NetScaler is a line of networking products owned by Cloud Software Group. The products consist of NetScaler, an application delivery controller (ADC), NetScaler AppFirewall, an application firewall, NetScaler Unified Gateway, NetScaler Application Delivery Management (ADM), and NetScaler SD-WAN, which provides software-defined wide-area networking management. NetScaler was initially developed in 1997 by Michel K Susai and acquired by Citrix Systems in 2005. Citrix consolidated all of its networking products under the NetScaler brand in 2016. On September 30, 2022, when Citrix was taken private as part of the merger with TIBCO Software, NetScaler was formed as a business unit under the Cloud Software Group.
Overview
The NetScaler line of products are the networking business unit for Cloud Software Group It includes NetScaler ADCs, NetScaler Unified Gateway, NetScaler AppFirewall, NetScaler Intelligent Traffic Management, and NetScaler Application Delivery Manager. The products can work in conjunction with other Cloud Software Group offerings, including its Citrix and Xen line of products.
NetScaler is integrated with OpenStack as part of Cloud Software Group's sponsorship of the OpenStack Foundation.
NetScaler offers a cloud native solution leveraging the advanced traffic management, observability, and comprehensive security of the NetScaler Platform as part of Cloud Software Group's contribution to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).
Products
NetScaler is Cloud Software Group’s core networking product. It is an application delivery controller (ADC), a tool that improves the delivery speed and quality of applications to an end user. The product is aimed at business customers and it performs tasks such as traffic optimization, L4-L7 load balancing, and web app acceleration while maintaining data security.
NetScaler monitors server health and allocates network and application traffic to additional servers for efficient use of resources. It also performs several kinds of caching and compression. It can be made a server proxy, process SSL requests, and offers VPN and micro-app VPN operations. It also includes NetScaler application firewall and SSL encryption capabilities. NetScaler ADC can manage traffic during DDoS attacks, making sure traffic gets to critical applications. Additionally, NetScaler's logs of network activity feed into Citrix's cloud-based analytics service and are used to analyze and identify security risks.
There are five versions of NetScaler: NetScaler MPX, a hardware-based appliance for use in data centers; NetScaler SDX, a hardware-based appliance intended for service providers that provides virtualization delivering multitenancy for virtual and cloud-based data centers; NetScaler VPX, a software-based application that is implemented as a virtual machine and intended for small business use; and NetScaler CPX, a NetScaler ADC packaged in a container and designed for cloud and microservices applications. NetScaler BLX, a bare metal solution that can run on top of any Linux, while offering line-rate performance.
In addition, the NetScaler line of products include Citrix SD-WAN, formerly CloudBridge SD-WAN, which provides software-defined wide-area networking and branch networking. the SD-WAN product was end of sale on December 31, 2022. NetScaler Unified Gateway offers secure remote access of virtual desktops and a variety applications from a single point of entry and with single sign-on (SSO).
The NetScaler Application Delivery Management (ADM) is a platform designed for the organization and automation of policy management across devices and applications. The tool is intended for IT professionals to manage the various NetScaler products from a single dashboard. This dashboard is applicable to all 5 versions (SDX/MPX/VPX/CPX/BLX) and works regardless of whether the device is deployed in the cloud or on-premises. The platform also provides real-time analytics. The NetScaler ADM is also available as a service. You can use this cloud solution to manage, monitor, and troubleshoot the entire global application delivery infrastructure from a single, unified, and centralized cloud-based console.
NetScaler Intelligent Traffic Management (ITM) is a cloud-managed domain name system (DNS) solution for centrally controlling and automating DNS and performing intelligent global server load balancing (GSLB) for multi-cloud networks. ITM monitors some ten billion real user measurements per day, eliminating the complexity, bottlenecks, and scalability limitations of traditional DNS implementations.