Since launching XenDesktop, one of the most common questions I have heard from XenApp customers is "Why would I use XenDesktop with my current XenApp implementation?" Well, there are a lot of reasons and this white paper helps answer them. According to the document's description:

The white paper explores these areas:

• Best Practice: Separate Apps and Desktop
• Step 1: Is it an app or desktop problem?
• Step 2: Which workers have this problem?
• Step 3: Identify the solution
• Step 4: Justify with Cost Analysis

Take a read and let us know what you think.

 XenApp and XenDesktop: Using Application and Desktop Virtualization Together

Did you know that Citrix has a private Customer Advisory Community that enables global Citrix customers to serve as virtual advisors, providing their perspectives and opinions in an online forum?  The Customer Advisory Community is comprised of 400 Citrix customers who span more than 30 countries and represent a broad cross-section of industries and organizations.

Customer Advisory Community members log in to the site each week, and provide Citrix with a wide range of feedback, including insight into their organization's IT direction, IT industry trends, and feedback on Citrix products, services and marketing, among other topics.

The Customer Advisory Community has a limited number of openings for new members this month, and we would like to offer Citrix customers the opportunity to be considered for membership!   

As a member of the Citrix Customer Advisory Community, you would have the ability to:

• Provide insight into your organization's needs and challenges
• Share your thoughts on a variety of technology industry topics
• Learn early on about new Citrix initiatives and influence their direction
• Interact and network with your peers in a private, online forum
• Receive periodic rewards in exchange for your participation (if your organization's policies allow)

Those chosen to participate in the Citrix Customer Advisory Community will be asked to complete a click-through Non-Disclosure Agreement, create an account, and then log in and contribute their thoughts (via surveys, bulletin boards, etc.) an average of 5-15 minutes per week. Citrix partners with Communispace Corporation, a professional community management firm, to host and moderate the online advisory community.
 
To be considered for membership, please complete this brief, 10-minute questionnaire by July 25, 2008. Customers using one or more Citrix products are encouraged to apply.

Your responses will be kept confidential, and will be used only to determine your membership in the community. You will then be notified within the next few weeks about the status of your membership.  
 
We hope to see you in the community!

There have been nearly 10,000 runs of the (free) XenApp Upgrade Calculator, which launched in 1Q08. Customers and partners alike have found it valuable in making cost comparisons between applying a Subscription Advantage (SA) budget and upgrading editions of XenApp. Since the first year of SA is included in all XenApp edition upgrades, upgrading at SA renewal frequently makes financial sense.  Here is what a couple of partners have said about the current calculator:

• "I hear customers ask all of the time... "What would be the cost difference between upgrading my existing solution and just getting the latest?" Citrix made it happen again, nice tool!"
  (Citrix Platinum Partner)

• "Time Saver!! When the customer wants to know what the cost savings are compared to the upgrade, here is the tool for it. Way to go Citrix!"
  (Citrix Platinum Partner)

 The next version of the XenApp Upgrade Calculator is imminently available. Some of the new functionality includes:

• Country pricing
• Volume discounts
• Feedback
• Download of XenApp Evaluation Virtual Appliance

Stay tuned for the announcement on this blog and let us know what you think about either the current calculator or the next version.

One of the most common questions from the field, especially after Citrix acquired XenSource, was "What type of performance do I get if XenApp is virtualized on the server?". This Tolly Group Report conducts a performance evaluation of Citrix XenApp in a 64-bit virtualized server environment using Citrix XenServer Enterprise 4.1.0.  Test highlights include:

• Achieves maximum performance of users when XenApp runs on a 64-bit XenServer virtual machine, operating with as little as 7.6% overhead versus running XenApp in a comparable physical server environment
• Virtualized 64-bit XenApp exhibits 82% higher performance than a 32-bit virtualized environment using XenServer
• Provide features to allow XenApp to run at optimal performance levels with default configuration

If you're interested in running XenApp with XenServer, be sure to check-out these other white papers:

• Benefits of Virtualizing Citrix XenApp with Citrix XenServer
• Optimizing XenApp Performance with XenServer 4.1.0 Enterprise Edition
• XenServer for XenApp Reference Architecture, Design Considerations, and Implementation Guide by Citrix Consulting

Ever want to see the best XenApp docs? Here are the top 5 most downloaded docs for XenApp on citrix.com January 1 - June 18, 2008:

1. XenApp Comparative Feature Matrix
2. Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 on Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services: A Feature Analysis
3. Forrester - Moving IT From Application Deployment To Application Delivery - A Guide to Application Delivery for CIOs and Senior IT Executives
4. Forrester - Moving IT From Application Deployment To Application Delivery - A Guide to Application Delivery for IT Infrastructure Operations Managers
5. Reduce IT Costs using Citrix Presentation Server 4 (A new version of this doc is scheduled for 3Q08. The update will be posted under XenApp White Papers)

We have a number of new docs and updates in the works for the Project Delaware launch. Will they become part of the top 5 download list? Time will tell.

Learn how to run AutoCAD Map 3D on Citrix XenApp in this webinar on Wednesday, June 25, 2008 featuring Arnold Schwabe, Autodesk Technical Consultant.

A number of guides for running AutoCAD on Citrix environments have been floating around on the Web. There is the  unofficial guide to running AutoCAD 2006 via Terminal Services or XenApp (it was called Presentation Server at that time) as highlighted by Michel Roth.  More recently, Gus Pinto from Citrix highlighted the just-released guide Installing AutoCAD Map 3D on Citrix XenApp. In short, I've observed a lot of energy around the Citrix/Autodesk relationship in the past few quarters.

Now learn more about running AutoCAD Map 3D on XenApp by attending the Citrix and Autodesk TechTalk webinar (registration required) . Topics to be covered are: 

• Simplify application management by delivering AutoCAD Map3D with Citrix XenApp
• Improve efficiency and flexibility of Autodesk's geospatial applications
• Enhance application performance - scalability and performance test results
• Technical overview of installation and server configuration
• Reduce costs - a detailed look at ROI results

Featured Speaker
Arnold Schwabe, Autodesk Technical Consultant

Arnold has been using Autodesk products since 1990 in a variety of fields including agriculture, dredging, forestry, land development, property management, and geospatial consulting for government agencies and private companies. He has also spent time in IT/IS administrator roles in similar organizations. While working for an Autodesk reseller, he taught and authored several standard and custom training classes on AutoCAD, Land Desktop, Civil 3D, and Autodesk Map. As a consultant, he has provided services related to geospatial and civil products and worked as a contractor to Autodesk for Civil 3D QA work and testing of new functionality of Map 3D.

You can find more information on how Citrix and Autodesk are working together here.

Leave a comment on anything that you would like to cover during the webinar. I will pass it along to the presenters.

Want to understand the differences between Presentation Server 4.5 and Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2003? Take a look at the new 14-page Citrix Presentation Server on Windows Terminal Services: A Feature Analysis  just completed by the Citrix Technical Marketing Team. But this is not just the Citrix perspective on what is different between the products. This document was co-developed with a couple of members from the Microsoft Terminal Services team (blog), so it is the view of Citrix *and* Microsoft on the products.

The analysis looks at these 5 areas:

• Centralized Control
• Application Compatibility
• Optimized User Experience
• Comprehensive Access
• Enterprise Scalability

By the way, If you combined download counts for earlier versions of the Presentation Server and Terminal Services side-by-side evaluation docs previously available on citrix.com, that combined count would rank as one of the top 5 most downloaded docs in the past 12 months... out of nearly 750 docs on the citrix.com site.
 
You can also see more Citrix coverage at the tag Windows Server 2008 on the Official Citrix Blog.

Take a read of the new feature analysis and let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

UPDATE 30 January 2009:
Since writing this post, the name of Presentation Server was changed to XenApp. Here is the new doc:

• Citrix XenApp on Windows Terminal Services: A Feature Analysis
  

With the launch of Windows Server 2008 this past Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008, the question "Do I need Citrix or is Terminal Services enough" is back en vogue. In fact, the Google search for "do i need citrix with windows server 2008" is one of the top 3 search phrases driving traffic to my blog.  In that search, my earlier post Evaluating Project Delaware and Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 is the 6th-ranked result. Brian Madden's classic post, Do you need Citrix or is Terminal Server enough?, with 22,000+ views, is the top result. Clearly, people are interested in this topic. Today, Citrix took the next step to help customers understand the differences and released this new white paper:

Citrix XenApp on Microsoft Windows Terminal Services - A Feature Analysis

Compare the base-level features of Terminal Services within Microsoft® Windows Server® 2003 and Windows Server 2008 to the features of Citrix XenApp™ (the new name for Citrix Presentation Server) running on Windows Server 2003.

Take a read and let us know what you think. I expect this doc will be updated once Project Delaware is released.

UPDATE: The Feature Analysis on Windows Server 2008 has temporarily been removed as we make additional edits based on feedback (thanks!). The previous version is available here. Once the updates are completed, I will re-post the new version on this blog. I apologize for the inconvenience and understand the frustration this may cause.

Update 2: The new 14-page Citrix Presentation Server on Windows Terminal Services: A Feature Analysis is now available. Read more here.

In the spirit of the Oscar Awards last night where No Country For Old Men won best movie of the year ( a surprise to me), I thought I would pronounce the best Citrix "film" of the year. And the winner is... Understanding and Designing Presentation Server Farms (scroll down)

Of all the Citrix XenApp (the new name for Presentation Server) technical videos, this video has 60% more views than any other video over the past year. The runner-up was the "Licensing Essentials" video. Better luck next year. And the "Application Streaming and Isolation" video, uploaded last week, missed the entry deadline. Sorry.

Since Citrix admins are so interested XenApp design issues, I suggest taking a looking at the March 5 TechTalk webinar Designing Citrix Presentation Server Farms for Maximum Scalability. It will be hosted by Gagan Singh and Mike East who together have 21 years of experience working with XenApp and all the previous versions of the product back to MetaFrame 1.0. No doubt, we can all learn a thing or two from these guys. Here are their bios:

• Gagan Singh - Director, Product Development
  Gagan is responsible for quality assurance of the Citrix XenApp (the new name for Presentation Server) product line. He has been with Citrix Product Development for eleven years. Gagan has delivered over 14 Citrix products (from Citrix Metaframe 1.0 for Windows Terminal Server to Presentation Server 4.5, FP1). He created and developed the first scalability team dedicated to the testing of large farm environments. Gagan's team delivered scalability for four XenApp releases and grew the dedicated scalability test eLabs from 200 servers to over 2,000 servers over that time period.
  

• Mike East - Manager, Product Development
  Mike has been with Citrix Engineering for ten years. He is widely recognized as one of the world's foremost experts in Presentation Server farm architecture and design. He was also one of the original authors of the Advanced Concepts Guide. Three years ago, Mike assumed management responsibility of the scalability team dedicated to enhancing the robustness and resiliency of the Citrix XenApp Platinum Edition. Over a year ago, Mike assumed management responsibilities of the IMA development team which delivers the backbone of XenApp infrastructure.

UPDATE:  Yes, this year's "Citrix Oscar" goes to Brian Madden. Sorry for omitting that in my original post.  So Brian, when you're ready to make your acceptance speech, we're all-ears. I'll make sure the Academy Awards band doesn't start playing at 45 seconds 

Citrix is heads-down working on the launch of Project Delaware, the next version of Presentation Server. And Microsoft is finalizing launch details for its Heroes Happen Here launch events for Windows Server 2008 (along with Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008), which begins on February 27, 2008 in Los Angeles. At this event, you will see the new Terminal Services features first-hand, but don't wait until then to get a sneak-peek of some of those features.

With the upcoming release of these new products from Microsoft and Citrix, organizations are asking themselves with increasing frequency questions like:

• Will I still need Presentation Server?
• Will Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 meet my needs?
• Why should I pay more for Presentation Server as compared to Terminal Services?

These questions are nothing new to the Terminal Services teams at Microsoft and the Presentation Server teams at Citrix. In fact, in my nearly 6 years at Citrix, these same questions are asked continually, and more frequently as we near product launches.  But the truth is, new releases of Presentation Server are **always** complementary to new releases of Terminal Services.  Maybe that's why Microsoft named Citrix Global ISV of the year in 2003 and again in 2005.

If you are considering Terminal Services and Presentation Server, are all of your questions answered in these items?:

• Value-add to Terminal Services
• Citrix Value-Add to Windows Terminal Services White Paper (updated link below)
• Performance Evaluation of Presentation Server 4.5 and Windows Terminal Services White Paper  (updated link below)

Will an update to these docs answer your questions? Or would you like to see something new?  What questions do you need answered when considering these products?

 Leave a comment and let us know.

 UPDATE 22 January 2009:
Since writing this post, the name of Presentation Server was changed to XenApp, Project Delaware was released, and a couple of web links were broken. Here are the new links:

• XenApp and Terminal Services
• Citrix XenApp 5 and Windows Server 2008: A Feature Analysis

This past Tuesday, January 29, Citrix unveiled XenDesktop, its desktop virtualization product, at Demo 08 and the videos are now live. Demo is one of my favorite conferences for this simple reason: it is all about products, requires timed, live demonstrations and PowerPoint is not allowed.  You won't fall asleep at these presentations!
CRN also included XenDesktop in 20 DEMO Products That Matter To VARs  

All of the presenters do a great job, so if you get the chance, check out the videos. My colleagues, Sumit Dhawan and Ron Lott from the XenDesktop team were the Citrix presenters. Here's their video. Nice job, guys!

In his 2 hour keynote speech before 4,000 attendees, Mark Templeton celebrated the 10th anniversary of our annual Citrix customer event: from Thinergy (1998) to iForum (1999-2006) to the newly named App Delivery Expo (2007+). This new name marks an important change in how Citrix views its market and the growing importance of application delivery. Will Citrix App Delivery Expo grow into an event the size of the RSA Security Conference, or even bigger? Only time will tell, but today, the market conversation was broadened.

3 Quests
Citrix is on 3 quests to build out its application delivery infrastructure, which is clearly a multi-year initiative that will provide greater IT flexibility and reduce complexity.

1. Datacenters are dynamic - use a virtual infrastructure to separate apps from app workloads. The 3 components of an app workload are the datacenter of work stateless re-useable components, and a loose, run-time coupling of those components.
2. Apps are a delivered service - apps are no longer and instead are Even for users who use applications offline, these applications can be centrally managed with client-side application virtualization. The idea of a new app receiver will enable apps delivered as a service.
3. Desktops are a service - physical and virtual desktops are delivered as a service. App workloads will be stored in a catalog and then delivered.

9 Partners on Stage
I have never seen such strong partner participation at our annual customer event. Participating either on-stage or via video, VPs/Directors from Microsoft, IBM, HP, BEA, Oracle, Dell, Intel, AMD, and Business Objects provided their support for building out application delivery infrastructure. Typically, it has been Citrix executives delivering the keynotes with possibly 1-2 partners.

New Types of Virtualization
In addition to server virtualization, Mark offered these new types of virtualization:

• Client-side Application Virtualization - In Presentation Server 4.5, application streaming and isolation was introduced. This functionality is now re-positioned as client-side application virtualization.
• Server-side Application Virtualization - Applications are virtualized on Presentation Server and then delivered to other Presentation Servers or desktop devices. I expect to see more on this during tomorrow keynote sessions.

New Concepts

• App Workload - The app workload consists of the app + engine + OS. The goal is to make every workload a single server, whether those servers are virtual or physical.
• App Receiver - The app receiver runs on any device and has plug-in functionality for acceleration, virtualization, monitoring, collaboration, communication, user support and will be open for 3rd party plug-ins.

Other News
Citrix announced, via the conference bag insert, the Presentation Server Delaware Beta. Through Monday, Oct. 22, Citrix has issued 11 announcements.

Also see Brian Madden coverage on iForum App Delivery Expo 2007.

The Mac OS X 10.0 Beta was posted today.

In general, I have noticed a resurgence of Mac support across the Citrix product line. I glad, because I began using a MacBook Pro as my work machine about 3 months ago.

It good to see that our developers are minding the shop while 4,000 customers and Citrites attend the Citrix App Delivery Expo.

SmartAuditor, or ICA session recording, is one of the top 2 new features in Presentation Server 4.5 Feature Pack 1. Michel Roth of ThinComputing.net has posted a 15 minute overview on the configuration and use of Citrix SmartAuditor--the first that I have seen. When installing SmartAuditor, it is very important to follow the exact steps outlined in CTX113599 and have your Citrix license server configured to use Presentation Server Platinum licenses. Why? Before SmartAuditor will run, it checks to see if Platinum licenses are available, otherwise, it will not run.

At 3:35 Michel has a good tip for configuring IIS on the SmartAuditor server.

For those of you going to iForum App Delivery Expo 2007, beginning on October 22, be sure to check out Session 203 - Citrix Presentation Server SmartAuditor - Record User Sessions for Security and Compliance. It looks like a good session with a customer presentation by Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina.

Do you want to know what the 2nd top new feature is in Feature Pack 1? Watch the Citrix News section for the latest coming out of the iForum App Delivery Expo.

Some people have been quite excited about the Citrix Presentation Server Solaris x86 8.50 Client release. ThinGuy statement on Sun Think Thin blog says it all: Freaking On So I decided to catch up with Chris Wright, the development team lead for this release. spelling remains for authenticity .

Question: Tell me about yourself and your experience at Citrix.
Answer: I am a Software Development manager at Citrix, based in our development center just outside London, UK. I have been working for Citrix for two and a half years, initially managing products in the Management Services Group, which produces components like Resource Manager, Network Manager, End-User Experience Monitoring, the Access Management Console framework etc. For the past six months, I have worked in the non Win32-clients group, managing the development side of the UNIX and Mac clients.

Question: Why is this release important to customers? What are the biggest benefits to customers?
Answer: This release brings the feature set for this client up to the same as that for Solaris SPARC, so we have a greatly enlarged feature set over the previous release. The main features in demand have been increased colour depth and resolution, encryption, and smart card support. This version also supports Solaris Trusted Extensions for the first time.

Question: In what industries do you expect to see the most use of this new client?
Answer: The main demand for this release was for government contracts, which is where the need for Solaris Trusted Extensions and smart card support arose. We have also seen demand from car manufacturers and telcos among others.

Question: What tips or tricks do you have for using this new client beyond what is in the Admin Guide?
Answer: None. (The Citrix Publications team must be doing a great job!)

Question: What are Citrix and Sun doing to further develop their relationship?
Answer: We are grateful for Sun engineers technical support while closing down this release. We have also released an updated Solaris x86 version of our Presentation Server product this year, so we are fully committed to the Solaris operating system.

would you like to see in the next Solaris x86 ICA client release?

On Sept. 26, 2007 at 1pm EST, Citrix TechTalks will host the webinar What New in Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 Feature Pack 1 The webinar will be delivered by key Citrix engineers in the development of FP1:

• Gary Barton - Presentation Server Core Engineer
• Butch Davis - Engineer, SmartAuditor (ICA session recording)
• David Coleman - Director Product Management, Communication Gateway (EasyCall click-to-call functionality) session will also cover the improved Vista/Office 2007 support, ICA streaming client improvements, health assistant enhancements multi-monitor support.
  Get more details here.
  What questions do you have for the presenters?

On Friday, Sept. 21, 2007, Citrix announces general availability of Feature Pack 1 for Citrix Presentation Server. The key new features are:

• SmartAuditor (ICA session recording) - Record any Presentation Server (ICA) session based on pre-defined policies to monitor and examine user activity for regulatory compliance and technical support. It like TiVO for your Presentation Server environment and only takes 9 Mb for an 8 hour recording of a typical user interaction.
• EasyCall (click-to-call) - Click on an on-screen phone number in any application -- Web-based, Windows, or on Presentation Server -- and place a call from your preferred phone (cell, office, home, etc.) to the terminating number, while taking advantage of your low corporate calling rates.
• License Simplification - Presentation Server Platinum Edition customers now only have to manage 2 licenses (Presentation Server Platinum License, Access Gateway Universal License), instead of 5 licenses (Presentation Server, Access Gateway, Password Manager, Application Streaming, EdgeSight). Enterprise Edition customers manage 1 license (Presentation Server Enterprise License) , instead of 2 (Presentation Server, Application Streaming). />

Michael Roth of ThinComputing.net has an overview of Feature Pack 1 and will be conducting a hands-on look at SmartAuditor in the near future.

Customers with active Subscription Advantage (software maintenance) can download Feature Pack 1 on mycitrix.com - 32-bit | 64-bit(login required).

To assist with upgrades and migrations from earlier versions of Presentation Server to Feature Pack 1, Jo Harder, Citrix Senior Architect in our Consulting Group, just posted the Technical Guide for Upgrading/Migrating to Presentation Server 4.5 Feature Pack 1. If you haven seen Jo speak, she is one of the most popular presenters at iForum (now Citrix Application Delivery Expo), always having a top 5 session by attendance. She also recently delivered the companion webinar to this Technical Guide.

What do you think about SmartAuditor and EasyCall?