Local Host Cache (LHC) & Evolution
Local Host Cache was a core feature of the Independent Management Architecture (IMA) that was introduced with Citrix Metaframe XP 1.0 in 2001, and was still used until Citrix XenApp 6.5 and now reintroduced in XenApp/Desktop 7.12
Technically, the LHC is a simple Access database where it stores a subset of the data store in each Presentation (XenApp) server. The IMA service running on each Presentation(XenApp) Server downloads the information for every 30 mins or whenever a configuration change is made in farm.
LHC primary functions are permits a server to function in the absence of a connection to the data store & improves performance by caching information of applications.
LHC contain the information of servers, published applications, Domain & Licensing. LHC evolved a lot over the years and allowed SQL downtimes for an indefinite period in its last release with XenApp 6.5.
If the data store is unreachable, the LHC contains enough information about the farm to allow normal operations for an indefinite period, if necessary. However, no new static information can be published, or added to the farm, until the farm data store is reachable and operational again.
The disappearance of LHC
With the release of the awful version 7.0 of XenApp in 2013 and the move to XenDesktop FlexCast Management Architecture (FMA), Citrix decided to remove the Local Host Cache feature–and many others–without offering any other alternative. To be fair, Citrix converged XenApp into XenDesktop, which was already using the FMA design since the version 5 and without Local Cache Host equivalent. This decision immediately made the SQL infrastructure a critical piece of any XenApp implementation. Any downtime on the SQL infrastructure would immediately cause a downtime for new sessions on the XenApp infrastructure as well. It could also have some side effects with the old Citrix Web Interface.
Citrix recommends having a highly available SQL infrastructure to host XenApp and XenDesktop databases. While you can successfully implement HA for your SQL infrastructure, it does not necessarily mean that you will avoid downtimes, as many components are to be considered.
The pseudo rebirth of LHC with Connection Leasing (CL)
Facing a storm of complaints, Citrix also started–finally!–to listen to its customers and released XenDesktop 7.6 in Sept 2014 with the Connection Leasing (CL) feature enabled by default.
Unfortunately, CL was not full replacement of LHC and it is alternative option provided in placement of LHC, limited to frequently used and assigned applications/desktops (up to 2 weeks by default). For users not using Citrix frequently or using pooled desktops, CL is completely useless and did not resolve anything. There are also many limitations: load management, workspace control, power actions are not supported.
The reintroduction of LHC
Citrix came up with a milestone achievement with its new idea as part of the XenDesktop 7.12 release in Dec 2016. This time, they claimed to bring back all the Local Host Cache (LHC) features from XenApp 6.5, even adding few improvements to make it more reliable. LHC feature is offered for Cloud and On Premises implementations along Connection Leasing in 7.12, but is considered the primary mechanism to allow connection-brokering operations when database connectivity to the site database is disrupted. Surprisingly, Local Host Cache feature is disabled by default. Let us expect Citrix to enable that feature by default in the next version.
When installing XenDesktop 7.12 and up, a SQL Express instance(Local DB) will be installed locally on each Delivery Controller to store the Local Host Cache. Config Synchronizer Service (CSS) takes care of the synchronization between the remote database and the Local Host Cache (Local DB). The Secondary Brokering Service (Citrix High Availability Service) takes over from the Principal Broker when an outage is detected and does all registration and brokering operations.
There are many limitations to consider with this version of LHC
- Local DB, which is a runtime version of SQL Server with a specific licensing that limits the usage of four cores.
- No support for Pooled desktops, which is a huge downside.
- No change can be made to the farm (assignments, publications, power actions, etc.), you cannot even open the consoles (Director & Studio) and PowerShell
- No control over the LHC election process and only a single Delivery Controller will take care of all VDA registrations and broker sessions for the whole zone during an outage which limits 5,000 VDAs per zone (not enforced)
- Most importantly, it is only a one-way communication between the LHC and the remote SQL database
- New version of the Local Host Cache would not assure you zero downtime. There is also a delay before users can actually connect .When the remote database goes down, VDAs still have to re-register to the newly and ONLY elected Delivered Controller. It can result in users not having icons in StoreFront or users not able to start new sessions for a short period.
In conclusion, it took Citrix almost 4 years to deliver a somewhat equivalent of the good old Local Host Cache for XenDesktop 7.x. The database is not a single point of failure anymore in a XenDesktop/XenApp deployment. However, customers with large deployments are not supported with this version of the Local Host Cache and some of the -HUGE- limitations can discourage you from using that feature
