There are millions of gaming consoles out there, they should be being leveraged to deliver the fullest set of media possible, and it is possible to do without changing a thing, sort of!

The gaming console has evolved into being much more than just for gaming, it is becoming a media conduit for access to all kinds of media.

I am going to blur the line on the definition of media and include web, applications, and desktops as a type of media, because they are also media.

The ongoing perception is that the gaming console should only be focused on being a gaming console. Also, there is the argument that if gaming consoles started to have to worry about adding new features that they would lose focus of what they were intended to be in the first place.  Well, I do agree to a point that it should first and foremost be what it was originally designed for, a gaming console. Another argument is the fear that if the gaming console becomes too much like a PC, you now would have to worry about installing applications, getting updates for applications, and then there is the whole virus issue. I believe that there is a middle ground to the issue, in that the industry has been delivering applications for a while now, companies like Citrix and Microsoft have pioneered the application delivery industry, there is no need to develop applications for a given platform.

I titled this article in reference to the XBOX 360, but it also applies to the Wii and the PS3, as these gaming media consoles are capable of internet connections, they have the ability to support USB and Wireless peripherals such as a keyboard and mouse, and they all support a high enough video resolution that the on screen user experience would not be diminished. We are already seeing the user experience on small form factor and mobile devices being greatly enhanced with true web browsing, remote applications, and remote desktops.

 Also, I used reference to the ICA and RDP protocols for good reason, as these protocols have already solved the problems of application and desktop delivery. In a minimalistic approach and a starting point, we could leverage these protocols to access a remote desktop to computers on our home networks, just as Microsoft is doing with their Media Center Extender abilities already with the XBOX 360. In a grander vision, it would be something truly amazing to be able to utilize them to also access published applications that exist on the internet or the work place, over secured connections of course, which these protocols already do.

Is the gaming console in jeopardy of becoming something much bigger, and quite possibly becoming a Cloud Computing Device, it's hard to say, but I for one hope that we see the convergence and use of remote desktop and remote application abilities given serious thought for the gaming console.

Frameworkx Community Blog - What if the XBOX 360 supported the RDP Protocol?

Provisioning a new server in the Data Center from Bare Metal has always been a challenge. There have been some advances, but they still fall short of where we need to be for a truly self configuring and provisioning dynamic data center.

We have many methods, in which to remotely manage a bare metal server in the data center, we can call someone in the data center, use a networked KVM, use a Lights Out device, or some other creative technology.

Short of having our servers being delivered to us pre-configured for our environment, for the most part we still have to at some point connect to the server to set it up so that it will be ready to be provisioned for whatever purpose it is intended for.

I was having a flashback last week about a story I heard way back when, that was sparked by the announcement of Citrix XenServer being embedded on HP Servers. I have to tell you I don't even know if the following story is true, but here goes. The rumor was about negotiations between Citrix and Compaq way back when and how they were pondering using ICA as the protocol for connecting to their ILO devices. Like I said this rumor was from years ago, but I have never really forgotten about the "what if" scenarios if that had happened.

I love what Lights Out devices do for us, but I have never been a fan of the sluggish interface, when it comes to a console connection to the server, as the protocol used is not optimized for low speed or high latency connections. If you have ever tried to connect to a Lights Out device let's say in England or in Australia, and let's say you were Florida, then you will certainly know what I mean when I say that the current protocol for console connections to a Lights Out device isn't the greatest experience.

Also, trying to identify and manage a data center that has servers that are racked but not yet assigned or configured to be able to be provisioned can be a tough task to get a handle on, or one that can get out of control very fast.

There have been advances in Lights Out technologies that allow them to be managed from Active Directory, but it isn't a complete solution to the problem, as there is still a lot of initial work that has to go into being able to get the device into Active Directory first before one can even begin to manage it.

We need to be able to take server provisioning to the next level, and be able to drop a server onto the network, turn it on, and have it self-configure and self-provision. We have the server provisioning piece down quite well with Citrix Provisioning Server. It's the self-configuration of a bare metal server that we need to look at next, if we truly want to be able to drop ship in servers to meet the growing data center demand.