In the world of desktop virtualization, user experience is everything… it is what makes or breaks a successful desktop virtualization strategy. Today, Citrix raised the bar again, announcing a new addition to its popular Citrix XenDesktop that promises to juice performance even further for employees accessing their virtual desktops, apps and data over a wide area network (WAN).

Starting today, any customer who buys the Platinum Edition of XenDesktop gets a powerful new WAN optimization virtual appliance at no additional charge that can be deployed quickly and easily in any branch office to boost XenDesktop performance for branch users. The new solution, powered by the breakthrough Citrix Branch Repeater VPX virtual appliance, is specifically architected for accelerating and optimizing the delivery of virtual desktops, apps and data for end users, while reducing bandwidth utilization for IT administrators.

The March 2010 launch of Citrix Branch Repeater VPX captured the imagination and interest of networking customers around the world by delivering the power of WAN optimization with the flexibility and agility of a software-based virtual appliance. Citrix customers were further intrigued by the fact that Branch Repeater went beyond the kind of WAN optimization offered by the likes of Riverbed to offer specific optimizations for the ICA protocol that plays such a big role in the HDX technologies that have placed XenDesktop at the head of the virtual desktop market. The fact that thousands of XenDesktop customers downloaded Branch Repeater VPX in 2010 to try it out for themselves, prompted us to make HDX WAN optimization a standard feature for our most strategic XenDesktop customers.

Adding this capability to XenDesktop Platinum Edition seemed like the obvious answer. More than 70% of our XenDesktop customers already choose our Platinum Edition to deliver a wide mix of different virtual desktop technologies to a diverse range of employees – from task workers and office employees, to road warriors and contractors. And increasingly, these large XenDesktop customers have been turning to Branch Repeater to enhance performance over the WAN. Gartner¹, in fact, credits Branch Repeater’s top three market share position in the advanced-platform WAN Optimization controller market to the strong acceptance of XenDesktop.

We think these early adopters are on to something ─ Citrix XenDesktop, combined with the HDX WAN Optimization technology from Branch Repeater – accelerates the delivery of virtual desktops and provides a high definition experience to branch office workers (See 3rd Party Performance Report: XenDesktop vs View with and without WAN Optimization). They have led the transformation of desktop virtualization and WAN optimization markets with innovative and integrated use of these technologies.

That’s why we’re moving aggressively to accelerate this adoption even further – making it easy for ALL strategic XenDesktop customers to deliver any type of virtual desktop and app to any user with the best, high-def experience. Specifics of today’s announcement include:

• Effective February 14, 2011, XenDesktop Platinum will include the new HDX WAN optimization feature, powered by Branch Repeater VPX – at no additional charge. You can deploy the new HDX WAN Optimization virtual appliances in unlimited number of branch offices with WAN links up to 45Mbps, if you buy XenDesktop Platinum, are current on XenDesktop Platinum SA or trade up to XenDesktop Platinum. This will allow XenDesktop Platinum customers to accelerate and optimize, on WAN links of up to 45Mbps bandwidth, delivery of virtual desktops and virtual apps, as well as native apps such as Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, SharePoint, and other data or application traffic.

• The new HDX WAN Optimization feature runs as a virtual appliance on either Citrix XenServer of VMware vSphere. In related news, the standalone Citrix Branch Repeater VPX virtual appliance is also now available for both XenServer and VMware hypervisors.

While this is great news for XenDesktop customers, it doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t enjoy the benefits of Branch Repeater to get more out of their wide-area networks. Branch Repeater hardware and software appliances will both continue to be available for standalone purchases to ANY customer who wants blazing fast WAN performance and lower bandwidth costs from the vendor who brings virtualization, networking and cloud computing together.

For more information, please read Customer FAQ: Updated XenDesktop Platinum includes HDX WAN Optimization, powered by Branch Repeater VPX. 

Try putting the pedal to the XenDesktop on wild wide-area networks… and feel the exhilarating XenDeskop ride!

Sai

¹ Market Share Analysis: Application Acceleration Equipment, Worldwide, 3Q10 ( Dec 15^th, 2010)

Related info:

Citrix Makes the “Everywhere Employee” Feel Right At Home…Even Over the WAN

3rd Party Performance Report: XenDesktop vs View with and without WAN Optimization

Can I get my apps and desktops now?

Check the new BYO or “Bring Your Own” device program templates on the Citrix Marketing Concierge Demand Gen site*. It’s time for your customers to think beyond the Desktop. You will find an email template which you’ll be able to customize with your own information and have it ready to blast in a second to your customers and prospects. Could it be easier than this? What are you waiting for?!

 *This site is only available to partners in the Americas

This document will help Citrix Ready Partners understand How to Activate License code and download the Citrix Ready Demo Licenses they are entitled to.

Please follow the steps below to download the License.

Step1: Login into MyCitrix – Choose a Toolbox – Select Partner Use License

Step2: From the Current Tool, Choose Partner Demo Licenses and click on Get Software

Step3: Choose the appropriate Citrix Product to download the Demo License.

Step4: For example choose XenDesktop, copy the Serial Number (License Access Code)

FYI -XenDesktop Platinum Edition includes XenApp Platinum/Enterprise Edition Demo License

Step5: Click on Choose a Toolbox – Activate System/Manage Assets

Step6: From the drop down, select Activate/Allocate and the paste the License Access Code and click on Continue

Step7: Select I Cannot find my reseller and click on continue.

Step8: Choose your contact information and click on submit.

Step9: Verify your contact information and click on Submit.

Step10: Click on Continue.

Step11: Enter the Quantity and enter the Hostname of the License Server and click Allocate.

Please refer FAQ for more information

Please refer to the Citrix Ready Program Benefits under the number of licenses allocated for all 3 Levels under Citrix Ready Program.

Step12: Confirm the allocation and click on Confirm.

Step13: Click to download the license file.

If you need any more information, Please don’t hesitate to write to citrixready@citrix.com

With XenDesktop 5 Express, you can create a virtual desktop (VDI) production environment for up to 10 users or an evaluation environment as a POC …for free! The XenDesktop Express download includes everything you need plus a tutorial video that walks you through the installation process. (You could also use XenDesktop with Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware vSphere as the virtualization layer, but we recommend the included XenServer 5.6).

Then when you’re comfortable with your XenDesktop environment on a LAN, you can try it out on a WAN for free with Citrix Access Gateway VPX 5.0.1 Express.

Here’s what you need… 

Product Download

Download XenDesktop 5 Express edition from: http://www.citrix.com/tryxendesktop

This download (filename: XD5_Express.zip) includes:

• XenDesktop5.iso - XenDesktop Controller & Virtual Desktop Agent
• XenServer 5.6.0-install-cd.iso - XenServer 5.6 virtualization infrastructure
• XenCenter.ja.msi - Install for XenCenter Japanese language version
• XenDesktop_Express_Edition_License.lic - 10 user XenDesktop license
• XenDesktop5_Express_Edition_Tutorial.wmv - Step-by-step guidance for a XenDesktop setup
  
  
  
  

Licenses

Included in the XenDesktop Express download zip:
(Note: Product offers a 30 day grace period until license is applied.)

• XenDesktop 5 Express License file - Covers Controller, Virtual Desktops, and XenServer
• XenServer License - License using XenDesktop Controller’s licensing feature (refer to tutorial video)
  
  
  
  

Sample Configuration

One or more servers capable of supporting the following:

• Windows 2008 or Windows 2008 R2 servers

      -- Desktop controller, 2 GB quad core
      -- Optional server for other pieces (IIS SQL, Web Interface*, Active Directory, etc.)

      *Note: Web Interface could be included on the Desktop Controller instead.

• Windows 7 virtual desktops (VDAs), at least 1GB and 1 core each VM
  
  
  
  

Documentation

• XenDesktop Evaluation Guide - Get step-by-step guidance throughout the installation process.
• XenDesktop 5 Eval Scenarios - Review once you complete the installation.
• Key differences in XenDesktop 5 - Find out what’s new in XenDesktop 5.
• XenDesktop Experience Newsletter - Get technical best practices & other info. Subscribe here

More documentation can be found here.

General Info

• XenDesktop Product Page
• HDX Product Page
• XenDesktop Case Studies 
• Citrix Blogs: XenDesktop
  
  
  
  

Phase 2: Access Gateway

Once you’re comfortable with your XenDesktop environment on a LAN, it’s time to try it out on a WAN …for free. Citrix Access Gateway VPX is a virtual machine based solution for remote access to your XenDesktop environment. Access Gateway VPX configured in “Express mode,” will allow a max of 5 users for 1 year. Here are links to the resources:

• Download Access Gateway VPX 5.0.1 Express and the license file (via MyCitrix)
• Review a guide for integrating Access Gateway VPX with XenDesktop
• View Access Gateway VPX Hardware Requirements
• Configure Access Gateway 5.0 for Citrix Receiver for mobile devices
  
  
  
  

Hope you find this information helpful. If you’ve tried this yourself or there are other resources that you’ve found useful, please share!

Laura Whalen
Citrix Systems, Inc.
Follow me on Twitter

As you can probably guess, I’ve been working on configuring a pool of XenServers via SSH. Partially because my daughter stole the batteries out of my mouse for her Leapster, and partially because I’ve always wanted to be like those computer guys you see on movies. You know the ones with the Hot Pockets, Cheetos, and Mountain-Dew, typing furiously with a console session flying by.
I’m more of a Diet Jolt (half the sugar twice the caffeine), and wasabi peas kind of guy but still that image is pretty cool. (the console session flying by not me on Jolt)
Really this is a true story, I know because I made it up myself.
Regardless…
Sometimes I like to figure out how many things in the GUI can I do through command line. Its fun, its repeatable, and did I say its repeatable? Really, you are bound to want to put together some configuration scripts just to make sure that your configs are consistent across the pool, the datacenter or even across the various environments that your work in.




So here are a couple of how to’s:


1. How to record your console session for documentation or possible automation later.
2. How to change your prompt so your commands have some extra useful information for logging etc.
3. Where am I?
4. What are my local file systems? (Might be handy for MCS)




1. If you are looking for an easy way to keep track of what you are doing in the console session try this:
a. ssh roy.tokeshi@xenserver-phx01 | tee -a my.logfile.txt
b. I like the -a switch, it appends the log.




2. Prompt changing I know what you really want to do is something like:





So here is how it works:
The PS1 variable that you can list with the :

echo $PS1

will tell you what the format of your prompt will be. You can change it too any of the variables listed


But really how about these switches:

\t – time
\d – date
\n – newline
\s – Shell name
\W – The current working directory
\w – The full path of the current working directory.
\u – The user name
\h – Hostname
\\\# – The command number of this command.
\\\! – The history number of the current command

With example:





So that allows you to put in helpful bits like time and date stamp, and line number and command instances.




3. Where am i?

Pwd

PWD will tell you where in the directory structure you are, as in your current path:







4. What are my local file systems?

Mount

Now you have a nice view into the NFS and CIFS shares mounted for VHDs and isos, but you can get info about your local disks. This will be very helpful if you want to do Machine Creation Services (MCS)




Hope this helps
rat

Sometimes it comes in handy to manage your XenServer via command line. Maybe you just want to perform some of the xsconsole functions. Here are some options:

From a Mac:

1. Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Terminal
2. use the ssh command to get to your XenServer. lets try an example where we are connecting with teh default root account on a host called xenserver-phx01 and password is MyPassword1

ssh -l root xenserver-phx01

You can aso specify a port if you were to change the default ssh port from the default of 22

ssh -l root xenserver-phx01 -p 8080

Here is a screen shot of the mac terminal accessing a XenServer

of course you can also run the xsconsole to get the Text UI:

The same commands apply to a connection from a linux machine.

Here are some screen shots from a windows machine using putty.

If you have many machines to administer among difference connection types Felix Deimel from mRemote.org (merged with VisionApp) has a cool tool called mRemote that you can use as well.

You can use the configuration console to enter the address, port username etc for connection.

Happy SSH’ing!

rat

Can you believe it’s the end of January already? It feels like only yesterday that we were wishing each other “Happy New Year,” and now here we are charging full steam ahead into 2011. Here at Citrix, the last year ended with a bang … and the new year is off to a roaring good start. Earlier this week in our Q4 and year-end 2010 earnings announcement, Citrix CEO Mark Templeton said, “Our customers are telling us they want to simplify enterprise computing, they want to embrace IT consumerization, and they are ready to adopt more cloud services – all to transform IT to an on-demand service.” I love this quote because it highlights the megatrends that are driving our business today.

Industry analysts are also pointing to these trends, with some amazing predictions about the impact that personal devices and cloud services will have on the way we work. For example, Gartner says that in just two years 80 percent of businesses will support a workforce using tablets, and in three years – by  2014 – 90 percent will support corporate applications on personal devices.

The good news is that all you iPad fans can look forward to a day in the not-too-distant future when using these devices is just a normal part of your work experience. It will be expected, not an exception. That’s profound.

So, tell me…what are YOUR predictions for 2011? Will you be workshifting from a remote location (remember when this was called telecommuting?)? Will you be using a tablet issued by your IT department? Will you be downloading your own apps and desktops from your company’s app store?

Do tell! Participate in our survey and share your expectations for the workplace in the year ahead. In case you need a little incentive, each participant qualifies for a chance to win an iPad. Yes! Don’t walk, run to our survey and be sure to take part  before it closes on Feb. 2.

While you’re in the “sign-up spirit,” you should also register now for Citrix Synergy in San Francisco May 25-27. Join the experts and network with others to learn how your business can benefit from the virtual computing revolution.

Thanks in advance for teaming up with Citrix on the survey and planning to join us at Synergy. I’m excited to hear and learn from you!

Edited post-hoc. A tad over the top. No offence intended Elias!

I’ve been enjoying a quiet start to the year – twitter and blog-wise that is. I turned on tweetdeck for a bit, but to be honest, I really can’t decipher @Beaker. Is it gibberish, or a secret code controlling an army of cloud-based “RT: @Beaker” bots? (#envy). (If you’re lost, #fail, and skip the next paragraph too.)

Then, just as I was about to get on with my day-job, I got a mention from @ekhnaser (#gloat)

“New Article: #Citrix, #VMware, #Storage Vendors Invited To talk #emc #hdscorp @harrylabana @simoncrosby @herrod”

OK, I’ll bite, and if you’re looking for a quick response before moving on, this chap is woefully confused.

Let’s take a look. The first thing that strikes me about Elias’s article is that @herrod is highly unlikely to respond to his challenge. Why? Well for starters he uses DVI (Desktop Virtualization Infrastructure) instead of VMware’s term: VDI. Moreover Steve does have a pretty big job on his hands trying to complete Project Redwood.

The weather is far from awful in DVI land, as Elias seems to think. But he is right to point out that it has been bad in the past. His point is that with traditional enterprise storage architectures representing as much as 60% of TCO, Hosted Virtual Desktops just don’t make financial sense. The problem? Well, back in the days when VDI meant something, one would create and store a complete Windows client OS VM per user – their hosted virtual desktop. One would likely use VMFS to “manage” storage, making it impossible for the arrays to understand the structure of the real storage task (virtual disk images). With the storage infrastructure flying blind and unable to assist with placement, caching or read-ahead, performance was terrible, and the only way to solve the problem was to buy more storage, and more expensive SAN networking.

So, all the vendors “ran around hysterically” as Elias says, and started to innovate. There has been a flood of new technology – SSD and RAM based caches, array-based thin clones and snapshots, and lots more to boot. The storage ecosystem has done a fabulous job. We at Citrix have always viewed our role as being one that relies on utilizing as much functionality as possible in the storage infrastructure. We love innovative storage partners. For more than two years XenServer (via StorageLink) has had the ability, for example, to leverage in-array snapshots, thin provisioning and fast-clones. But the demons haunting DV storage have their roots in Moore’s Law. A single modern server can generate more IOPS than any array can satisfy. And technology will continue to favor server IOPS on the road ahead.

So, ultimately the solution lies in a proper decomposition of the DV storage problem into its constituent parts. Properly managed, the user’s desktop is composed of the user’s environment, apps and golden OS, and these can be dynamically composed (using various virtualization technologies) on the fly, to build the user’s desktop. Now, on a server running lots of virtual desktops, why would the hypervisor ever pull the golden image Windows desktop over the network more than once? It wouldn’t – the golden image OS should just be there already, and indeed it ought to be shared across all VMs. Ditto for the apps.

Moreover, when we examined the I/O performance of hosted desktop VMs we found that writes outnumbered reads, by as much as 8:1. The culprit? The Windows Page File. According to Chris Wolf’s analysis, the page file should never leave the server. Instead, it is cached locally either on disk or (better) SSD. Finally, a major cause of write IO latency in the storage subsystem is the nearly random behavior of the disk heads when faced with I/O from a large number of desktops. So we eliminated that, by caching writes locally, and transacting large sequential writes to the storage infrastructure.

This is Intellicache – a feature Elias thinks is cool but irrelevant. Well, he’s wrong. Intellicache reduces HVD IOPS by as much as 98%! What ends up hitting shared storage is .. precisely what you wanted – the user’s differences from the golden image state. He’s right in stating that you can’t use live relo with today’s implementation of Intellicache. Big deal – this is a desktop remember! Moreover, he might want to note that we still manage two platform releases per year.

Elias also thinks that Intellicache is not useful for cloud storage. Dude, have you ever been inside a large cloud? Local storage is all that they use. Intellicache is perfect for “instant on” of any OpenStack based cloud workload. He also says “with all due respect, local disk is dead”. My response: Moore’s Law (and Google, Facebook, and every other massive infrastructure you use daily) says you are utterly, totally, irrationally and profoundly wrong.

Workflow Studio 2.5 was released last week and is currently available for download to our customers on MyCitrix. You can get more information and find a link to the download page at http://www.citrix.com/wfs.

This release includes the following new features:

• Expanded platform support (Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2; SQL 2008; PowerShell 2.0; .NET 4.0)
• New activity libraries for Hyper-V and SQL
• Numerous improvements to existing activity libraries
• Expanded security roles
• Performance improvements
• Enhanced usability for workflow properties

The Evaluation Virtual Appliance has not been updated yet, but I will post an update when it is.

Calling all Citrix users and administrators located in or around Dallas, Texas…




There’s still time to sign up for the next Dallas Citrix User Group Meeting on Wednesday, September 8th!




Date: Sept. 8, 2010 (Wed)
Time: 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM CDT




The goal of a User Group is simple: To foster dialogue and an exchange of ideas within the Citrix community, allowing users and administrators to share information and best practices, hear from the experts, and grow their body of knowledge and expertise.

Register Now

Agenda:

During this meeting, you’ll learn more about Citrix XenDesktop including:

• Adding XenDesktop to a Citrix XenApp environment
• Getting a technical overview of Flexcast
• Discussing a comparison of key features against the competition

Citrix experts will be available for questions and answers after the meeting.

All attendees will receive a TopGolf game card!

Location:

TopGolf Dallas
8787 Park Lane
Dallas TX 75231
(214) 341-9655

Register Now

If you are located in or around Dallas, TX, I hope you can attend! Stay tuned to the Citrix User Group Community site for news and information about upcoming meetings and activities.

Laura Whalen
Citrix Systems, Inc.
Follow me on Twitter