Common NetScaler Gateway deployments

You can deploy NetScaler Gateway at the perimeter of your organization's internal network (or intranet) to provide a secure single point of access to the servers, applications, and other network resources that reside in the internal network. All remote users must connect to NetScaler Gateway before they can access any resources in the internal network.

NetScaler Gateway is most commonly installed in the following locations in a network:

You can also deploy NetScaler Gateway with Citrix Virtual Apps, Citrix Virtual Desktops, StoreFront, and Citrix Endpoint Management to allow users to access their Windows, web, mobile, and SaaS applications. If your deployment includes Citrix Virtual Apps, StoreFront, and Desktops 7, you can deploy NetScaler Gateway in a single-hop or double-hop DMZ configuration. A double-hop deployment is not supported with earlier versions of Citrix Virtual Desktops or Citrix Endpoint Management.

For more information about expanding your NetScaler Gateway installation with these and other supported NetScaler solutions, see Integrating with NetScaler products topic.

Many organizations protect their internal network with a DMZ. A DMZ is a subnet that lies between an organization’s secure internal network and the Internet (or any external network). When you deploy NetScaler Gateway in the DMZ, users connect with the Citrix Secure Access for Windows or Citrix Workspace app.

Figure 1. NetScaler Gateway deployed in the DMZ

In the configuration shown in the preceding figure, you install NetScaler Gateway in the DMZ and configure it to connect to both the Internet and the internal network.

When you deploy NetScaler Gateway in the DMZ, user connections must traverse the first firewall to connect to NetScaler Gateway. By default, user connections use SSL on port 443 to establish this connection. To allow user connections to reach the internal network, you must allow SSL on port 443 through the first firewall.

NetScaler Gateway decrypts the SSL connections from the user device and establishes a connection on behalf of the user to the network resources behind the second firewall. The ports that must be open through the second firewall are dependent on the network resources that you authorize external users to access.

For example, if you authorize external users to access a web server in the internal network, and this server listens for HTTP connections on port 80, you must allow HTTP on port 80 through the second firewall. NetScaler Gateway establishes the connection through the second firewall to the HTTP server on the internal network on behalf of the external user devices.

You can install NetScaler Gateway in the secure network. In this scenario, one firewall stands between the Internet and the secure network. NetScaler Gateway resides inside the firewall to control access to the network resources.

Figure 1. NetScaler Gateway deployed in the secure network

When you deploy NetScaler Gateway in the secure network, connect one interface on NetScaler Gateway to the Internet and the other interface to servers running in the secure network. Putting NetScaler Gateway in the secure network provides access for local and remote users. Because this configuration only has one firewall, it makes the deployment less secure for users connecting from a remote location. Although NetScaler Gateway intercepts traffic from the Internet, the traffic enters the secure network before users are authenticated. When NetScaler Gateway is deployed in a DMZ, users are authenticated before network traffic reaches the secure network.

When NetScaler Gateway is deployed in the secure network, Citrix Secure Access for Windows connections must traverse the firewall to connect to NetScaler Gateway. By default, user connections use the SSL protocol on port 443 to establish this connection. To support this connectivity, you must open port 443 on the firewall.