[THIN] MSTerminalServices.org - February 2008 Newsletter - thin

[THIN] MSTerminalServices.org - February 2008 Newsletter

From: "MSTerminalServices.org" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "THIN List" <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:04:44 -0600

MSTerminalServices.org Newsletter of February 2008
Sponsored by: Ingenica
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In this issue:
Cutting up the VDI pie even more
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. Cutting up the VDI pie even more
Stefan Vermeulen, Terminal Server MVP and Citrix CTP

This month, Sun Microsystems has joined the VDI bandwagon by acquiring a German
company called Innotek, which is a supplier of open source virtualization
software. With Innotek's product VirtualBox, Sun wishes to extend its
xVM-platform to the desktop.

VirtualBox allows developers to create and test applications for different
platforms. According to Sun, VirtualBox is a good addition to its previously
announced xVM-platform for servers to bring more dynamics to the Datacenter.

VirtualBox runs on Windows, MAC OS X, Solaris and a bunch of Linux tastes.
Guests can run on any x86 OS. It is an excellent substitute to the VMware
workstation and Microsoft Virtual PC.

Their server version called a third generation hyperkernel is not talked about
much, not even on their website. Googling a bit around tells you that they have
an implementation on a 32 core system out there. Let's see where Sun can take
that one, as that has lots of potential. Though, that would be be in direct
competition with Sun's own xVM bare metal hypervisor with xVM Ops Center
management software. Can these 2 coexist in the future? Best of breed in the
end? I think Sun may surprise us in the year to come.

In a blog entry here(http://blogs.sun.com/tpm/entry/virtualbox) it is mentioned
that they got OpenSolaris working as a host for VirtualBox. They even got
seamless application running under XP on the OpenSolaris desktop. Windows media
player running on the OpenSolaris desktop. Quite impressive.

Shortly after, Propalms takes a swing at things by announcing their entry into
the VDI market this year with a Virtual Desktop Manager to be introduced in
their existing TSE. This completes the long list of new VDI vendors: VMware,
Sun, Citrix, Leostream, Qumranet, Ericom, ClearCube, and others. How much pie
can you divide?

The plan is to release this Virtual Desktop Connection Manager in Q3 2008
currently codenamed Shiva. The Virtual Desktop Connection Manager will allow
companies to manage and deliver virtual instances of Windows Desktops to client
devices in the same simplified manner that they have been able to with TSE.
Propalms is planning to go public, so you may want to keep on eye on this one
to spend a bonus or two.

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2. KB Articles / Webcasts of the Month

A Windows Server 2003-based computer responds slowly to RDP connections or to
SMB connections that are made from a Windows Vista-based computer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947773

When you use Remote Desktop Connection to create a Terminal Services session to
a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server, the first drive letter of the
client is not redirected to the Terminal Services session
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940458

The printer spooler may crash randomly on a Windows Server 2003-based computer
that has an HP printer that is installed
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947477

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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: Errata January 2008 Newsletter: In the last newsletter a limitation
of 4 cores was mentioned for Windows Server 2003. This is incorrect. The OS can
recognize up to 4 sockets, regardless the number of cores on it, and can fully
utilize them. Thank you to those readers for pointing this out to me.

ANSWER:

QUESTION: Stefan; when I was moving from Citrix MPS 3.0 to 4.5, I wanted to
take the opportunity to clean up all printer drivers on the server and start
from scratch, without a full server reinstall. After removing the drivers via
start, settings, printers, file, server properties, drivers tab, I still
noticed a lot of leftover printer driver garbage on the system. I thought I did
it right; where does the clutter come from?

Regards,
Cleanup Clarence,

ANSWER: Dear Clarence,

You discovered a real issue when it comes to removing a printer driver. Indeed
the official way of removing it leaves quite some residue behind. I could
explain every registry key you would need to check, but luckily there is a very
cool tool out there from Kyocera. They released it to thoroughly remove Kyocera
drivers, but it works with all drivers making this a killer tool to use over
the official way of doing it. You can download it from my
website(http://printingsupport.com/tools/Deleter.exe) <em>(NB this is an
executable file)</em>.

4. Learning Zone

Enable Single Sign-On (SSO) for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services.
http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/Enable-Single-Sign-On-SSO-Windows-Server-2008-Terminal-Services.html
Date - Feb 13, 2008; Author - Robert J. Shimonski; Section - Articles &
Tutorials :: Security
In this article Robert shows us how to enable Single Sign-On on the new Windows
Server 2008 Terminal Services. I am confident that this one could be
interesting for many of you early adapters out there.

How to install and configure Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite (VAS)
Enterprise Edition. Part 1 and Part 2
http://www.msterminalservices.org/articles/Install-Configure-Provision-Networks-Virtual-Access-Suite-Part1.html
Date - Feb 20, 2008; Author - Patrick Rouse; Section - Articles & Tutorials ::
General
Patrick gives us a deep insight into the Provision Networks VAS suite. This
software shows you that you can have Citrix functionality, but for a very
different price. Make sure to check it out.

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5. Tip of the Month

This tip of the month is the release of the RES Free Powerfuse Express Edition.
For those of you who are not familiar with it, this is the tool to use when
locking down clients or terminal servers the hardcore way. No way end users
will ever mess up your servers again.
Now that the express is out free of charge, I would suggest that you give it a
try.

You can download the software
here(http://www.ressoftware.com/page.aspx?id=181&l=EN). Want to read about how
to install it the quick way instead of going through the manual? Sure, read up
on that
here(http://www.thincomputing.net/articles/res-releases-free-powerfuse-express-edition-3.html).
If you are more of a visual man, there is even a video on how to install it
</a
href="http://ictfreak.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/res-powerfuse-2008-express-edition-installation-configuring";>here></a>.
(Ignore the Dutch text on the website)

6. Blog Posts

The MS TS team has really given it a lot last month, 8 new articles about the
new Terminal Services in Server 2008. The list is:

Terminal Services Architecture

http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/14/ws2008-terminal-services-architecture.aspx

Terminal Services Management and administration
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/15/ws2008-terminal-server-management-and-administration.aspx

Remote desktop RDC client
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/18/ws2008-overview-of-the-remote-desktop-connection-rdc-client.aspx

Terminal Services Printing
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/17/ws2008-terminal-services-printing.aspx

RDC Enhancements and Administrative sessions
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/20/ws2008-rdc-enhancements-and-administrative-sessions.aspx

Remote Desktop connection architecture
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/19/ws2008-remote-desktop-connection-architecture.aspx

Terminal Services RemoteApps
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/22/ws2008-terminal-services-remoteapps.aspx

Front side Authentication and Single Sign-On
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2008/02/21/ws2008-frontside-authentication-and-sso.aspx

Another interesting one posted on TechNet is an article about manually revoking
TS licenses in Server 2008.
http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2008/02/15/manual-revocation-of-client-access-licenses-cals.aspx

Microsoft also released an Infrastructure Planning and Design guide for Windows
Server 2008 Terminal Services in Beta. You need to sign up, but it's free and
of good quality.
https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=297

An interesting article about Terminal Services 2008 regarding the number of
users you can get on a system called "One reason Why Windows Server 2008
Terminal Server Will Allow You To Get More Users On A Box".
http://www.thincomputing.net/articles/one-reason-why-windows-server-2008-terminal-server-will-allow-you-to-get-more-users-on-3.html

The team of CTRL+ALT+DEL in Australia has updated their (free) client side load
balancer to version 2.5 and it now includes an AUTO-CONNECT Feature.
http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au/CAD_TSLB.htm

Next to the above update, they also released an application called TSLoadStats.
TSLoadStats is a command-line tool to gather performance information from
selected or all Citrix and Terminal Servers within a Domain.
http://www.ctrl-alt-del.com.au/CAD_TSUtils.htm

Curious about the new Citrix Webinterface 5.0? Have a look at this article
which shows in detail what you can expect here.
http://www.thomaskoetzing.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=250&Itemid=254

Also have a look at this article about an installation script for printing
drivers. It might help you along the road when you need to install/move an
environment.
http://www.virtualistic.nl/archives/86#more-86

Do you have a large collection of Citrix policies in your environment, and
would like these migrated to a new environment? No need to type them over. Have
a look at this article on how to automate this process.
http://sbc.vanbragt.net/mambo/glance-at-free/import-export-cps-policies.html

Did not have a peek at 64bit yet? Make sure to read these articles on 64bit to
get some education before setting up a test farm yourself.
http://blogs.sepago.de/helge/2008/01/09/windows-x64-all-the-same-yet-very-different-part-1/

7. Events / Links of the Month

It has been a quiet month from the regular media. The flood of tools and hot
news by the bloggers is showing us that the market space in Terminal Services
is getting bigger and bigger and definitely more seriously. Events are getting
bigger every year most of you have tried out a vendor or two to see if you
still betting on the right horse. Maybe 2008 is a good year to reevaluate your
environment, and to see if it is still up to speed for the years to come.

See you next month!

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[THIN] MSTerminalServices.org - February 2008 Newsletter

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