Microsoft recently released version 4.5 of App-V (App-V is the new name for Microsoft Application Virtualization - which was the new name for SoftGrid). There are some cool new features in version 4.5. Chris Lord, Sr. Program Manager at Microsoft recently presented some of these features in a “deep dive” technical presentation at Tech-Ed 2008. In this presentation Chris explains the Virtual File System, Volume Management, Dynamic Suite Composition (one of my favorites), State Management, Advanced OSD Scripting and Configuration, Sequencing Artifacts, plus a lot more. The presentation can be downloaded here: http://www.virtuall.nl/knowledge/App-V45Sequencing...ve.pdf (8.16 MB). There is a ton of great information in this presentation.

Technorati : App-V, Application Virtualization, Microsoft, SoftGrid
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Last year, Citrix purchased a company called XenSource. This product is a set of management tools that manage virtual machines that run on the free, open source Xen hypervisor. Citrix later renamed this product to XenServer. XenServer is meant to compete on the same level as VMWare ESX (although there is much to debate on the pros and cons of each). Citrix reportedly paid 500 million for XenSource (in cash and options). This brought out a lot of controversy as to why Citrix would pay so much for a set of tools that manage an open source hypervisor. Some of this speculation may come to light in a recent article posted by Brian Madden titled “Prediction: Citrix will drop the open source Xen hypervisor for Hyper-V. The rest of the open source world drops Xen for KVM“. One of the gists in the article suggests that XenServer will re-focus on adding value to the Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor. This is kind of a natural fit for Citrix/Microsoft. After all, Citrix has been in the business of adding value to base Terminal Services for years. Anyway, it will be fun to see how all this pans out.

Technorati : Citrix, Hyper-V, KVM, Microsoft, XenServer, hypervisor
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Microsoft’s hypervisor (Hyper-V) has been released to manufacturing (RTM). Hyper-V is Microsoft’s “bare metal” hypervisor used for hardware virtualization. This marks Microsoft’s entrance into the space of hypervisors such as VMWare ESX and Xen. Hyper-V can be run on Windows Server 2008 Server Core as well as added as a role to an existing Windows Server 2008 server. Hyper-V should show up on Windows Update starting July 8th.

Be sure to check out the Microsoft Virtualization Team Blog to get spotlights on features of Hyper-V…

Technorati : Hardware Virtualization, Hyper-V, Server Core, VMWare, Windows Server 2008, Xen
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Profile management has always ranked as one of the top concerns for Terminal Services administrators. Things like profile corruption, “last write wins”, profile bloat, logon speed, etc. are all things we learned about in Terminal Services environments. Guess what? This is still going to be an issue in the VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) space. Perhaps, this will even be more of an issue as profiles aren’t exactly easier in VDI - some would even consider profiles harder with VDI. There are several profile vendors that play in this space. One of those vendors is RTO Software. I recently interviewed RTO’s President and CEO, Kevin Goodman, about their Virtual Profile solution. This is a pretty cool product. Virtual Profiles “tricks” the OS into thinking that the profile downloaded (to speed up logon time) and synchronizes profile changes as they happen in real time (solves the last write win and profile bloat problems). Check out this video of the interview from Citrix Synergy.

Technorati : Profiles, RTO, VDI, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Virtual Profiles
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UniPrint Significantly Increases Convenience, Flexibility, and Productivity by Enabling LPR-Based Systems to Print to Windows-based Printers

Toronto,Ontario - INGENICA, the innovative leader in server-based printing solutions, today announced the launch of UniPrint Host Edition. Developed to cure printing inflexibility headaches in all mixed host systems (such as UNIX, AIX, AS/400, IBM Power Series, System z, and Linux) and Windows environments, UniPrint Host Edition enables all local and remote users on fat or thin clients working in a server-based (Citrix or Microsoft Terminal Server) or non server-based environment to benefit from enhanced printing flexibility.

The all-new UniPrint Host Edition enables organizations to build a de facto information bridge between their Line Printer Remote (LPR)-based systems and their Windows-based systems. The bridge makes it easy for users to access data stored on the host system, and print to a Windows-based printer. This innovative solution makes it simple to p rovide truly fast and flexible cross-platform printing.

UniPrint Host Edition further enhances printing flexibility in a mixed host-Windows environment by making it convenient for users to print, preview or archive print jobs. Taking advantage of the common, affordable, and easy-to-maintain Windows environment, UniPrint Host Edition converts print files into Portable Document Format (PDF) before transmitting them to a Windows desktop computer ready to print, preview, or save.

An easy-to-install and manage software-based solution, UniPrint Host Edition eliminates the need for organizations to invest the money, time and resources traditionally required to install and maintain a hardware-based printing solution, and reprogram the host side of the system.

“Surveys revealed that despite the fact customers found cross-platform printing made great sense from a productivity standpoint, they had given up on the idea because it posed too many problems, and because the only available software and hardware solutions were far too expensive and far too difficult to implement,” said Arron Fu, Vice President, Software Development, INGENICA. “The largest problem with printing in a mixed host-Windows environment is the inability to print data stored on host systems to a Windows-based printer,” Fu continued. “I am very pleased to announce that UniPrint Host Edition makes it simple and cost-effective to eliminate this problem completely.”

Compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, and requiring minimal host-side modifications, UniPrint Host Edition eliminates the need for expensive software and hardware - such as Intelligent Printer Data Stream (IPDS)-based printers. By simplifying both cross-platform printing and central management of print jobs, UniPrint Host Edition also enables Windows desktop users to retain advanced printer properties, such as tray mapping, stapling, and duplex printing.

UniPrint Host Edition is especially useful for users accessing the host system through a Citrix/Terminal Server session; accessing the host system via a dumb terminal; accessing the host system via a terminal emulation program; accessing the host system from home or via a mobile device; or requiring b atch printing.

To take advantage of a free 30-day trial download of UniPrint Host Edition, please visit www.uniprint.net . UniPrint Host Edition can be purchased through UniPrint’s global reseller network. Please visit www.uniprint.net/HowToBuy.asp for more details.

About INGENICA

INGENICA (www.ingenica.net ), a division of Bell Business Solutions, a Bell Canada Company (TSX, NYSE: BCE), is a recognized leader in the development of software-based solutions for the Server-based Computing (SbC) community. INGENICA’s award-winning solution, the UniPrint Suite of Products, offers a comprehensive range of printing solutions for both centralized and diversified network architectures, and for all systems, client platforms and devices. UniPrint replaces all manufacturers’ printer drivers with a single PDF generator to promote faster, more efficient printing that enables organizations to improve both productivity and return on existing IT investments. For additional information on UniPrint, please visit www.uniprint.net .

UniPrint Server, UniPrint Terminal Server Edition, UniPrint Gateway Edition, UniPrint Gateway Terminal Server Edition, UniPrint Host Edition, and UniPrint Web Edition are trademarks of Bell Business Solutions. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are properties of their respective owners.

Technorati : AIX, AS/400, Printing, Terminal Services, UniPrint, Unix
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I was recently at Citrix Synergy and was able to meet some of the vendors that add value to the virtualization space. One of the vendors I spoke with was Celio Corp. Celio Corp makes a cool device called a REDFLY Mobile Companion. This device is a smart phone extension. It looks kind of like a mini laptop. Once you connect your smart phone up to this device (either by USB or Bluetooth), you can use the device’s monitor, keyboard, and touchpad to control the phone. The “wow factor” comes in when you connect up to a virtual desktop (VDI) or set of virtual applications. It’s like using your phone as your workstation. This device can also hook up to an external monitor. Anyway, I recorded this 5 minute video to give you a better picture. I think devices like these will be more prevalent as more desktops and applications converge into a virtual data center.

Technorati : REDFLY, SmartPhone, VDI, Virtual Applications, Virtual Data Center
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In a previous blog post, I mentioned the launch of VirtualizationAdmin.com by TechGenix. Since Terminal Services and virtualization technologies are starting to converge (in fact, Microsoft now calls Terminal Services “Presentation Virtualization”), this blog will shift more toward highlighting various virtualization technologies and vendors. Some of the topics we will focus on are Application Virtualization and streaming, Hardware Virtualization, Presentation Virtualization, OS Virtualization, Storage Virtualization, VDI, and supplemental tools that add value to these technologies.

The RSS feeds for this blog have been updated as well. Please subscribe to the following feeds to keep up to date:

Blog: http://blogs.virtualizationadmin.com/conger/feed/
News: http://blogs.virtualizationadmin.com/conger/tag/ne.../feed/

Stay tuned…

Technorati : Application Streaming, Hardware Virtulization, OS Virtualization, Presentation Virtulization, Storage Virtulization, VDI
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TechGenix Ltd., the company that brought you MSTerminalServices.org, WindowsNetworking.com, WindowsSecurity.com, ISAServer.org, and MSExchange.org, now brings you a new online resource for all things virtual titled VirtualizationAdmin.com. VirtualizatonAdmin.com is “…a site completely dedicated to Virtualization related topics such as desktop virtualization (VDI), hypervisors, storage virtualization, application virtualization, and more.” Since TerminalServices and virtualization are becoming more closely tied together, “…MSTerminalServices.org is being integrated into the new site allowing the content to be expanded and strengthening its stance as a leading provider of information and technical assistance to the Server Based Computing community. As the sites continue to mature, the content on MSTerminalServices.org will be further integrated with VirtualizationAdmin.com. We encourage you to update your bookmarks to the VirtualizationAdmin.com homepage, through which you will still have convenient access to the latest Terminal Services articles and tutorials.”

Read more here…

Technorati : Application Virtualization, Storage Virtualization, TechGenix, VDI, Virtualization, hypervisor
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Michael Thomason presented an innovative session at BriForum US and Europe 2007 titled “Decreasing Windows/Terminal Serve Logon Time - ‘I have a 5-7 Second Login Time, You Can Too!’” I personally attended these sessions presented by Michael and I must say that there is some excellent information presented. Following is a brief description of the session:

“As more and more users rely on Citrix/Terminal Services for application delivery, extremely fast login times have become more and more of a necessity. Not only does it enhance the user experience it also creates less resistance for porting applications. Between profile creation, policy processing, folder redirection, antivirus software, and “roaming profiles” login times seem to be increasing! Users expect consistent, reliable, and fast login times regardless of server user load.”

The Brian Madden Company recently released the video of this session to the general public - meaning you can go watch this video now for FREE!

Continue at source…

Technorati : Logon, Performance, Profile, Speed, Terminal Services
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