ThinPrint .Print RDP Engine 7.6 is here. March 31, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Data Center Management.Tags: RDP, ThinPrint
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ThinPrint has released .Print RDP Engine 7.6 optimized for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services and will provide automatic reconnect to all available printers for the user.
Keep in mind that the solution is bit-sensitive … there is a version for 32bit and one fro 64bit. Licenses are available with 12 up to 60 months support. (more)
NVIDIA SLI Multi-OS for XenDesktop … offloading graphics to March 30, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Application virtualization, desktop virtualization.Tags: NVIDIA, SLI Multi-OS, XenDesktop
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Altough Citrix XenApp has already an enormous number of graphics acceleration tools onboard, sometimes a user got stuck with an application (not only by the graphics, but a lot of these apps are not multi-user, multi-session).
With the recent ‘boom’ in virtual desktops, a lot of companies looked at XenDesktop as a solution to centralize all these graphic-intensive applications. Within XenDesktop, Citrix has also done a lot for an optimal graphical experience, but one factor remains an issue: the graphics card in the server.
Wouldn’t it be great when you can offload all these graphic calculations to the graphical card within the server. It would be great, but no card was ready… till today … Nvidia announced Nvidia SLI Multi-OS Technology which supports multiple OS at the same moment using a virtualization technology, so two users can connect to a server and the server will provide each user with a maximum of graphics, as graphic-resources can be allocated to a user.
At present the technology is only available for workstations with Intel VT-D, but during last Citrix Summit there were talks about an appliance with 4 graphical cards offering maximum graphic performance to XenDesktop users, this might be it. There is a great market out-there for desktop virtualization when using off-the-shelf servers with this card.
(more on the NVIDIA website)
Virtualization & Cloud Industry News [30.03.09] March 30, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Application virtualization, Cloud Computing, Data Center Management, File Virtualization, I/O Virtualization, Memory Virtualization, Server Virtualization, Storage Virtualization & Storage, datacenter, desktop virtualization.Tags: Apple, Citrix, Gartner, HP, ICA, iPhone, XenServer
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Citrix released the technical preview kit for the Apple ICA client to the Apple iPhone App Store, if you are looking for more technical information visit the following review by Michael Keen or go get your ICA client at the Apple Store.
Parallels is launching “Parallels Workstation Extreme”, a desktop workstation virtualization offering developed jointly with HP and NVIDIA (more).
Neterion Launches Third Generation I/O Virtualized X3110 10 GbE Server Adapter to the World-Wide Channel (more).
HP SNMP Agents for Citrix XenServer Retail Available (more).
Gartner predicts that the hosted virtual desktop (HVD) market will accelerate through 2013, reaching 49 million units (read the report)
Quiet changes to citrix certifications … [importance to individual & partner certifications] March 30, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Uncategorized.Tags: CCA, CCAA, CCEA, CCEE, CCIA, education
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Quitely Citrix education has rebranded the ‘certificzation namings’, they name it … “Introducingthe next generation of Citrix certifications … with the IT professional in mind …” …
There are three certification tracks: administrator series, engineer series and architect series. The major changes are to be found in the ‘administrator series’. Next to the Citrix Certified Administrator a new certification has been added: Citrix Certified Advanced Administrator (CCAA). These changes primarely influence the personal certification level of IT specialists.
The CCAA focuses more on advanced topics an additional tasks like monitoring, optimizing and troubleshooting XenApp, while the CCA holds the basic skills to install, cofigure and manage a single product.
In short …
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Install, configure & troubleshoot XenApp … go for the CCA. (CCA 4.0 has been discontinued)
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Install, configure & troubleshoot XenApp and another product like password manager, SSL/VPN … go for the CCA Platinum
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Install, configure & troubleshoot XenApp and monitor, optimize & troubleshoot XenApp … go for the CCAA
One little catch … the new certifications for XenApp 5.0 are only available for XenApp 5.0 on Windows 2008
Within the ‘engineering series’, there is an update-path to Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer (CCEE) for XenApp 5 from Citrix Certified Enterprise Administrator (CCEA) for Citrix XenApp 4.0. The CCEE is currently still under development and the release is foreseen hof 2H/09. Personally I strongly believe that the CCEA will be discontinued as soon as the CCEE is fully up and running.
For those companies that are Citrix Solution Advisor and enjoy the benefits of a partnership, nothing much changes at present. A recent check on www.citrix-channel.com (which holds the certification requirements) showed no changes for Silver or Gold partners.
Minor change for Silver & Gold partners : CCSP 4.0 is no longer accepted for the ’sales-part’
Probably the new certification levels will be integrated in the partner requirements, only questions is .. When?
IBM Turns To Wyse For Thin Client Services March 27, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Application virtualization, Data Center Management.add a comment
IBM on Monday announced that it’s partnering with Wyse to get a thin client product line into its end-user computing strategies and services.
Capex vs. Opex: … the Point About Cloud Economics March 27, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Cloud Computing.Tags: capex, cloud economics, opex
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Bernard Golden on the economics of cloud compouting: when keep the server in your own data center and when in the cloud?
His reaction to the missing factors in a lot of research on cloud economics:
… the actual cost of internal data centers vs. external cloud. Comparing the monthly cost of an EC2 server against a putatively similar piece of hardware in a data center is simple-minded, because it overlooks:
1. The direct costs that accompany running a server: power, floor space, storage, and IT operations to manage those resources.
2. The indirect costs of running a server: network and storage infrastructure and IT operations to manage the general infrastructure.
3. The overhead costs of owning a server: procurement and accounting personnel, not to mention a critical resource in short supply: IT management and its attention.
(more)
Major Shift to Cloud IT Services Inevitable according to IDC March 27, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Cloud Computing.Tags: Cloud Computing
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IT infrastructure and services delivered over the cloud will be ubiquitous within five years, and vendors that ignore the shift from on-premises software to Internet-delivered technology will be left in the dust, IDC analyst Frank Gens predicted at the IDC Directions conference in Boston (more)
Virtualization & Cloud Industry News [26.03.09] March 26, 2009
Posted by Yves Peeters in Server Virtualization, Storage Virtualization & Storage.Tags: Citrix, Datacore, SANmelody, Xen
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Cisco Project California [Part IV - Unified Computing System] March 17, 2009
Posted by Roel Gydé in Application virtualization, Data Center Management, I/O Virtualization, Server Virtualization, Storage Virtualization & Storage, datacenter.Tags: Cisco, UCS, VMware
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So Project California has seen the light (previous post) … yesterday there was a gigantic-buzz across blogs, twitters and the web on Cisco’s UCS … Unified Computing System. A digest of the most important things-to-know …
· The system consists out of Fabric interconnects, Fabric extenders and Blade Servers, which work as 1 big unit within the data center. The Fabric Interconnect holds the “service profiles”, which are frameworks including paramets for power, cooling, network parameters, storage parameters, … These profiles are used for coordination and automation of each layer of the hardware stack (which includes the interconnects, the extenders, the NICs and the blade servers).
· The provisioning of the OS within a virtual machine or a physical blade is not part of the solution, in order to provision these OS and applications, the user will have to work with XML APIs.
· Cisco claims that they can reduce CAPEX with 20% and OPEX with 30%, this is not that surprising. A general automated and consolidated data center can obtain these ratios.
As this is a complete Cisco-centric-solution there are some catches involved:
· In order to maintain uptime it advised to have a cluster of Fabric Interconnects that work in an active/passive mode
· Cisco only supports VMware at present, although that certain reports claim that the solution will also be available for Hyper-V. The Nexus switch is included within the UCS solution but the Nexus works best with VMware
· What about vendor-lock-in?
Other items that have to be seen are:
· Pricing ! General availability of the solution is foreseen for Q2/09.
· The solution is aimed at server virtualization, what about solutions for application virtualization?
· The specifications of the blade servers
Additional information can be found at Cisco Press Releases, Cisco UCS Homepage, Data Center Knowledge, VMblog, Scott Lowe, Stephen Foskett,
Stay tuned for more …
