MSTerminalServices.org Newsletter of August 2007 Sponsored by: SecureIDA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In this issue: The Buzz 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon! <A href="http://www.techgenix.com/newsletter/t.aspx?S=1&ID=2894&NL=31&N=3367&SI=93176&URL=http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580";><IMG height=21 hspace=5 src="http://images.isoftmarketing.com/sida_88x21.gif"; width=88 align=left vspace=3 border=0></A>See what Doug said here: http://dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=5033. SecureIDA delivers remote users and branch offices secure access to applications, servers, and data. The platform is packaged to eliminate any financial barriers to your using it and getting exposure to the administrator and end-user interface.<BR><BR>IT staffs configure, and end users easily access resources through a common managed portal. Easy to add resources, secure on-demand access. Download everything needed free!(http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. The Buzz Stefan Vermeulen, Terminal Server MVP and Citrix CTP Missed the buzz? The last few weeks the market, analysts and application delivery specialists have been having their say on what has been going on. The buzz is huge. For those of you who missed it; <A href="http://www.citrix.com/lang/English/home.asp";>Citrix</A> has bought <A href="http://www.xensource.com/Pages/default.aspx";>XenSource</A> for 500 million dollars. Xensource is a Hypervisor, putting Citrix in direct competition with VMware. This really shifts the market, as VMware is in fierce competition with Microsoft over the upcoming virtualization market, which is expected to be huge. Microsoft is working on its own hypervisor, codenamed Viridian, which originally was set to be included in the Windows Server 2008 release. With Viridian not making the Server 2008 deadline and now scheduled for release half a year after Server 2008, this puts Microsoft in the back seat, where VMware delivers now, and Citrix probably in 2008 when they are finished integrating XenSource. So why is this interesting for Terminal Server administrators? Times are changing, and the application delivery market is scheduled to change in the upcoming years from pure screen scraping application delivery to fat/thin clients, into a mix of screen scraping applications using Citrix or Terminal Services, client devices connecting to VDIs (Virtual Desktop Interface) and applications being streamed on demand to fat client devices, or these same VDIs already providing the desktop. With this type of application delivery being so close to the current terminal server's administrator tasks, I see these 2 worlds coming together. If not today, then in the next few years. You can see the shift already with Citrix renaming iforum to "The App Delivery Expo" this year to get the new message out. But back to the main story. Citrix is paying a huge price for an open-source product that according to educated guesses, made a bit less than $5 million in revenue last year. This has the devils' advocates on their tip-toes. Is this a scheme from Microsoft which is a very good partner with Citrix to get its hands on the code for Viridian? Is this a bold move from Citrix to take up the boxing gloves with Microsoft to stand stronger in upcoming negotiations on Terminal Server technology licenses? Is this a price contest where Citrix felt the need to cough up more than intended, not to get stuck with a second miss like they missed out on Softricity and to make sure they got XenSource? The scenarios are endless, and so are the blog entries on this subject on the web. The case is that it is unclear if there are now 3 big players in the virtualization market, or just 2 with Citrix and Microsoft living in the same happy ecosystem. Looking at it from a healthy view, Citrix does have a track record of taking time to integrate takeovers into their suite. They can re-brand the current version, just to get sales started, as expectations are high on this. Of course the pricing has to match Citrix's pricing model, so the existing market will have to switch for the current Citrix customer base to push it. The plan is to make $50 million in 2008 alone on this. Integrating XenSource with their desktop server product to push out VDIs and then use Citrix's own icaport technology (icaport is a project where the rdp connection is replaced with an ica session when connecting to the desktop remotely) to connect to these VDIs and the circle is closed. Just throw in a cheap thin client device for the end user. It cleans up the desk, and there certainly is no man overboard when the building is hit by burglars And where does <A href="http://www.virtualiron.com";>Virtual Iron</A> fit in the picture (A smaller player using the same code base as XenSource)? With XenSource out of the way, they are the only player with an extremely low price to beat out opponents. (Like Provision Networks taking on Citrix on Presentation Server) We have exciting times ahead on this type of technology. If and what will be the technology challenging VMware to the market leaders' crown? Will Citrix give it a try? Will Viridian surprise us all? Only time will tell. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon! <A href="http://www.techgenix.com/newsletter/t.aspx?S=1&ID=2894&NL=31&N=3367&SI=93176&URL=http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580";><IMG height=21 hspace=5 src="http://images.isoftmarketing.com/sida_88x21.gif"; width=88 align=left vspace=3 border=0></A>See what Doug said here: http://dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=5033. SecureIDA delivers remote users and branch offices secure access to applications, servers, and data. The platform is packaged to eliminate any financial barriers to your using it and getting exposure to the administrator and end-user interface.<BR><BR>IT staffs configure, and end users easily access resources through a common managed portal. Easy to add resources, secure on-demand access. Download everything needed free!(http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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: How to improve Windows Terminal Services Performance http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555741 You experience problems when you upgrade a Windows 2000-based server that has Terminal Server enabled to Windows Server 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939087 How to add scanner support to Windows 200x Terminal Server http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555969 How to enable Remote Desktop on Windows 2008 Server Core http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555964 HOTFIX: Stop error message when a client logs off from a Terminal Services session on a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server: "Stop 0x000000ab" http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939442 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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, My company has started a virtualization project across all servers. Now they want to also virtualize my Citrix servers. Is this a good plan? Regards, Planning Pete ANSWER: Dear Peter, If you would have asked me this question a few years ago, you would have gotten a big no. Tests from those days showed total saturation as early as with 15 users. With the general urge to load 30 to 50 users on a single Citrix server, the gap is pretty big. It's not easy to give advice in this, without knowing the behavior of your applications. I do think that it's time for another test, to see where we are today with the latest version of VMware and the latest Citrix edition, including all its CPU and memory taming tools. You may not get 50, but I do think you will get over 15. Of course, testing before switching is always advisable. Let us know how it works out, will you? 4. Learning Zone Inside the Web Interface Configuration File http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/Inside-Web-Interface-Configuration-File.html Date - Aug 8, 2007 In this article Duane dives in to the Web Interface's webinterface.conf configuration file to tell us how it works without using the GUI. How To Configure Folder Redirection http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/Configure-Folder-Redirection.html Date - Aug 8, 2007 In this one Patrick explains how to set up folder redirection, to get an optimal result over the network, when for example roaming profiles are used. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon! <A href="http://www.techgenix.com/newsletter/t.aspx?S=1&ID=2894&NL=31&N=3367&SI=93176&URL=http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580";><IMG height=21 hspace=5 src="http://images.isoftmarketing.com/sida_88x21.gif"; width=88 align=left vspace=3 border=0></A>See what Doug said here: http://dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=5033. SecureIDA delivers remote users and branch offices secure access to applications, servers, and data. The platform is packaged to eliminate any financial barriers to your using it and getting exposure to the administrator and end-user interface.<BR><BR>IT staffs configure, and end users easily access resources through a common managed portal. Easy to add resources, secure on-demand access. Download everything needed free!(http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. Tip of the Month Microsoft has updated its little gem to version 1.22. <A href="http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processmonitor.mspx";>Process Monitor</A> is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. It combines the features of two legacy Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon, and adds an extensive list of enhancements including rich and non-destructive filtering, comprehensive event properties such as session IDs and user names, reliable process information, full thread stacks with integrated symbol support for each operation, simultaneous logging to a file, and much more. Its uniquely powerful features will make Process Monitor a core utility in your system troubleshooting and malware hunting toolkit. This may be just an update, but it should be mandatory in a Terminal Server administrator's toolkit. This tool could save you a bundle of time. (I know it has for me) 6. Blog Posts Office licensing on TS in plain language: http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2007/08/08/4298215.aspx Changing Windows Server 2008 Core's Look and Feel. http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2007/08/13/changing-server-core-s-look-and-feel-part-1.aspx http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2007/08/14/changing-server-core-s-look-and-feel-part-2.aspx http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2007/08/15/changing-server-core-s-look-and-feel-part-3.aspx http://blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/sanderberkouwer/archive/2007/08/16/changing-server-core-s-look-and-feel-part-4.aspx Problems using saved credentials with Vista RDP clients and above. http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/07/31/problems-using-saved-credentials-with-vista-rdp-clients-and-above.aspx Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2.0 Beta Available Now. http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/08/03/remote-desktop-connection-client-for-mac-2-0-beta-available-now.aspx Terminal Services Per User Licensing Usage Tracking. http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/08/06/terminal-services-per-user-licensing-usage-tracking.aspx Generating Per Device license usage reports for TS License Servers running Windows Server 2008. http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/08/10/generating-per-device-license-usage-reports-for-ts-license-servers-running-windows-server-2008.aspx 7. Events / Links of the Month I think I started with this month's biggest news; Citrix acquiring Xensource. Also the word "free" seems to be in the air this month. Login Consultants released the <A href="http://www.loginconsultants.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=40";>Solutions Framework community beta.</A> A freeware version of their "solution 4" methodology. <A href="http://www.visionapp.com/141.0.html?";>The Visionapp Experience 2007 has been released as freeware.</A> How to build up a Citrix 4.5 server in 20 min using pure automation power Citrix renamed its yearly conference to "iForum 07, the App Delivery Expo". I think this tell us a bit of where Citrix is going the next few years. For the rest it has been a quiet month. But I do think that this takeover spree is not finished. We will get to see more throughout the remainder of this year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon! <A href="http://www.techgenix.com/newsletter/t.aspx?S=1&ID=2894&NL=31&N=3367&SI=93176&URL=http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580";><IMG height=21 hspace=5 src="http://images.isoftmarketing.com/sida_88x21.gif"; width=88 align=left vspace=3 border=0></A>See what Doug said here: http://dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=5033. SecureIDA delivers remote users and branch offices secure access to applications, servers, and data. The platform is packaged to eliminate any financial barriers to your using it and getting exposure to the administrator and end-user interface.<BR><BR>IT staffs configure, and end users easily access resources through a common managed portal. Easy to add resources, secure on-demand access. Download everything needed free!(http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Doug Brown Gives Nod To SecureIDA Publishing & Security. Integrated SSL VPN Coming Soon! <A href="http://www.techgenix.com/newsletter/t.aspx?S=1&ID=2894&NL=31&N=3367&SI=93176&URL=http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580";><IMG height=21 hspace=5 src="http://images.isoftmarketing.com/sida_88x21.gif"; width=88 align=left vspace=3 border=0></A>See what Doug said here: http://dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=5033. SecureIDA delivers remote users and branch offices secure access to applications, servers, and data. The platform is packaged to eliminate any financial barriers to your using it and getting exposure to the administrator and end-user interface.<BR><BR>IT staffs configure, and end users easily access resources through a common managed portal. Easy to add resources, secure on-demand access. Download everything needed free!(http://www.eztrackz.com/tracking.aspx?id=68580) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Visit the Subscription Management section to unsubscribe. MSTerminalServices.org is in no way affiliated with Microsoft Corp. For sponsorship information, contact us at advertising@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright © MSTerminalServices.org 2007. 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