Microsoft Press has released a new free eBook about Windows Server 2008 R2. Included in this book is:
- What’s New in Windows Server R2
- Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World
- Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines
- Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management
- Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and Access
- The File Services Role
- IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform
- DirectAccess and Network Policy Server
- Other Features and Enhancements
This is a great free resource!
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Technorati : Hyper-V, Microsoft, Windows Server 2008, eBook
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When Citrix released XenDesktop 4, a new licensing model was introduced. This new licensing model was moving from concurrent user to named user. A lot of flack was raised about use cases where this type of licensing change made the cost of XenDesktop unreasonable (use cases like education and health care). Citrix received the feedback from the industry and actually changed their licensing model for XenDesktop 4 in order to better align with customer’s use cases. Wow! Here are the new license options:
- Device-based licensing
- VDI edition - available in both user/device and concurrent user
- Campus-wide licensing
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Technorati : Citrix, Licensing, XenDesktop
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The Microsoft App-V (Application Virtualization) team published a new whitepaper detailing deploying App-V packages to Terminal Servers. This white paper discusses the benefits, configurations, and considerations when planning a Terminal Services (TS) solution with Microsoft Application Virtualization for TS (App-V for TS). Many customers want to find out the best way to configure and/or deploy App-V for TS on terminal servers. This paper includes topics ranging from choosing an App-V for TS application delivery method to configuring RemoteApp and App-V for TS to work together.
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Del.icio.us : App-V, Application Virtualization, Terminal Services
Technorati : App-V, Application Virtualization, Terminal Services
Michael Burke published his slide deck from Briforum 2009 containing lots of good information for planning your VMware environment. There are 64 slides in the deck with a lot of good information for not only VMware, but server virtualization environments in general. The slide deck “…discusses some thoughts on VMware Infrastructure, including vSphere, around networking practices, storage ideas and DR planning, HA considerations, etc. Lots of good overview information.”
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Technorati : Best Proactices, Tips, Tricks, VMware
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One of the new features of Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 is a technology called AppLocker. AppLocker is kind of like the next generation of Software Restriction Policies in Group Policy in that AppLocker addresses deficiencies in Software Restriction Policies. AppLocker can be use to ensure users only run/install approved software. However, another interesting use case of AppLocker emerges when you combine Microsoft’s App-V (Application Virtualization) with AppLocker. Tim Mangan wrote a nice article detailing the integration and use case of App-V and AppLocker. The use case Tim points out is using a mixture of per-user applications and per-device applications. It is an interesting and very detailed read with examples.
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Technorati : App-V, AppLocker, Application Virtualization, Microsoft
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VMware has released VMware Workstation 7. VMware Workstation 7 is a hosted hypervisor and is ideal for running multiple Operating Systems on workstation class hardware. Some of the new features of VMware Workstation 7 are:
- Windows 7 support - including Aero support.
- 3d Graphics - DirectX 9.0c Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.13D
- IDE integration for SpringSource Tools
- Install and run VMware vSphere 4 and VMware ESXi in a virtual machine
- 256 bit AES encryption
Pricing is as follows:
- New License: $189.00 USD
- Upgrade: $99.00 USD
- Volume packs: starting at $169.00 USD
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Technorati : VMware, Windows 7, Workstation
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A list of free Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V tools is posted on hypervoria.com. The tools include:
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Technorati : Hyper-V, Management, PowerShell, Tools
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Ken Hess wrote an interesting piece attempting to price compare the major 3 hypervisors (VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft). The article is titled “Which Major Hypervisor is Cheaper? Does it Matter?” Ken goes on to explain some of the features in each platform. Each platform’s features are briefly discussed (although there is some mis-information about Amazon using XenServer [Amazon only uses Xen - not XenServer]). Read the article and decide for yourself - does price matter when selecting a hypervisor?
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Technorati : Citrix, ESX, Hyper-V, Hypervisor, Microsoft, VMware, XenServer
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Login Consultants has released a new version of VSI (Virtual Session Indexer). VSI is a specifically designed benchmark for SBC and VDI environments. VSI loads the system with simulated user workload, and focuses on how much users can run on the system before it saturates. VSI is 100% platform and protocol independent, and VSI configuration is simplified and automated where possible. As a result, VSI is a turn-key benchmark solution: perform tests within days instead of weeks. No need to create the workloads first. VSI is intended to be used by VDI/SBC engineers/admins, a degree in testing methodologies is not required.
Some of the new features include:
Completely new, more realistic, medium workload
Support for IE8, Office 2010, Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2
Highly improved robustness (even under extreme loads)
Improved response timer mechanism and index: VSImax
Over 100 fixes and usability improvements
Multilanguage Support (PRO only)
Other workloads such as: light, heavy and multimedia (PRO only)
External clock calibration and response time measurement (PRO only)
Customization Support (PRO only)
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Technorati : Benchmarking, Performance, SBC, VDI
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Citrix released XenDesktop 4. XenDesktop 4 comes with many new features and some feature announcements. Some of the new features are:
- HDX user experience including HDX for 3D graphics
- FlexCast delivery
- Full blown XenApp is now included in XenDesktop 4
One of the overshadowing announcements however is the pricing model change. XenDesktop 4 is priced per named user (PNU) as opposed to concurrent user (CCU). There are 3 editions of XenDesktop 4:
- VDI Edition
- Enterprise Edition
- Platinum Edition
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Technorati : Citrix, VDI, XenApp, XenDesktop
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