MSTerminalServices.org Monthly Newsletter of January 2008 Sponsored by: Automation Control Products

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. The empire strikes back.

On January 15 VMware announced the acquisition of application virtualization vendor Thinstall. Thinstall's product allows the delivery of an isolated application, this can be compared to Microsoft SoftGrid, Citrix's Application Streaming, or Altiris's SVS technology. The key differentiator is that Thinstall technology is unique in its own way. Where the others transport their application to the client the Thinstall application is an isolated executable, ready to be started from the local drive or shared network drive.

The downside is that is basically it. Once the exe is "compiled" it can be started from such a location, and that is where the care stops. No management tools or version control or anything. Of course with VMware's money in the development budget or maybe even another acquisition on this part would make the product complete. The real magic is that this is coming from VMware. With this one they are stepping from hardware virtualization into the application delivery space. They have VDI and with this they can also close the circle. VMware now has the Full Monty to provide end users with a desktop that now includes applications.

The real magic is that this is coming from VMware. With this one they are stepping from hardware virtualization into the application delivery space. They have VDI and with this they can also close the circle. VMware now has the Full Monty to provide end users with a desktop that now includes applications.

This is a killer solution for end users with thin clients; but how about those end users with fat clients? They do not want a desktop inside a desktop. For them you will need to deploy the thinstall apps directly to the fat-clients. Maybe there will be room for another acquisition to fix that?

So then what happened? Microsoft bought Calista Technologies. Never heard of Calista? Don't worry; neither did I until now. So what do they do? They extend RDP to virtualize the GPU of the host computer. This makes it possible to support multimedia, streaming, full 2-way audio and full colored desktops and applications, over the good old RDP. So, how do we use this new cool stuff? There is no actual product, as Calista was a startup, so Microsoft has a bunch of code they need to integrate. Perfect to deliver apps from a VDI? Yes, indeed. Make it Hyper-V compatible only? Well, that would be a bit cold. They just renewed their vows with Citrix, so the Xen must also be capable of handling it. Rule out Vmware VDI? Well, that would be a nice start in the upcoming cold war.

If this RDP extension is so rich, could that affect Citrix ICA? I do not think so. The love between these 2 is too great to jeopardize. I think Microsoft will extend RDP and Citrix can hop on the bandwagon. In order for the Calista news not to rock Citrix's boat, an announcement was made that Citrix's XenDesktop will run on Microsoft Hyper-V. With the previous news release that virtual machine format will be compatible between Citrix Xen and Hyper-v it all starts making sense. They are teaming up against Vmware big time.

So where does this leave Citrix with quite a number of desktops running on VMware as VDI solutions? They cannot just cut the lines like that, so support will stay in place. It may just not be their "preferred" solution when the presales guy comes in. I am curious on how that story will sound.

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
• Support guidelines for migrating roaming user profiles data to Windows Vista or to Windows Server 2008
• Stop error message on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that has Symantec AntiVirus software installed: "Stop 0x0000007f"
• Unable to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 if Service Pack 2 is installed later on Windows Server 2003
• You cannot create a terminal server session to a Windows Server 2008-based computer by using an .rdp file that runs an initial program
• The Terminal Services service may be unable to start on a server that is running Windows Server 2008
• Stop error message on a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2: "Stop 0x000000AB (SESSION_HAS_VALID_POOL_ON_EXIT)"
• Print Driver Upgrade Hangs During Installation
• Incorrect client names may be displayed for redirected drives in Windows Server 2003 terminal server sessions if both Windows-based and Macintosh-based terminal server clients are used

3. Ask our MVPs a question

QUESTION: Stefan; I need to order some new Terminal Servers, and the vendor now offers them with quad core processors instead of dual cores for just a bit more than dual cores. Do you think those will boost my Terminal Server performance?

Regards,
Power Pete,

ANSWER: Dear Pete,
Hardware is getting more powerful, better and cheaper by the month. Just do not forget the OS that needs to run on it. Most TS operating systems out there are Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition. Standard Edition only supports up to 4 processors. So unfortunately you would not benefit from the quad cores, unless you install Windows Server 2003 Enterprise edition which can go to 8 processors. With the price difference of $1,200 versus $4,000, your extra power will be very expensive. One interesting loophole is the Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 standard edition. It costs the same as Windows Server 2003 standard edition but supports up to 32 GB memory. The downside of that is that you need to test all your applications to run in the emulation mode, and you need to have a good look at your printing engine. If you install Citrix 4.0 or higher x64 edition, you should be fine on printing using the UPDIII solution.

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:

• Writing Terminal Service Based Scripts. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
  Date - Jan 16 2008; Author - Brien M.Posey; Section - Articles : Scripting
  In these 3 articles Brien explains the basics of Terminal Server scripting and goes into detail on how the commands work and what you can do with them. The series is not finished yet, but these first 3 are a must read if you are planning to do anything with scripting.
• Changes to Windows Server 2008 Terminal Server Licensing? Part 1 and Part 2
  Date - Jan 02, 2008; Author - Michael Burke; Section - Articles : Licensing
  Michael shows us in these articles what is new in Windows Server 2008 when it comes to licensing. With the rich history of problems when it comes to TS licensing I would suggest that you read these articles with utmost care.

5. Tip of the Month

BGinfo is one of the most popular background information creation tools out there. I have seen it on so many workstations and servers that I have lost the count. From the website of ctrl-alt-del:

TSBackdrop is a command-line tool to automatically display relevant information about a Terminal Server or Citrix Session on the user's desktop background. Items such as the Client Computer Name,Client IP address, Username and the Server which the Client is logged on to, are all displayed in a neat little bitmap that is positioned in the middle of the user's desktop. This is particularly useful for helpdesk calls where the user can quickly provide the details of their session to the helpdesk operator.

Get this awesome tool here.

6. Blog Posts

• The Microsoft Terminal Server team has blogged about the Changes to Remote Administration in Windows Server 2008.
• They also made their first post about the previously mentioned Calista acquisition.
• Another nice blog post is about Remotely managing your Server Core using RDP by Sander Berkouwer.
• Citrix is riding the save the planet bandwagon with their Citrix PowerSmart utility. From the website "This free Citrix PowerSmart Utility attempts to help customers reduce power consumption by powering off idle Presentation Servers during off business hours." (Beta Version)
• Ever tried to get a smart card running on Terminal Server or Citrix? Overwhelmed with the complexity? Worry no more. Alex has written a detailed guide on how to get this stuff up and running.
• Using Citrix PN and need to run some changes? Use this script to make changes to your user's APPSRV.INI file via login script. The script adds or modifies .INI file key/value pairs and sections.
• Monitor your Citrix farm better then before. Have a look at project S-BEND which provides you with the ability to receive alerts whenever a change has been made to the Citrix farm.

7. Events / Links of the Month

Welcome to the first month of a fresh new year of Server Based computing news. And what a month it has been. VMware goes into application delivery. Microsoft goes into richer desktop/application delivery and Citrix goes out of its way to hop on all the bandwagons that came along this month. This year we can expect the release of Server 2008 with all of its new Terminal Server tools, and we can start exploring the potential of Hyper-v.

Want to start training early? Have a look at the online course "Course 6048: Implementing Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008". Ok, it is not freeware but $40 is not a showstopper either. Enroll for it here.

With so much consolidation in the Terminal Server/VDI/Application delivery space, what can we expect this year? Will this be it or will we hear more this year? To be honest I think so. It is not just in our space that all these takeovers are taking place. It seems to be a general consensus. Eat or be eaten is the motto.

Until then take care and see you next month!