting who will win "cloud wars", users of the new products Citrix OpenCloud can provide the protected transparent connection to external "cloud" services which is not depending on specific hypervisors, standards of security, agreements on the level of service, networks and locations. The release of these products strengthens a leading position of Citrix even more — the only supplier of really open solutions for virtualization and network work in the environment of "cloud" calculations.

Ensuring required freedom and flexibility in "cloud"

With the advent of "cloud" calculations corporate users had a choice opportunity among the growing number of the applications and resources of the data-center provided in the form of "cloud" services on demand. Unfortunately, connection to such services quite often causes a number of the problems connected with security and incompatibility and often the services aggravated by suppliers who aim to tie users to the "cloud" stacks. To give to the users the chance to fully use the capacity of these services, IT administrators of the organization need to provide them universal and secure access from any device and from any point, having allowed not to worry about at what hypervisor work services what network topologies are supported and what platform the supplier of "cloud" service uses. Regardless of whether internal distribution of workload takes place, whether work through the partner in a hosting or external public "cloud" is conducted, service of users should be similarly provided by the corporate data-center.

The new products Citrix OpenCloud Access and Bridge give flexibility and an opportunity of the choice necessary for the IT organizations, facilitating transition to "cloud" architecture of the next generation without need to rewrite applications, to compulsorily build in networks difficult architecture or to manage the current configuration changes. The same security level, compliances to requirements and managements of certificates that is applied to internal resources, it is possible to expand easily and on external that will give to IT administrators the chance to select optimal model of deployment for each application. Each corporate user works only with one certificate, using the same set of credentials for access to all supported applications provided by means of "cloud" or the Software as Service model and receiving the same level of service and security as though applications were run in the corporate data-center.

Facts and aspects

The latest additions to the Citrix OpenCloud platform give to the enterprises unprecedented advantages:

• The uniform certificate for access to all applications: Citrix OpenCloud Access uses network approach which approves credentials and lifts limits about user credentials. It allows to use a uniform input in all popular applications provided in the form of service (for example, GoToMeeting®, NetSuite, Salesforce, etc.), corporate web applications in distributed infrastructures of IaaS ("infrastructure as service") or on the closed "cloud" platforms and also internal web applications and the Windows applications — in the same way as during the work with any other corporate applications. Problems of access control and the rights considerably become simpler due to need elimination to manage separately a great number of groups of the certificates distributed among the growing number of external applications. Besides, the new solution of OpenCloud Access is integrated with Citrix Receiver™, providing to users of the solution Citrix for virtualization of desktops the uniform universal client for secure access to any supported applications and resources of workstations from any device.
• Transparent expansion of network: Citrix OpenCloud Bridge facilitates for corporate users connection to network in external environments of "cloud" calculations and also access and management of "cloud" resources due to imperceptible high-speed expansion of their own network. It is safe and transparent expanding the corporate demilitarized zone on resources of "cloud", OpenCloud Bridge represents the circle of service provider as a part of the single protected network thanks to what need to change settings of network, security and access at transfer of applications from the corporate data-center to the external environment of "cloud" calculations or on the contrary disappears. This solution creates logical network topology over the existing corporate network, providing a safe tunnel with the optimized performance for transfer of applications and workflows in "cloud" where they are processed so as if still are a part of network of the corporate data-center.

Cost and possibility of acquisition

Both products will be available for sale as add-on modules for Citrix NetScaler product line. Citrix OpenCloud Access supports an unlimited number of the applications provided in the form of service. Additional connectors will be available to specially developed corporate applications. Citrix OpenCloud Bridge will go on sale at the beginning of 2011.