So as i was looking over the Technotes available at Citrix i found that i was missing just a complete list to get a quick overview so i gathered the ressources i could find on the Citrix Support site here in a blog post. Be aware it will not automatically check for new additions so do check http://support.citrix.com for updated information

To reach updated information:

To reach updated information: http://support.citrix.com/product/xens/v5.0/technote/

Just made the list as i wanted to walk through the available topics on XenServer. If i find myself coming back the list i will try to keep it updated and move it to a Static Page.

Rene Vester

So i have been working with XenServer for a bit now in my home lab, and i am really liking it so far. I am not saying a VMware ESX 3.5 would not have done the same job, but i like the fact that XenServer is now a competitor when it comes to delivering an Enterprise HyperVisor.

So based on different reviews read online, and my own experiences i wanted to compile a blog post with the sort of highlights i have experienced and heard about.

XenCenter

• Now managed through GUI instead og CLI
• Nic Bonding
• FiberChannel Setup
• Management Interface configuration
• Improved Perfomance Monitoring
• Better alerting

And a really cool feature.. tagging.. XenServer now has tagging in the XenCenter console. This means that one server can have several tags and both be in the Windows2008-tag along with XenApp-5-tag. This setup is much nicer than the regular "folder structure". On top of this you can do your own custom filters based on any number of things including tags. As an example you can see the Saved Searches down i the bottom left corner, i have a saved search for XenApp Servers which is based on the XenApp-tag.

Also Instant search allows you to search for a server by typing the beginning of the name and the list of servers will slowly narrow down to the one you are searching for so you dont have to remember the name of every server. In the screenshot i did a search for XA.

When you want to configure your search options you have a write variety of options to define from, and also the ability to save your search into the "Saved Searches" field.

XenCenter seems to really be coming along, and i find it stable and effective.

On the ‘Console side of things’, XenServer has been brightend up a bit as well. By default on the physical console of the XenServer administrators are met with a nice Gui-like text based interface.

This interface allows you to do most of the management needed on the XenServer host. This interface allows you to configure the ip-settings of the management interface, manage virtual machines, view disk and storage repositories, manage virtual machines with reboots, suspend etc.

This all gives an easier administrations, and rest assured, nothing has changed there is still all geeky commandline stuff we love so much behind the scenes From the commandline this console can be launched with the command xsconsole.

Thats just a few of my personal highlights on the XenServer Management stuff, more to come when i have a bit more time

Rene Vester

Wilco Van Bragt owner of VanBragt consulting did a pretty cool and thoroug review of the Fat-Client to Thin-Client product called Multiframe 5.

You can read the entire review here: http://sbc.vanbragt.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=782&Itemid=45

Multiframe has actually been around since the beginning of the century, when it was created as a direct response to a Linpro customer’s request for a PC-to-thin-client-converter. It has since been steadily developed by Linpro, into a complete framework for thin client management, but with a continued focus on the "shrinking" capabilities which turns nearly any ordinary x86 based computer into a secure, fast and highly reliable terminal. The client software in Multiframe is capable of connecting with a number of different terminal servers and mainframes through various protocols, e.g. Citrix ICA, Microsoft RDP, encrypted SSH, IBM 3270 and 5250, X11, NX, and ordinary web (www) connections. Due to the licensing terms of some of these modules and other components which were included in previous versions of Multiframe, the software was until now released as closed source, proprietary software. However, in line with Linpro’s own company policy and philosophy, the developers have made the necessary adjustments to be able to release Multiframe version 5 as GPL-licensed open source software.

I think it might actually be a very cool product for companies who want to explore the thin-client route, but has alot of fat-client hardware which is not ready to be replaced. I hope to find time to give it a try.

Rene Vester

So i have been trying out Citrix’s latest community driven forum at Citrix the Community Verified site. And i have to say i see alot of potential, the community just have to be drawn in, because the information is no better than what is put in by the community.

My main problem with the site was something i experienced when i wanted to add my experiences to the registered products. I found it hard to match my experiences to a list of products or a category. I hope that Citrix will consider doing a category for added products like Application, Server, Storage etc, so that people can put new additions into a category and an experienced storage engineer can run through the storage-category and match his experiences to the products in there.

What I have been trying to do with the products i have verified is to add corresponding Tags so that when i verified a server i also added the Server-tag and the vendor tag, like IBM. I found that afterwards it was a bit easier to run through a list of products with the same tag. You can take a look her for the Server Tag-list: http://community.citrix.com/citrixready/tag/server
Microsoft Office Tag-list:http://community.citrix.com/citrixready/tag/microsoft+office

And there are several others, not all items have been categorized but hopeful they will be over time.

I think this community could be a good place to go check out new products and see how many other engineers worked with a new product. But again it requires everyone to pitch in to make the information usable, hope you guys will pitch in

Rene Vester

Kiera Doheny posted a blog-invitation to all Citrix XenApp Engineers who wants to visit florida in december and help make the next generation certifications for the CCEE exams.

Criteria for participation:

• Must act as Engineer for a XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008 environment
• Must have integrated XenApp with at least one Platinum component such as:
  • EdgeSight 4.5 or higher
  • WANScaler 4.5 or higher
  • Access Gateway 8.0 Enterprise Edition or higher
• Experience with the following is ideal:
  • Using XenApp SDKs for customizations
  • Scripting (MFCOM or Powershell)
• Experience with or plans for the following are a plus but not required:
  • Virtualizing XenApp on XenServer, VMware, or Hyper-V
  • Provisioning XenApp loads
  • Monitoring Loads of XenApp farms

No need to prepare! Simply attend all four days and provide information about your Citrix implementation as well as the specific tasks you perform.

Compensation: If you are selected to attend the workshop, Citrix Education will pick up the tab for your travel, meals during the workshop, and entertainment in beautiful sunny South Florida!

It sounds like a pretty sweet deal .. check out the blog post here:
http://community.citrix.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=50365272

Rene Vester

So.. the Brian Madden Company has been acquired by TechTarget an IT Media company with several large websites.

I think this news is going to make alot of noise in the community, hopefully people will support the new situation. The situation will for sure give Brian and Gabe more time to work on what they really believe in.

I for one support people who are able to be succesful and take a good long look and then decide for whatever reason to back to the roots, what made this fun in the first place and i think for Gabe and Brian that is blogging, writing analyzing. Not so much the hassle of administration in a small company.

My hopes for the new situation is that BrianMadden.com will keep its standard, the forums will grow even more active and the articles and blogs are going to continue to deliver Community content

All i all.. TechTarget acquired The Brian Madden Company. I am assuming not much will change other than more visibility when it comes to Gabe and Brian.

Good luck with the new jobs Gabe and Brian!

You can read Brians explanation here: http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/brianmadden/archive/2008/11/20/brianmadden-com-is-now-part-of-techtarget.aspx

Rene Vester

So i think we have all seen the major takes on virtualization. We have the Server virtualization, Desktop virtualization and Application virtualization. Most vendors can agree on this, some name these areas a bit differently but over all that seems to be the cases i hear people talking about.

So i got to thinking, for a long time you have been able to download virtual appliances from VMware and use these in your infrastructure, there is a wide variety you can easily take a look here: Virtual Appliances, VMware

But how many of us will base our infrastructure on "some appliance" freely made available,  i am guessing not too many. Support on the products are needed, and we need to have High-Availability, replacement units and estabilished support channels.

So wouldn’t it be wicked cool if we could have official products, from the real vendors we use today. Established support channels, agreements already in place and what about all our management servers monitoring the appliances, what if the virtual appliances fit the same products?

Cisco Nexus 1000v Virtual Switch

Cisco took the lead in this area as they announced their Nexus 1000v Virtual Switch a while back. I was really excited to see how this would go off, but the idea seems to have been well recieved. But what is it?

The Cisco Nexus 1000V switch takes advantage of VMware’s vNetwork Distributed switch framework to offer tightly integrated network services as part of a server virtualization strategy. At the same time, the switch offers operations and management consistency with existing Cisco Nexus and Cisco Catalyst switches.

Cisco VN-Link and the Cisco Nexus 1000V switch provide server virtualization technology to ensure consistent, policy-based network capabilities to all physical or virtual servers in a customer’s data center.

In short this gives you the opportunity to replace your builtin VMware vSwitches with a Cisco Virtual Switches. This allows the network administrators to manage all the switches in the environment, not only the physical switches. Give it a read here: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9902/index.html

I am not sure on the pricing models available, but i think this is a cool step in simplifying the infrastructure, allowing the network people to work their magic in their areas and at the same time not holding back the simplification of managing the server infrastructure.

What could the future bring in this area?

Well i think i already stated that i think this a cool initiative from Cisco, but what other areas would benefit from the same way of thinking? Now seeing as i do not work much in the area of advanced networking, i got to thinking where this would be worthwhile for the vendors i do work with. Funny enough i got to think of Citrix.. I have often been annoyed with all the new hardware products and the trouble they seem to have getting the products to the customers. Setting up replacement procedures and the likes. I always excused them with the fact that "they are new in the hardware business", but now that i see Cisco going virtual on their physical technologies, I cant help but wonder if this would save vendors like Citrix a lot of troubles. I run through a couple of examples with Citrix technologies, but it could just as well be other vendor-products.

Lets take a couple of examples:

• Secure Gateway
  The product who gave us secure access to Citrix applications from the web. Often placed in a DMZ on a Windows Server with only a webinterface to keep it company.. the feature is already ported to the linux based Access Gateways, and the Freebsd based Netscalers in form of the Access Gateway Enterprise. Virtual Appliance potential?
  
• Access Gateways standard and Advanced edition
  2 Nics, 1 linux based OS.. Virtual Appliance potential?
  
• Low-end Netscaler product line
  I often see these boxes in place to only add Access Gateway Enterprise features, maybe combined with a bit of load balancing. In these use cases we are not nearly utilizing the massive performance of the Netscaler hardware. Why not deliver this product, maybe even a bit cheaper with no hardware needs. Virtual Appliance potential?
  
• EasyCall Appliance
  Not being and IPT expert there could be challenges to virtualizing this in contact with the company PBX, but still if at all possible. Citrix wants this product to be widely used together with the XenApp Platinum license. Why not make it easier for companies to adopt the technology. Virtual Appliance potential, maybe?
  
• Citrix Branch Repeater
  Windows 2003 R2 based server, already supported on almost any hypervisor. Virtual Appliance potential?
  
• Unnamed new appliance from Citrix
  I am going out on a limb here, but i am guessing there will be more appliances from Citrix, simply because it is an easy way to deliver a product without having the dependency on other vendors, like Microsoft or similar. Please Citrix consider it as a virtual appliance
  

I am not saying the products should be made freely available, just that it would be great with a virtualized product where you paid for the ’software’ instead of the hardware. Giving customers the option to choose and support their strategic platform.

I for one hope to see the virtualization vendors taking up the appliance area as a new area of focus.. it could even easily be integrated into the powerpoint slidedeck..

Server Virtualization - Desktop Virtualization - Applications Virtualization - Appliance Virtualization

I think it would be awesome

Rene Vester

Rene Alfonso at Citrix did a blog post on the tools delivered by citrix to help us all become a little stronger when it comes to troubleshooting.

There are alot of best practice and design documents, but the list Rene provided is great for troubleshooting. In his post Rene listed:

Examples

Print Detective CTX116474

Medevac 2.5  CTX107935

CtxHideEx32  CTX110341

Citrix ICA File Creator CTX113472

ScreenHistory 1.0 CTX113046

JetTest CTX116532

DSInfo 1.2 CTX114916

And as these tools are great there is still a need for more. And Rene’s post was also an appeal for all of us to pitch our suggestions to what tools do we need.

Have a look at the article and respond here:http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/renea/2008/11/12/How+to+Become+a+Citrix+Super+Hero

Rene Vester

Just heard from "The Cloud"(The wine is so old fashion), Citrix might be lowering the prices by 10% for the rest of the year.. Yihaa! i hope this will make people a bit more eager to work with the different tools available to make the business more efficient.

I think it is a good signal from Citrix, now that we have a bit of a financial crisis that alot of companies are worrying about. Not to say that i would not like for Citrix to lower their prices permanently ;-), but i think it is a good way to give businesses an option to move on with their projects towards the delivery center idea, and in some case save money in a productive way rather than cutting back on labor or the likes. I have not heard about Subscription advantage and the upcoming price adjustment.

This is still unconfirmed on my hand, but i will update when i have confirmation from official sources

Rene Vester

So after a vote for next venue the place and date for now has been decided. In the Pubforum spirit some details are up for review and change.

The possible and considered options for the next Pubforum was:

So the venue was decided at the scheduled vote on saturday afternoon, sadly not everyone participated in the vore, but i am assuming everyone who had an oppinion attended at the arranged time

The date for this is for now set to first week of June 2009.

Hope we will see alot af cool people there

Rene Vester