MSTerminalServices.org Monthly Newsletter of November 2007 Sponsored by: UniPrint

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. Consolidation in the Terminal Server space?

This month one of my favorite underdogs in the Terminal Server market has been acquired. I am talking about Provision Networks. They have been taken over by Quest Software. Quest made a big jump in the Terminal Server space with this one, and I can only hope this takeover will bring the Provision Networks VAS to a broader audience. With the right investments it can grow bigger than it is today. With the previous purchase of Scriptlogic, Quest is paving the way to channel their solutions to their broad range of existing customers.

With everybody focusing on VDI and virtualization today, this opens up a serious opportunity for Quest to be that "other vendor" when it comes to a Terminal Server deployment. The VAS suite is very rich on functionality and with its VDI solution very up to date on what's out there and what people are looking for. It includes profiles, printing, speed screen, USB redirection, web based connection, proxy solution, etc. Let's see what happens with the licensing model. Provision Networks is currently at $100 a user for the whole suite and I would hate to see that competitive price skyrocket.

Provision's CEO Paul Ghostine will continue to work within Quest, making it look like not much will change.

Worldwide a lot of consolidation of technology companies is going on as we speak. In the Terminal Server world, the rate of consolidation is slower. The Provision Networks takeover is actually the first one. Could this be the start of a flurry of SBC takeovers? Let's see what players are still out there:

• Jetro COCKPIT
• Genuit Thinworx
• Ericom PowerTerm WebConnect
• Propalms
• HOBLink Enhanced Terminal Services
• 2X ApplicationServer

They are all smaller, privately owned shops. For the right price though, they might cave in. With WMware being the current virtualization king, and now both Citrix and Microsoft having hypervisor, also together with the application delivery methods, it could be an option for VMware to acquire one of the smaller players, just to complete their solution. My 2 cents would be on Ericom, but only time will tell.

Where would that leave the rest if that happened? There is always room for small time players, who can offer their customers that unique service the bigger companies cannot provide.

2. KB Articles / Webcasts of the Month

KB Links

• Maximizing the Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services Evaluation Period

• You receive an error message when you try to print to a shared network printer in a terminal server session
• Update to disable Volume Shadow Copy Service restore options on Terminal Server client computers that are running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP
• Several orphaned Csrss.exe processes cause performance issues on a terminal server that is running Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003
• The color depth is unexpectedly changed to 8-bit when a high screen-resolution setting is used in a terminal-server session that is connected to a Windows Server 2003-based computer
• The PIN dialog box may not be displayed when you use a smart card to log on to a Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services session
• "Word is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action" error message when you copy a shape from a Visio drawing and then paste it into a Word document during a Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services session
• The RSH command does not accept input that is piped from a file in Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 and in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1
• Stop error message when a client logs off from a Terminal Services session on a server that is running Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or Windows Server 2003 with SP2: "Stop 0x000000AB (SESSION_HAS_VALID_POOL_ON_EXIT)"

• TechNet Webcast: The Significance of the Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Release to Market (Level 200)
• TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Session Broker (Level 300)
• TechNet Webcast: Deploying Remote Programs with Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services (Level 300)
• TechNet Webcast: Remote Desktop Protocol as a Presentation Remoting Platform (Level 300)
• TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Licensing (Level 300)
• TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services RemoteApp and Web Access (Level 300)
• TechNet Webcast: Developing for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services (Level 300)
• TechNet Webcast: Terminal Services Easy Print (Level 300)
• TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Security and Authentication (Level 300)

3. Ask our MVPs a question

QUESTION: Hello Stefan,

I have a vendor based application running on my Citrix servers, and it keeps disconnecting users sessions. I have contacted the vendor about this, but they say it's not their fault. Do you know any tool I can use to monitor the application to prove to the vendor that there is something wrong with the application?

Regards,
Disconnect Donny

ANSWER: Dear Donny,

I am afraid that the vendors application is not the fault. Unfortunately there are lots of potential causes for an application to get killed. The first step to take is to find out what users and which locations are affected. If not all of the users have the same problem, then the inconsistency is a starting point. Disconnections can happen with aggressive routers that disconnect live sessions, or any other piece of hardware between client and server. Check for keepalive settings in that hardware. Also, client side software firewalls or antivirus can cause this. Test a clean simple laptop ICA session from the exact location where the complaint is coming from. Over the years I have seen lots of weird disconnect issues solved this way.

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:

• Using 2X ApplicationServer to Publish Applications.
  Date - Oct 26 2007; Author - Brien M. Posey; Section - Articles : Management Tools
  In these articles Brien takes you on a deep journey through the 2X ApplicationServer. After these articles you won't even need to read the manual to get it up and running in your own shop
• SBC Migration Best Practices
  Date - Nov 7, 2007; Author - Wilco van Bragt; Section - Articles : General
  Wilco explains the things to keep in mind if you're planning to go from fat to thin. From desktops to apps, or maybe stick to desktops anyway.

5. Tip of the Month

I think that a lot of people are getting more curious about Microsoft's Project Viridian, now called Hyper-V. It is always better to get into the software instead of reading about it. Microsoft has been kind enough to provide a Beta including the Hyper-V technology as a public Beta. I would like to encourage you to download it here.

6. Blog Posts

• Citrix StressPrinters tool; one of the best tools that has come out recently, but highly misunderstood on how to test exactly. Thomas Koetzing describes, in a highly detailed article, what you can expect from it, and how to use it.
• Do you always use mstsc from the run command, but for the /console option only? Make sure to check out the Launch RDP command line utility to include validation and to tick on/off usage of drives and printers.
• The new name of Project Viridian (Microsoft's Hypervisor) has a new name. It's now called Hyper-V.
• Two Betas for the Mac have come out to the light of day. You can get one for both Terminal Server and one for Citrix.
• Want to have a complete overview of every ICA client and its functionality? You can now! Citrix has put together a list for your convenience (PDF).

7. Events of the Month

Citrix iforum this year…correction; The Application Delivery Expo presented by Citrix was mainly focused on Citrix's other new products, and there was not that much news for its flagship product, the Application Server. The biggest announcement was the release of project Delaware, which will probably hit public Beta next month. RTM is set for Q2/Q3 next year.

You'd better be ready for some serious upgrading, as you need Delaware to run on Windows Server 2008; Presentation Server 4.5 does not. The successor to Delaware codename Parra was also mentioned. Other than even pushing more management to the MMC, nothing else was mentioned.

Oracle made an interesting announcement this month. They are releasing a freeware Hypervisor called "Oracle VM". It is based on XEN and the interesting part of their announcement was that ONLY their Hypervisor is supported run their complete product line. How is that for being concerned if you're an Oracle shop, and are thinking of consolidating your servers! I think Oracle will see a lot of upset customers with this statement.

See you next month!