MSTerminalServices.org Monthly Newsletter of August 2007 Sponsored by: SecureIDAWelcome to the MSTerminalServices.org newsletter by Stefan Vermeulen, MVP and Citrix CTP. Each month we will bring you interesting and helpful information on MS Terminal Services and server based computing. We want to know what all *you* are interested in hearing about. Please send your suggestions for future newsletter content to: SVermeulen@MSTerminalServices.org Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon!
1. The BuzzMissed the buzz? The last few weeks the market, analysts and application delivery specialists have been having their say on what has been going on. The buzz is huge. For those of you who missed it; Citrix has bought XenSource for 500 million dollars. Xensource is a Hypervisor, putting Citrix in direct competition with VMware. This really shifts the market, as VMware is in fierce competition with Microsoft over the upcoming virtualization market, which is expected to be huge. Microsoft is working on its own hypervisor, codenamed Viridian, which originally was set to be included in the Windows Server 2008 release. With Viridian not making the Server 2008 deadline and now scheduled for release half a year after Server 2008, this puts Microsoft in the back seat, where VMware delivers now, and Citrix probably in 2008 when they are finished integrating XenSource. So why is this interesting for Terminal Server administrators? Times are changing, and the application delivery market is scheduled to change in the upcoming years from pure screen scraping application delivery to fat/thin clients, into a mix of screen scraping applications using Citrix or Terminal Services, client devices connecting to VDIs (Virtual Desktop Interface) and applications being streamed on demand to fat client devices, or these same VDIs already providing the desktop. With this type of application delivery being so close to the current terminal server's administrator tasks, I see these 2 worlds coming together. If not today, then in the next few years. You can see the shift already with Citrix renaming iforum to "The App Delivery Expo" this year to get the new message out. But back to the main story. Citrix is paying a huge price for an open-source product that according to educated guesses, made a bit less than $5 million in revenue last year. This has the devils' advocates on their tip-toes. Is this a scheme from Microsoft which is a very good partner with Citrix to get its hands on the code for Viridian? Is this a bold move from Citrix to take up the boxing gloves with Microsoft to stand stronger in upcoming negotiations on Terminal Server technology licenses? Is this a price contest where Citrix felt the need to cough up more than intended, not to get stuck with a second miss like they missed out on Softricity and to make sure they got XenSource? The scenarios are endless, and so are the blog entries on this subject on the web. The case is that it is unclear if there are now 3 big players in the virtualization market, or just 2 with Citrix and Microsoft living in the same happy ecosystem. Looking at it from a healthy view, Citrix does have a track record of taking time to integrate takeovers into their suite. They can re-brand the current version, just to get sales started, as expectations are high on this. Of course the pricing has to match Citrix's pricing model, so the existing market will have to switch for the current Citrix customer base to push it. The plan is to make $50 million in 2008 alone on this. Integrating XenSource with their desktop server product to push out VDIs and then use Citrix's own icaport technology (icaport is a project where the rdp connection is replaced with an ica session when connecting to the desktop remotely) to connect to these VDIs and the circle is closed. Just throw in a cheap thin client device for the end user. It cleans up the desk, and there certainly is no man overboard when the building is hit by burglars And where does Virtual Iron fit in the picture (A smaller player using the same code base as XenSource)? With XenSource out of the way, they are the only player with an extremely low price to beat out opponents. (Like Provision Networks taking on Citrix on Presentation Server) We have exciting times ahead on this type of technology. If and what will be the technology challenging VMware to the market leaders' crown? Will Citrix give it a try? Will Viridian surprise us all? Only time will tell. Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon!
2. KB Articles / Webcasts of the MonthHere are some interesting and useful Terminal Services related articles and webcasts posted by Microsoft in the last month:
3. Ask our MVPs a questionThis is simple and straight forward: shoot us your TS/Citrix question and we will get some of the top Terminal Services MVPs together and get you an answer, from everyone’s point of view! The best question of the month will be published here with all the answers from these guys. Just email us at SVermeulen@MSTerminalServices.org. QUESTION: Hello Stefan, ANSWER: Dear Peter, 4. Learning ZoneWe have a great group of articles in the Learning Zone that will help you get a handle on your most difficult configuration issues. Here are just a few of the newer and more interesting articles:
Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon!
5. Tip of the MonthMicrosoft has updated its little gem to version 1.22. Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. It combines the features of two legacy Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon, and adds an extensive list of enhancements including rich and non-destructive filtering, comprehensive event properties such as session IDs and user names, reliable process information, full thread stacks with integrated symbol support for each operation, simultaneous logging to a file, and much more. Its uniquely powerful features will make Process Monitor a core utility in your system troubleshooting and malware hunting toolkit. This may be just an update, but it should be mandatory in a Terminal Server administrator's toolkit. This tool could save you a bundle of time. (I know it has for me) 6. Blog Posts
7. Events / Links of the MonthI think I started with this month's biggest news; Citrix acquiring Xensource. Also the word "free" seems to be in the air this month. Login Consultants released the Solutions Framework community beta. A freeware version of their "solution 4" methodology. The Visionapp Experience 2007 has been released as freeware. How to build up a Citrix 4.5 server in 20 min using pure automation power Citrix renamed its yearly conference to "iForum 07, the App Delivery Expo". I think this tell us a bit of where Citrix is going the next few years. For the rest it has been a quiet month. But I do think that this takeover spree is not finished. We will get to see more throughout the remainder of this year. Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon!
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