MSTerminalServices.org Monthly Newsletter of February 2008 Sponsored by: Ingenica

Welcome 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

1. Cutting up the VDI pie even more

This month, Sun Microsystems has joined the VDI bandwagon by acquiring a German company called Innotek, which is a supplier of open source virtualization software. With Innotek's product VirtualBox, Sun wishes to extend its xVM-platform to the desktop.

VirtualBox allows developers to create and test applications for different platforms. According to Sun, VirtualBox is a good addition to its previously announced xVM-platform for servers to bring more dynamics to the Datacenter.

VirtualBox runs on Windows, MAC OS X, Solaris and a bunch of Linux tastes. Guests can run on any x86 OS. It is an excellent substitute to the VMware workstation and Microsoft Virtual PC.

Their server version called a third generation hyperkernel is not talked about much, not even on their website. Googling a bit around tells you that they have an implementation on a 32 core system out there. Let's see where Sun can take that one, as that has lots of potential. Though, that would be be in direct competition with Sun's own xVM bare metal hypervisor with xVM Ops Center management software. Can these 2 coexist in the future? Best of breed in the end? I think Sun may surprise us in the year to come.

In a blog entry here it is mentioned that they got OpenSolaris working as a host for VirtualBox. They even got seamless application running under XP on the OpenSolaris desktop. Windows media player running on the OpenSolaris desktop. Quite impressive.

Shortly after, Propalms takes a swing at things by announcing their entry into the VDI market this year with a Virtual Desktop Manager to be introduced in their existing TSE. This completes the long list of new VDI vendors: VMware, Sun, Citrix, Leostream, Qumranet, Ericom, ClearCube, and others. How much pie can you divide?

The plan is to release this Virtual Desktop Connection Manager in Q3 2008 currently codenamed Shiva. The Virtual Desktop Connection Manager will allow companies to manage and deliver virtual instances of Windows Desktops to client devices in the same simplified manner that they have been able to with TSE. Propalms is planning to go public, so you may want to keep on eye on this one to spend a bonus or two.

2. KB Articles / Webcasts of the Month

• A Windows Server 2003-based computer responds slowly to RDP connections or to SMB connections that are made from a Windows Vista-based computer
• When you use Remote Desktop Connection to create a Terminal Services session to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server, the first drive letter of the client is not redirected to the Terminal Services session
• The printer spooler may crash randomly on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that has an HP printer that is installed

3. Ask our MVPs a question

Errata January 2008 Newsletter: In the last newsletter a limitation of 4 cores was mentioned for Windows Server 2003. This is incorrect. The OS can recognize up to 4 sockets, regardless the number of cores on it, and can fully utilize them. Thank you to those readers for pointing this out to me.

QUESTION: Stefan; when I was moving from Citrix MPS 3.0 to 4.5, I wanted to take the opportunity to clean up all printer drivers on the server and start from scratch, without a full server reinstall. After removing the drivers via start, settings, printers, file, server properties, drivers tab, I still noticed a lot of leftover printer driver garbage on the system. I thought I did it right; where does the clutter come from?

Regards,
Cleanup Clarence,

ANSWER: Dear Clarence,

You discovered a real issue when it comes to removing a printer driver. Indeed the official way of removing it leaves quite some residue behind. I could explain every registry key you would need to check, but luckily there is a very cool tool out there from Kyocera. They released it to thoroughly remove Kyocera drivers, but it works with all drivers making this a killer tool to use over the official way of doing it. You can download it from my website (NB this is an executable file).

4. Learning Zone

We 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:

• Enable Single Sign-On (SSO) for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services.
  Date - Feb 13, 2008; Author - Robert J. Shimonski; Section - Articles & Tutorials :: Security
  In this article Robert shows us how to enable Single Sign-On on the new Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services. I am confident that this one could be interesting for many of you early adapters out there.
• How to install and configure Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite (VAS) Enterprise Edition. Part 1 and Part 2
  Date - Feb 20, 2008; Author - Patrick Rouse; Section - Articles & Tutorials :: General
  Patrick gives us a deep insight into the Provision Networks VAS suite. This software shows you that you can have Citrix functionality, but for a very different price. Make sure to check it out.

5. Tip of the Month

This tip of the month is the release of the RES Free Powerfuse Express Edition. For those of you who are not familiar with it, this is the tool to use when locking down clients or terminal servers the hardcore way. No way end users will ever mess up your servers again. Now that the express is out free of charge, I would suggest that you give it a try.

You can download the software here. Want to read about how to install it the quick way instead of going through the manual? Sure, read up on that here. If you are more of a visual man, there is even a video on how to install it here>. (Ignore the Dutch text on the website)

6. Blog Posts

The MS TS team has really given it a lot last month, 8 new articles about the new Terminal Services in Server 2008. The list is:

• Terminal Services Architecture
• Terminal Services Management and administration
• Remote desktop RDC client
• Terminal Services Printing
• RDC Enhancements and Administrative sessions
• Remote Desktop connection architecture
• Terminal Services RemoteApps
• Front side Authentication and Single Sign-On
• Another interesting one posted on TechNet is an article about manually revoking TS licenses in Server 2008.
• Microsoft also released an Infrastructure Planning and Design guide for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services in Beta. You need to sign up, but it's free and of good quality.
• An interesting article about Terminal Services 2008 regarding the number of users you can get on a system called "One reason Why Windows Server 2008 Terminal Server Will Allow You To Get More Users On A Box".
• The team of CTRL+ALT+DEL in Australia has updated their (free) client side load balancer to version 2.5 and it now includes an AUTO-CONNECT Feature.
• Next to the above update, they also released an application called TSLoadStats. TSLoadStats is a command-line tool to gather performance information from selected or all Citrix and Terminal Servers within a Domain.
• Curious about the new Citrix Webinterface 5.0? Have a look at this article which shows in detail what you can expect here.
• Also have a look at this article about an installation script for printing drivers. It might help you along the road when you need to install/move an environment.
• Do you have a large collection of Citrix policies in your environment, and would like these migrated to a new environment? No need to type them over. Have a look at this article on how to automate this process.
• Did not have a peek at 64bit yet? Make sure to read these articles on 64bit to get some education before setting up a test farm yourself.

7. Events / Links of the Month

It has been a quiet month from the regular media. The flood of tools and hot news by the bloggers is showing us that the market space in Terminal Services is getting bigger and bigger and definitely more seriously. Events are getting bigger every year most of you have tried out a vendor or two to see if you still betting on the right horse. Maybe 2008 is a good year to reevaluate your environment, and to see if it is still up to speed for the years to come.

See you next month!