Stratusphere UX

We use this solution to monitor all devices connected to the network, such as virtual machines, workstations, work computers, and more. It is used for monitoring systems facing any kind of issues, troubleshooting, and more.

There are a lot of customization options, such as creating your own tables and more. You have the option to make whatever you like and see whatever you want. If you want something to show up or remove from your table, you can do that. The application offers features to export the data in various formats like PDF, HTML, text, and CSV. Therefore, there are plenty of options available, and the application's intuitive design makes it really helpful.

The time taken by the solution for the data to load should be improved. It was pretty high in some instances. The latency for some stuff to load up was pretty high.

I have used Liquidware Stratusphere UX for three months extensively, around six months ago.

The solution is stable. However, it took some time to load up stuff. I did not see any crashes at all.

The solution is scalable. It could be used in a large or small organization.

Everyone in our organization had access to the solution, but nobody used it. However, in my team, I was only the one to operate the solution.

The initial setup was definitely not easy. You had to get used to the application. I took a course that provided a primer for the application. We had a talk for around two or three hours; even after all that, you would still need some time to get used to it effectively.

I was the only person in my entire team who was using the application. Moreover, there is not a lot of training available for the solution.

The solution is not too expensive compared to other alternatives.

Our client had a partnership or something, and they gave us this solution’s access.

If you are looking for a great amount of data and insights into what people are doing in your organization, then definitely go for it. You would be able to see so much data that you would be drowning in it. But if you are someone who likes simple things, then it would not be for you. If you like delving deep into things, then go for it.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

We used the solution for one of the last accounts, which had Zen Desktop 7.15 on-prem with PVS and multiple geographic locations. There were almost 10,000 end users using the applications and VDI desktops, and the solution was used to generate reports of user performance.

The management needs multiple reports on a weekly or monthly basis, as well as monthly reviews with higher management, in order to benefit from the VDI environment. This is beneficial for user experience, as different kinds of reports and dashboards are used to enhance it.

Performance monitoring is a valuable feature. For example, when the end user submits a ticket regarding their VDI being slow, the engineer can go to the console, enter the user ID, and check the specific timing. For instance, if they set aside time in the afternoon, they can see if Word or Excel is spiking and using more CPU, which could be degrading from a performance point. Without the monitoring feature, this would require hourly work to monitor the infrastructure on a daily basis.

The solution is progressing and as the environment grows the solution is also adapting and moving into the cloud.

The main challenge for this solution is its lack of availability for training and in-depth troubleshooting steps. I have worked as an operations engineer, implementation engineer, and architect in India. However, the solution is not readily available to every customer. For example, if a company purchases a license and implements the solution, the BAU operation team may be unfamiliar with the product. The solution provides some free training and videos on its website, but it could improve its training and support for customers who purchase a license. Additionally, I have found it difficult to get support for production-related issues. The solution could improve its response time for these issues.

I have been using the solution for six months.

As long as our OS is compatible with the version of Liquidware Stratusphere UX, the solution is stable.

The solution is scalable.

The solution will provide a calculator. For example, before deploying to the cloud, Liquidware Stratusphere UX has a calculator. Let's say we have ten thousand VDI environments, so we must enter the data into the calculator. Based on the size of my infrastructure, the calculator will give us recommendations. Whether we need two data appliances, three hub appliances, and four network appliances, and to ensure higher availability, what should be the size of our database appliance? By default, it will come with the database OS, but we can add an extra hard disk. We need to know how much 50GB, 100GB, or 500GB is. Based on our environment, we must input the data into the calculator and it will give us a good guideline. We must then implement the best practice guidelines the calculator gives us and perform performance testing. If we feel we can do something extra, we can add components.

Depending on the size of our deployment, if it is very large, we may need two or three resources. If it requires more than one resource to complete the implementation, we must have three deposits ready: the IP address, the Subnet Mask, and any other necessary activities.

The deployment is quick; we just deploy the appliances, then register them. We establish communication between us and the database appliance, as well as our network appliances, the agent, and the client. Finally, we must ensure communication between them.

The price varies depending on our model type and the number of users or devices. According to my lab's use, The vendor offers bulk collections or devices. We need to decide which is most suitable for our environment: should we use a per-user or per-device model or a bulk one? Depending on the volume, they may give us discounts. For example, if we have a large volume of fifty thousand or more devices, we may get a discount. Otherwise, we need to decide which model is best for us: a power-user or a power-endpoint device.

I give the solution an eight out of ten.

The solution does not require much maintenance. We must keep a backup of the data clients and all the configuration settings. We should save it whenever we make any changes to the configuration. Therefore, we must keep a secure backup of these configurations in case something happens, For example, to the ESX host or the virtual infrastructure host where the code is located, we must be able to rebuild and use these configurations.

Before going into production, we should train our operations engineers on how this solution works and the common troubleshooting techniques. If we are resource-sensitive, that is something to consider. When purchasing the license and making an agreement with the vendor, we should also consider the technical support they will provide and in what scenarios they will provide it.