Getting Started FAQ's

Common Questions for new Customers

Reisbel Machado avatar
Written by Reisbel Machado
Updated over a week ago
  • What is Cloud Automation Stack (CAS)?

itopia Cloud Automation Stack (“CAS”) is a Cloud Desktop management and orchestration tool for IT professionals to manage and deliver Cloud Desktops on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP).  CAS enables IT professionals to quickly enable end-users, via CAS Admin Portal, with secure access to their corporate data, applications, and resources on any device at anytime.

  • How does a user get started with their itopia Provisioned Cloud Desktop?

After the Desktop environment has been fully configured, the IT professional will receive a list of temporary passwords for end-users. Upon the first long-in, the user will be prompted to input the password, and users will be required to change the password upon their first login. Once the user is setup with an RDP client, he or she will be able to login with their credentials.

  • How can I get started with Cloud Automation Stack (CAS)?

To get started with Cloud Automation Stack, you just need to sign up for itopia and GCP on GCP Marketplace. Once registered, you are redirected to the CAS Portal. During the provisioning of a customer's environment, a prompt will appear to choose a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Project, or create a new one. Once CAS is deployed to your GCP Project, you can begin provisioning and deploying cloud delivered virtual desktops.

  • What does an end-user need to launch an itopia CAS provisioned Cloud Desktop?

To use an itopia provisioned Cloud Desktop, a user needs to have a desktop provisioned for them and a broadband internet connection. For optimal performance, the local connection should have 250 kbps of bandwidth per user. However, 150 kbps per user will suffice. Latency of under 100 ms is recommended for a good user experience. A user will also need an RDP client that can be downloaded here providing their username.

  • Can end-users install applications?

End-users do not have administrator rights. By default, end-user rights are locked-down on itopia CAS Cloud Desktops. CAS administrator. can restrict end-user access to only those applications and data (folders and files) required by the end-user to perform their job. CAS administrators are essentially the IT staff for their end-users -- optimizing their Cloud Desktops by ensuring the proper applications are installed, folder permissions are setup, security groups are configured, etc.

  • Are itopia Provisioned Cloud Desktops persistent?

itopia Provisioned Cloud Desktops are persistent. Thus, when a user logs off, all application and session data is saved.

  • How is user data backed up?

Through CAS,  IT professional can configure Snapshots with retention policies in order to accomplish an effective backup solution. Additionally Microsoft Volume shadow copies can be configured for free on Windows instances.

  • How does the migration process from on-premises infrastructure to itopia Provisioned Cloud Desktops work?

To migrate an IT environment, an IT professional must first login to itopia and create a deployment in the system. Once the deployment is created, itopia sends an automatic welcome email to you since you will be migrating to itopia + GCP Cloud Desktops. Those e-mails contain a link to run the Discovery tool at each user’s workstation. This can be done by the end-users themselves, however, some administrators like to do this themselves. Once a user runs discovery, they will get a list of applications on their machine. That user is then asked to indicate which applications he or she uses. That data is then transmitted to the administrators through itopia CAS. The IT professional then has the option to audit each user’s discovered information to prevent a blind launch. The IT professional can audit users, applications, security groups, folders, servers, workstations, printers, and network nodes. Once the IT professional is ready to launch to the cloud, itopia will guide them through the migration process and notify them when this is complete.

  • What is CAS Management Portal?

CAS Management Portal is a single pane of glass management suite that allows IT professional to discover, provision, migrate and manage their deployments’ cloud hosted desktops and servers.

  • What can an IT professional do in CAS Management Portal?

The Management Portal allows IT professionals to manage the migration, provisioning, and day to day operations of their cloud hosted desktops. In the portal, IT staff can manage user access, create new user accounts and edit the existing ones. The deployment settings can be controlled as well including printing access, users, application installs, application assignment and restriction, and application uninstall, security groups, local drive access, network shares, enable password force complexity, reset passwords, enable remote app, etc. Through the portal,  IT stuff can also access deployment information, users, applications, notifications, audit logs, reports, deployment insights.

Billing

  • How am I billed for itopia?

Users are charged a monthly or annual fee dependent on their selection when subscribing to a paid plan.

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