[THIN] MSTerminalServices.org - September 2007 Newsletter

From: "MSTerminalServices.org" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "THIN List" <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:04:11 -0500

MSTerminalServices.org Newsletter of September 2007
Sponsored by: UniPrint
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In this issue:
Next generation Thin Clients?
KB Articles / Webcasts of the Month
Ask our MVPs!
Learning Zone
Tip of the Month
Blog Posts
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. Next generation Thin Clients?
Stefan Vermeulen, Terminal Server MVP and Citrix CTP

Former Xensource CEO Nick Gault, now CEO of a startup called <A
href="http://www.panologic.com/";>Panologic</A>, has created a thin client
device without a CPU and memory, thus no OS on the system, called the Pano. The
technology is referred to as PCI over Ethernet. The result is a small box that
resides on the desktop and connects to a VDI instance that runs XP or Vista. A
chip in the system takes care of it all.

With no built-in OS at all, all management is done on the server side. The
server side install includes VMware server to connect to - for those customers
who do not already have that up and running.

The magic is also in the power consumption. It uses 5 Watts which is extremely
little. (Better not hook a 24" LCD to it, to kill the power savings).

The little box has just a single button on it, for IT to configure. (Roll back
a corrupt VDI, switch to another virtual machine for other tasks, etc. Feel
free to get creative here). The device can further be locked down on its USB
ports, and on local storage.

Licensing is set to "per device" and perpetual licensing starts at $300.
Subscriptions can cost $20 a month.

Thin client computing is evolving, and I have full faith that we can expect
more of these devices in the near future. And of course the problems that come
with it, and what about the obvious, of which you will not find a single word
on the Pano website; at what bandwidth or latency does the logic stop? You can
wait for it, for companies trying this device on their unattended sales office
over at the other side of the world. PCI over Ethernet, over a wan line. I am
looking forward to the first reviews on that. What becomes point break, and
will a device like Packeteer be able to help in any way?

An alternative that was not launched with so much commotion as the Pano is <A
href="http://www.teradici.com/";>Teradici's</A> technology called "PC over IP"
which basically takes it one step further. They connect to an IBM workstation
blade server running on the network. So this is an actual client computer, but
it's just actually running in the datacenter, sort of like taking KVM
technology to the next level.

I don't think they will be entirely successful unless they embrace the proven
technology, and adapt a hybrid solution, by also accepting terminal server and
Citrix sessions.

Sales of thin clients have increased a lot the last few years. Server based
computing has become part of the infrastructure, and has earned its place. It's
only common sense to start replacing fat clients for thin clients where
possible. End users have learned to live with the behavior and usage of
terminal server and Citrix sessions and with the concept of a thin client. With
VDI around the corner, these same thin clients are now connecting to something
that looks very similar to their existing desktop. The adoption of such a
system will be much easier than the change from a desktop to RDP or ICA
sessions.

In the last few years vendors have tried to push the capacity of terminal
servers up, and have also given it a sling with 64bit, to get the numbers up
even more. Saturation of Terminal Server became common knowledge and accepted
in the TS community. VDI will push the envelope even more as to what an SAN
storage and a VMware setup can handle. Different types of saturation or
limitations will be found, and I personally believe that the technology is not
yet ready for a full scale VDI solution for the entire office. Initiatives like
the above will certainly find their place in the architecture. Terminal
Services has done that over time, virtualization is doing this as we speak, and
PCI or PC over Ethernet will probably find its way there. Maybe not today, but
certainly in the upcoming years.

Exciting times ahead!

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2. KB Articles / Webcasts of the Month

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

KB Links:
Remote Assistance connection to Windows Server 2003 with FIPS encryption does
not work.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811770

How to improve Windows Terminal Services Performance
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555741

You may experience a 20-second delay when you try to access a redirected folder
by logging on to a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based computer or to a
Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899409

Hotfixes:
Error message when you work in a Terminal Services session and save a document
in a 2007 Office program to a redirected drive: "There has been a network or
file permission error"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936970

Two taskbars are displayed, or the Language bar is displayed two or more times
on the taskbar, on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932039

The Previous Versions tab for a file or for a folder in a DFS share is not
displayed in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887189

The shadow session is disconnected between two Web client computers that are
running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896679

Error message when you try to paste data into Excel 2003 during a Terminal
Services session: "Cannot empty the clipboard"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899266

It takes longer than you expect to log off from a Terminal Services session in
Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828326

Webcast:
Windows Server 2008 screencast - Virtualization 10 Minute Tour.
http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2007/09/13/windows-server-2008-screencast-virtualization-10-minute-tour.aspx

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3. Ask our MVPs a question

This is simple and straight forward: shoot us your TS/Citrix question and we
will get some of the top Terminal Services MVPs together and get you an answer,
from everyone?s point of view! The best question of the month will be published
here with all the answers from these guys. Just email us at
SVermeulen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

QUESTION: Hello Stefan; There is one thing I have trouble with understanding.
Why is the starting of a Citrix session taking forever, but once it's started,
performance is excellent?

Regards,
Curious Carry

ANSWER: Dear Carry,

Server audits and monitoring have shown that logon and logoff processes put the
heaviest load on the system. Windows NT profiles are built from scratch
(including a fresh registry) or if you are using roaming, dragged from the
fileserver. After completion of the profile, all automatically starting
processes are started for that user (for every user to be exact) and this can
cumulate to a lot of resources. Simply said, a fully tuned system should bring
your logon time back to 3 to 5 seconds.

It would take too long to go through all the settings step by step, but Thomas
Koetzing created an article about this topic back in 2005. It may sound
outdated, but most tips in there are still valid today. Read up on it over <A
href="http://www.brianmadden.com/content/article/Understanding-the-Citrix-MetaFrame-Logon-and-Logoff-Process";>here</A>.
In 2006 Brian Madden created a poster in which you can trace <A
href="http://www.brianmadden.com/content/article/The-excrutiating-detail-of-the-Citrix-logon-process-A-huge-wall-chart";>step
by step</A> what's going on in the process. An impressive drawing and a must
have for every Citrix administrator.

4. Learning Zone

User Desktop Management using the Citrix Content Publishing Feature.
http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/User-Desktop-Management-Citrix-Content-Publishing.html
Date - Sep 5, 2007; Author - Josef Zeiler; Section - Articles :: Management
Tools
In this article Josef dives into the Citrix's feature of content publishing. He
will explain the full potential of using content publishing, and might bring a
few ideas into your mind.

How To: Install and Configure Citrix Web Interface 4.6 and Citrix Secure
Gateway on the same server (Part 1)
http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/Install-Configure-Citrix-Web-Interface-Secure-Gateway-Part1.html
Date - Sep 13, 2007; Author - Patrick Rouse; Section - Articles : General
Patrick explains how 2 very popular and free products can coexist on the same
server, without the need for additional hardware. These 2 combined are just as
secure as an expensive Citrix CAG, but all you need is a web server. (And it
can be older hardware too!)

5. Tip of the Month

Windows Internals 4th edition.

MSTerminalServiecs.org is giving away 10 copies of the 4th edition of Windows
Internals. If you are serious about windows, this book is basically mandatory.
Here is your option to get your hands on it for free. All you need to do is
visit the site and fill in a <A
href="http://www.msterminalservices.org/Site_News/MSTerminalServices-Site-Survey-2007.html";>short
survey</A>. With this information we can improve the site and make sure that
the content matches your expectations.

6. Blog Posts

Dynamic Virtual Channels
"An important goal of the Terminal Services (TS) team is to provide a product
that can easily be extended by third parties to better meet their needs?."
http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/09/20/dynamic-virtual-channels.aspx

A sneak peak at Feature Pack 1 for Presentation Server 4.5
"The feature release is back! Well, kind of... On the upcoming 21st of
September, Citrix is planning on releasing something called Feature Pack 1 for
Citrix Presentation Server 4.5??"
http://www.brianmadden.com/content/article/A-sneak-peak-at-Feature-Pack-1-for-Presentation-Server-45

A Windows Server 2008 TP release including Viridian around the corner?
""We expect the release candidate next week," said Mike Neil, Microsoft's
general manager of virtualization, in an appearance during a speech at the
Intel Developer Forum here?."
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9782104-7.html

7. Events / Links of the Month

The Pano device release was of course not the only thing that happened. Another
bombshell that did not get much attention was the introduction, by aquaconnect,
of technology that can change your Apple OS X server into a Terminal Server.
Ok, they are using VNC protocol technology for now, but they are working on
getting this improved. Get full info <A
href="http://www.aquaconnect.net/whitepaper/aquaconnect_whitepapter_2007.pdf";>here</A>.

Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services with Clear Type enabled: Now how much of
your bandwidth will that setting kill? Find out exactly in this <A
href="http://it-from-inside.blogspot.com/2007/08/windows-server-2008-architectural.html";>initial
article</A>, soon to be followed by a <A
href="http://it-from-inside.blogspot.com/2007/09/cleartype-bandwidth-revisited-testing.html";>second
article</A>. Interesting material for the bandwidth junkies.

A freeware TS load balancer with better logic than MS NLB? Yes it exists, it is
free and it has now been reviewed by Wilco van Bragt <A
href="http://sbc.vanbragt.net/mambo/glance-at-free/tsloadbal.html";>over
here</A>. Save your money for other things!

Thomas Koetzing has some news about the famous UPHclean tool. It looks like
Robin is forced into having it beta for the rest of its lifecycle as it's in
competition with Windows Server 2008 Profile service. The key question is, will
that be good enough, or will people still go for the beta version of Robin's
tool? Read the <A
href="http://www.thomaskoetzing.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=234&Itemid=254";>blog
post here</A>.

Provision Networks is introducing <A
href="http://www.provisionnetworks.com/news/2007/91007_PN_tech_reviews.aspx";>"Project
TypeAhead"</A>, which basically is comparable with Citrix's SpeedScreen
Latency Reduction, to be used for RDP. If your WAN deployment was forcing you
into Citrix, you now have a viable alternative.

See you next month!

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[THIN] MSTerminalServices.org - September 2007 Newsletter

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