MSTerminalServices.org Monthly Newsletter of March 2007 Sponsored by: 2X SoftwareWelcome 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. What's up?Hello there! It's been a quiet month so far. We were surprised when Microsoft released SP2 for Windows 2003 server out of the blue. 775 fixes to update your server with, in a single download. Citrix has released ica client 9.237 because of Vista. The team from Login Consultants has released a free MSI for Softgrid Sequence Migration tool for those of you who are looking at application streaming now that Microsoft has dropped the price on this technology. That's all for now! Catch you later! 2. KB Articles of the MonthHere are some interesting and useful Terminal Services related articles posted by Microsoft in the last month:
3. 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:
4. On The SpotThis month we talked to Peter Ghostine CTO of Provision Networks. Stefan: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you joined Provision Networks? Peter: I started Provision Networks in 2004 when we spun off from Emergent OnLine, a leading integrator of application delivery and virtualization technologies. From 1999 to 2004, while at EOL, we developed a variety of terminal services enhancement tools such as Desktop Manager (desktop and session configuration and lockdown) now known as Manage-IT and the EOL Universal Printer now known as Print-IT, all of which were extremely popular - and continue to be so today under the Provision Networks umbrella. Stefan: Can you tell us a bit about the history of EOL's Universal Printer driver? Peter: Although it wasn't the first universal print driver solution on the market, EOL Universal Printer was released in February 2001 and was the first such product to leverage the virtual channel specification. Today Print-IT is the most comprehensive universal print driver solution available, supporting features such as:
And many more features that will make this list too long, but are mentioned on our website. Stefan: Did the process of changing from "that printer vendor" to the Provision Networks Application Suite go well in regards to market recognition? Peter: We really never were a single product company (i.e. "that printer vendor") because we had at least five different products already on the market before the spin-off. So you could ask how the transition went from a "tools" company to an enterprise provider of application delivery and desktop deployment solutions. The transition was simply a natural evolution on one hand and market driven on the other. As customers demanded alternatives for existing server-based computing vendors, and in our quest to become more strategic for our customers, adapting to the new Provision Management Framework platform was (and still is) the way to go. Stefan: Companies like Provision Networks are continually venturing into Citrix's market space. With all the product features available for a much lower price than Citrix charges, it's an interesting alternative, even for larger companies. Can you tell us a bit about how that is working out for Provision Networks? Peter: We didn't set out targeting Citrix as a competitor. We set out to fill a market need that was largely ignored. We set our eyes and focus on small and mid-market customers. That has proven to be very effective. However, as large customers learned about the breadth of the Provision Networks solutions, they positioned us themselves as an alternative in their environment. So in general, we've been pleased with the adoption among customers of all sizes. Stefan: One of the features in the suite is the excellent USB Redirection, enabling you to support handhelds of any type. Are there any plans for extending this USB Redirection to more devices, as this is one step ahead of the competition? Peter: USB-IT is a one-of-a-kind solution for redirecting USB-based handhelds, including Palm, PocketPC and BlackBerry devices. There isn't any other solution on the market that can do this. We are certainly extending the supported devices in upcoming releases. For example today we have also scanner and camera support working in-house (both TWAIN and WIA) which I believe is slated for release at the end of March. Stefan: With Vista having just been released including the RDP 6.0 client, was Provision Networks ready for it? With the new RDP engine from Longhorn around the corner; will Provision be ready if Microsoft makes the Longhorn deadline? Peter: We are ready today and have customers already running with Vista in production. As for Longhorn support, we are confident the support will be available simultaneously. Stefan: There have been some rumors about a Java or CE based PMF client. Are they true, and if so, how far along are they? Peter: They are not rumors! We have had a CE client for quite a while now. We have tested it on HP, iGel, and Computer Lab thin clients. Actually, Computer Lab now ships their CE devices, with the Provision Networks client pre-loaded. We also have a Linux client available which will be embedded with several manufacturers' devices. Stefan: VDI is the buzzword for 2006/07 and Provision is there working together with VMWare providing the Virtual Access Suite (VAS). How is the market responding to this cooperation and ease of deploying VDI solutions? Peter: VDI is certainly game-changing for server-based computing vendors. Everyone is scrambling to either position VDI as "immature" or by delivering stop gap solutions. We are already there with the most comprehensive VDI solution available. There have been many challenges in the adoption of server-based computing solutions as enterprise desktop management alternatives. VDI solves that, and customers are already deploying the Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite for VDI along with VMware Virtual Infrastructure to virtualize their enterprise desktop environments. The VDI deployments we are working with are larger than any SBC deployment anyone has ever seen, so I would say the market is responding quite positively! Stefan: A few weeks ago Provision Networks published a press release regarding upcoming technology. One of them was improving latency reduction on RDP. As far as I know, you are the first ones in the market providing this technology. How does it work, and when will it be available? Peter: The announcement you are referring to was relative to Microsoft supporting our efforts to further extend the Provision Networks enterprise feature-set and deliver RDP latency reduction and graphics acceleration - improving audio, video, graphics and multimedia application responsiveness over low bandwidth, high latency connections. Stefan: Another technology mentioned at the press release was Graphics acceleration. That type of technology is really new, as other vendors have hardly touched that yet. To my knowledge that only puts you and Citrix in that functionality box. Can you tell us a bit about the technology and when we can expect it? Peter: In terms of feature functionality, we provide most (if not more) than any other SBC vendor on the market. The only difference today is the underlying protocol. We have a clear understanding that Microsoft has no plans to add latency reduction or graphics acceleration into Longhorn, so that potentially puts us into the next platform release date (around 2010), and is rather looking for the ecosystem to deliver. We've stepped up with plans to deliver both. Stefan: If people got curious, and want to evaluate your products, what can they do? Peter: Stefan, thank you for the opportunity you are affording Provision Networks. It really isn't a matter of "if", but a matter of "when" as customers become increasingly familiar and aware of our solutions! Stefan: Thanks for the interview Peter. I will see you at Briforum next month! 5. Rumors on the SBC SpaceI think this month's most shocking surprise was Brian Madden selling his house and living wherever suits him best. A brave decision, GO BRIAN. The team from ctrl-alt-del has released a free Terminal Server load balancer. MS NLB not doing it for you? Check out this new cool tool. TS factory Ica recorder is almost ready now. Try the latest beta and give it a shot if you were looking for project Iris but cannot wait any longer. See you at Briforum in a few weeks or via next month's newsletter! TechGenix Sites
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