Hello, Brian Madden brought up an interesting topic last week regarding challenges faces managing a MetaFrame XP farm. Printing, by far, has been the biggest challenge so far followed by a few things that I didn't see mentioned in the list. They are: Deploying security hotfixes and updates to application sets and backend servers that run 24/7 Cost of third-party tool I realize there is not much I can do about Microsoft's patching scheme, but what can be done about the high costs of third-party tools? I thought Microsoft and Citrix was charging too much for their products until I realized how much it would cost to bring in just one or two third-party apps. XPe does includes many tools like RM, IM, and the UPD but everyone knows that even these enhancements fail to claim the 'e' in XPe as Enterprise. RM comes the closet but even it has it's draw backs and limitations (Performance hit, reporting, etc). I've yet to see a large scale implementation use IM, and the UPD just isn't universal enough. Here are some of the things/costs to consider when deploying a server. Hardware Operating System and CALs. Citrix Connection Licenses Antivirus Software Patch Management - Marimba, HFNetChkPro Application Deployment - Marimba, SMS, Altiris Print Management - Thin Print, ScrewDrivers Security/Lockdown Tools - Appsense, TriCerat Profile Management - AutoProf Performance - TScale, ArmTech Application Shaping - TScale, Appsense, ArmTech Disaster Recovery - Your favorite Imaging/Backup program here Monitoring and Reporting - Big Brother, Tivoli, OpenView, SysTrack That doesn't include things like inventory, virtualization (VMWare, Softricity), solid-state storage, labor, etc or the network infrastructure to support a MetaFrame farm (Web Servers, Secure Gateway, Expand, Packet Shaping, etc) So, my question is. How has your organziation been able to reduce the costs associated with running a farm? To scale out, while reducing administrative overhead? Joe ******************************************************** This weeks sponsor triCerat Inc. triCerat makes your job easier by offering essential applications to eliminate your printing, policy and profile, and your application management problems. http://www.triCerat.com ********************************************************** Useful Thin Client Computing Links are available at: http://thin.net/links.cfm *********************************************************** For Archives, to Unsubscribe, Subscribe or set Digest or Vacation mode use the below link: http://thin.net/citrixlist.cfm