[THIN] MSTerminalServices.org - March 2007 Newsletter

From: "MSTerminalServices.org" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "THIN List" <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:36:31 -0600

MSTerminalServices.org Newsletter of March 2007
Sponsored by: 2X Software
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In this issue:
What's up?
KB Articles of the Month
Learning Zone
On the Spot
Rumours on the SBC Space

Welcome to the MSTerminalServices.org newsletter! 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@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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1. What's up?
Stefan Vermeulen, Terminal Server MVP and Citrix CTP

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(http://www.thincomputing.net/comment.php?comment.news.3142) 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!

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2. KB Articles of the Month

Here are some interesting and useful Terminal Services related articles posted
by Microsoft in the last month:

Roaming Profiles Are Not Unloaded on a Computer That Is Running Terminal
Services
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817171

Problems When You Use Internet Explorer as Your Windows User Interface or as a
Startup Program in Terminal Services
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824673

Maximizing the Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services Evaluation Period
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/813052

HOW TO: Use IPSec Policy to Secure Terminal Services Communications in Windows
Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816521

Error Event 1109 Appears in the Event Log When Terminal Services Clients
Disconnect
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817870

Programs do not work as expected when a user connects through Terminal Services
to a computer that is running Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/843425

Your Interactive Logon Privilege Has Been Disabled Error When You Try to Log on
to a Terminal Server
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/815266

"Remote Assistance Failed "Error Message After You Switch to Terminal Server
Mode
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811803

Windows Server 2003-Based Computer Becomes Unresponsive to RDP Sessions
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/826139

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3. Learning Zone

How to manage Windows Terminal Servers with Group Policy
http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/Managing-Terminal-Services-Group-Policy.html
Date - March 15, 2007; Author - Patrick Rouse; Section - Articles :: General
In this article Patrick explains the basics of the loopback policy and all
policies that apply when setting up a terminal server solution.

Troubleshooting Common Terminal Service Connection Errors
http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/Troubleshooting-Terminal-Service-Connection-Errors.html
Date - March 13, 2007; Author - Brien M Posey; Section - Articles :: General
In this article Brien talks about all the issues you can encounter when a
client cannot login and what to do about it.

Get your free copy today!
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4. On The Spot

This 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:

- Support for EMF and PDF modes of printing
- Does not require any server-side fonts to be pre-installed on the client
- Size-optimized print streams
- Adaptive compression technology (multiple compression algorithms for color
and black-and-white images)
- Bandwidth usage control (i.e., bandwidth throttling)
- Excellent print quality
- Multiple printer naming options

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.

The transition has been extremely successful and the market recognition and
customer adoption have been overwhelming.

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.

Provision Networks latency reduction for RDP will enable remote users on high
latency connections to receive an instant response to typed data while the
actual transmission back from the terminal servers is performed in the
background.

I don't want to speculate as to availability - so I'll just say "very soon."

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.

Graphics acceleration features from Provision Networks enhance the end-user
experience by providing for more responsive web browser scrolling and better
performance for graphically intensive and Flash-embedded websites. This
acceleration feature also extends to multimedia applications by leveraging the
local codecs for playback.

Again, I don't want to speculate as to availability - so I'll just say "soon."

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!

Interested parties can obtain 30-day evaluation licenses directly from our
website: www.ProvisionNetworks.com(http://www.ProvisionNetworks.com)

Stefan: Thanks for the interview Peter. I will see you at Briforum next month!

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5. Rumors on the SBC Space

I think this month's most shocking surprise was Brian Madden selling his house
and living wherever suits him
best(http://www.brianmadden.com/content/content.asp?id=684). A brave decision,
GO BRIAN.

The team from ctrl-alt-del has released a free Terminal Server load
balancer(http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au/CAD_TSLoadBal.htm). 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(http://www.tsfactory.com/blog/?p=11) 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!

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[THIN] MSTerminalServices.org - March 2007 Newsletter

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