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Blogs for tag 'storagelink'

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02 Oct 2009 08:46 AM EDT

TechTarget lists Five Best Free Tools for Hyper-V

[ Tags: citrix essentials , hyperv , microsoft , virtualization , storagelink , tools , essentials-hyper-v ]

posted by Barry Flanagan

Greg Shields recently posted an article on TechTarget's SearchServerVirtualization.com site listing the "five best free tools for Microsoft Hyper-V management".

Greg included Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V - Express Edition on his excellent list of Hyper-V tools -

Best Free Tool 5: Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, Express Edition

Citrix hasn't traditionally been known for free software, but in recent months, it has been changing its pricing for virtual products. After announcing that it would make its flagship virtualization product XenServer free, Citrix has upped the ante by recently announcing a limited version of its virtualization management product Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V.

Why use this product over Hyper-V's management tool sets? Simply put, Citrix is known for its high-end management systems. Now that hypervisors in virtualization software are approaching feature parity, many in the industry are asking, "How do I best manage my virtual infrastructure?" Citrix has offers enterprise-ready solutions that wrap around existing systems to improve management workflow.
The Express Edition of Citrix Essentials will support up to two servers, which are both connected to a single storage array. It adds capabilities for the easy provisioning of storage through Citrix's StorageLink technology for iSCSI and Fibre Channel storage.

Read Greg's entire list here.

Express Edition Download
http://www.citrix.com/ehvexpress

Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V Step by Step Part 1

StorageLink Deep Dive Webinar - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/04/13/StorageLink+-+Essentials+for+Hyper-V+Deep+Dive+Webinar

StorageLink Demo Videos
http://www.citrix.com/ehv

StorageLink Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/02/23/StorageLink+in+Essentials+for+Hyper-V

Provisoning Services Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/03/20/Provisioning+for+Hyper-V+with+Citrix+Essentials

Lab Manager Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/03/19/Essentials+for+Hyper-V+with+Lab+Management

StorageLink Install Install Guide - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120789
StorageLink User Guide - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120791

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02 Sep 2009 01:58 PM EDT

Essentials for HyperV - StorageLink Step by Step Part 6

[ Tags: essentials , hyperv , microsoft , storagelink , scvmm , storage , essentials-hyper-v , virtualization ]

posted by Barry Flanagan

Between speaking at Microsoft Tech Ready, a much needed vacation and travel for some meetings, I have not had the opportunity to close out this series of posts. Here is the next one.

In this section of the StorageLink Step by Step Series, Steve takes you through how to add storage to existing Hyper-V virtual machines using StorageLink.

In Part 1, Steve Umbehocker reviewed the installation of the StorageLink component of Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V. In Part 2, Steve reviewed the initial configuration of StorageLink after it has been installed. In Part 3 of the StorageLink Step by Step Series, Steve covers connecting to Storage Systems via the StorageLink Manager console. In Part 4, he covers how to create storage repositories (SRs) with the StorageLink console. Next, on Part 5 Steve takes you through how to create Hyper-V virtual machines from storage templates.

Express Edition Download
http://www.citrix.com/ehvexpress

StorageLink Deep Dive Webinar - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/04/13/StorageLink+-+Essentials+for+Hyper-V+Deep+Dive+Webinar

StorageLink Demo Videos
http://www.citrix.com/ehv

StorageLink Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/02/23/StorageLink+in+Essentials+for+Hyper-V

Provisoning Services Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/03/20/Provisioning+for+Hyper-V+with+Citrix+Essentials

Lab Manager Overview - http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/barryf/2009/03/19/Essentials+for+Hyper-V+with+Lab+Management

StorageLink Install Install Guide - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120789
StorageLink User Guide - http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX120791

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29 Jul 2009 02:57 AM EDT

Citrix StorageLink用のDataCore SANMelodyのAdapterがダウンロード可能になりました。

[ Tags: japanese , storagelink , datacore , sanmelody , san , nonspecific , essentials-hyper-v , xenserver ]

posted by Kimihiko Kitase

Citrix Essentials for XenServerの目玉機能である、StorageLink Technology用のDataCore SANMelodyのAdapterがダウンロード可能になりました。ダウンロードの方法が少しややこしいので、ここに書いておきます。

1. http://www.citrix.com へアクセスし、My Citrixをクリック

2. My Citrix アカウントでログイン
※My Citrix アカウントを持ってない場合は、New Usersでアカウントを作成する必要があります。

3. Downloadsをクリック

4. Citrix Essentials for XenServerを選択

5. StorageLinkをクリック

6. Storage adapters available separatelyのDataCore - SANsymphony and SANmelodyで、Get the adapterをクリック

北瀬　公彦
Lead Product Marketing Manager
Citrix Systems Japan K.K.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kkitase
Blogs: http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/kimihikok
wiki: http://v12n.jp

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24 Jul 2009 03:09 PM EDT

Essentials for HyperV - StorageLink Step by Step Part 5

[ Tags: essentials , hyperv , microsoft , scvmm , system center , storagelink , storage , virtualization , cdn , xenapp , xendesktop , xenserver , provisioning-server , workflow-studio , nonspecific ]

posted by Barry Flanagan

In this section of the StorageLink Step by Step Series, Steve takes you through how to create Hyper-V virtual machines from storage templates.

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23 Jul 2009 04:29 PM EDT

Essentials for HyperV - StorageLink Step by Step Part 4

posted by Barry Flanagan

In this installment of the StorageLink Step by Step Series, Steve Umbehocker covers how to create storage repositories (SRs) with the StorageLink console.

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22 Jul 2009 12:09 PM EDT

Essentials for HyperV - StorageLink Step by Step Part 3

posted by Barry Flanagan

In this installment of the StorageLink Step by Step Series, Steve Umbehocker covers connecting to Storage Systems via the StorageLink Manager console.

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21 Jul 2009 07:57 AM EDT

Essentials for HyperV - StorageLink Step by Step Part 2

[ Tags: cdn , xenapp , xendesktop , xenserver , provisioning-server , citrix essentials , hyperv , microsoft , storagelink , storage , video , nonspecific ]

posted by Barry Flanagan

In Part 1, Steve Umbehocker reviewed the installation of the StorageLink component of Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V. In this next installment, Steve reviews the initial configuration of StorageLink after it has been installed.

The Enterprise Edition includes the full version of StorageLink, Dynamic Provisioning Services for Server Operating Systems, and complete WorkFlow Orchestration.

The Platinum Edition of Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V adds in Lab Manager to provide a complete cost effective virtual lab solution, and Stage Manager to automate the process of migrating newly tested and verified configurations from the virtual lab directly into production. You can download a evaluation copy of the Platinum Edition of Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V at http://www.citrix.com/ehv.

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20 Jul 2009 11:08 AM EDT

Essentials for HyperV - StorageLink Step by Step Part 1

[ Tags: citrix , essentials , hyperv , microsoft , scvmm , storagelink , cdn , xenapp , xendesktop , xenserver , provisioning-server , nonspecific ]

posted by Barry Flanagan

StorageLink is one of the components of the new Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V product.

Citrix StorageLink™ technology lets your virtual server infrastructures fully leverage all the resources and functionality of existing storage systems. StorageLink supports all third party storage architectures and delivers deep integration with leading storage platforms allowing you to switch seamlessly between XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V™ platforms. Citrix StorageLink provides organization with:

Reduced cost and complexity by leveraging existing investments in storage systems.
One click access to native storage services.
Simplified, wizard-driven storage setup and maintenance.

Steve Umbehocker of the StorageLink Development team recently recorded a series of videos that guide you step by step through installing and configuring StorageLink. The first video, Installing StorageLink, is below.

The Enterprise Edition includes the full version of StorageLink, Dynamic Provisioning Services for Server Operating Systems, and complete WorkFlow Orchestration.

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11 May 2009 10:17 PM EDT

StorageLink and VMware RDM

[ Tags: xenserver , storage , storagelink , hyperv ]

posted by Parthasarathy Ramachandran

I've been getting a number of questions from the field on whether StorageLink provides the capabilities of VMware RDM for XenServer and Hyper-V. A little detail is warranted, mainly because the answer is a bit different for XenServer and Hyper-V.

XenServer: The LUN per virtual disk model in effect provides the capabilities of raw device mapping. Prior to XenServer 5.5, customers got their LUN per virtual disk via the custom storage adapters for Netapp and Equallogic. XenServer 5.5 expands this to a larger set of storage arrays, and thats where the latest evolution of StorageLink comes in. StorageLink allows a user to assign/map a set of LUNs, and expose them as raw devices to your VM, in effect, the capability that RDM provides. This applies to existing and formatted LUNs too.

(The caveat here is that the same LUN cannot be attached to two VMs at the same time. This means that this virtual disk cannot be used as a quorum disk in an MSCS cluster of Windows VMs. But then again, Windows 2008 Failover Clustering has Node Majority, and a quorum device is no longer needed)

Hyper-V: StorageLink allows you to assign/map a set of LUNs (existing or new) and expose them as pass-through devices to Hyper-V. No caveats. These LUNs can be shared between VMs. Same as RDM.

One point worth mentioning is that StorageLink does not come in the data path. Once storage volumes are set up and mapped to virtual machines, IO is done using the existing hypervisor mechanism.

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22 Apr 2009 10:41 AM EDT

Go Deep at Synergy with "Ask the Experts"

[ Tags: xenapp , xenserver , xendesktop , edgesight , pvs , branch repeater , storagelink , synergy , citrix synergy , nonspecific ]

posted by Timothy Mackey

With Citrix Synergy fast approaching, it's time to get the word out on an exciting addition to the Citrix Booth. This year we've carved out an area where attendees can go deep (very deep) with not only Citrix product architects and gurus, but industry experts from Intel, Marathon and Oracle. Our experts have been prepped that no question on the topic of the hour is too technical; so bring your implementation questions, and we'll whiteboard up best practice solutions to get you moving toward a successful deployment.

Our schedule runs whenever the Expo hall is open, so please come by and try to stump our experts. As you can see, we have some meaty topics for your enjoyment.

~~~~~

Ask the Experts Schedule

Sunday May 3^rd

7:00 PM - To VPN or not to VPN

7:45 PM - Citrix XenServer on Intel® Server Products: Your recipe for Virtualization Success

8:30 PM - EdgeSight Scalability and Resiliency

9:15 PM - How XenDesktop Works

Monday May 4^th

7:00 PM - Supporting External Users with Smart Card Authentication

7:45 PM - HA Design Decisions in Virtualized Environments

8:30 PM - Considerations to Maximize XenDesktop Performance

9:15 PM - Real-World PVS Deployment Considerations

Tuesday May 5^th

12:30 PM - StorageLink Deployment Considerations

1:15 PM - Delivering Oracle Applications with Citrix XenApp and Citrix NetScaler

2:00 PM - Deploying Branch Repeater and Access Gateway Plugins

2:45 PM - XenApp Server Scalability

Wednesday May 6^th

12:30 PM - XenApp Application Streaming Deep Dive

1:15 PM - Fault Tolerant SAP Delivery with the Citrix Delivery Center

2:00 PM - Leveraging NetScaler for Disaster Recovery

2:45 PM - Deploying Branch Repeater for XenApp

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13 Apr 2009 03:20 PM EDT

StorageLink - Essentials for Hyper-V Deep Dive Webinar

[ Tags: storagelink , essentials , hyperv , microsoft , xendesktop , xenserver , provisioning-server , nonspecific ]

posted by Barry Flanagan

StorageLink is one of the components of the new Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V product that was just released last week.

Reduced cost and complexity by leveraging existing investments in storage systems.
One click access to native storage services.
Simplified, wizard-driven storage setup and maintenance.

I recently recorded a technical deep dive presentation and demo with Pete Benoit, the Senior Director of Engineering for StorageLink. You can watch the hour long presentation and demo below -

You can download the StorageLink Install Guide here. The StorageLink User guide is here and you can download the Powershell guide here.

UPDATE: I added the Deep Dive webinar video to my SkyDrive on Windows Live. You can download it here

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23 Feb 2009 02:26 PM EST

StorageLink in Essentials for Hyper-V

[ Tags: essentials , hyperv , storagelink , microsoft , video , demo , xendesktop , xenserver , provisioning-server , workflow-studio , nonspecific ]

posted by Barry Flanagan

Yesterday Citrix announced the newest Citrix product that builds on top of the Microsoft Windows Server platform - Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V. Essentials for Hyper-V has four primary components -

Automated lab management enables Hyper-V customers to develop, test and deliver applications faster by automating and simplifying the entire virtual machine lifecycle, including movement across virtualization platforms.
Advanced storage integration using Citrix StorageLink™ technology makes it easy for Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center customers to fully leverage all the native power of their existing array-based storage systems.
Dynamic provisioning services lets customers centrally manage a common set of master images which can be streamed on-demand into Hyper-V virtual machines or physical servers.
Hypervisor interoperability makes it easy for customers to manage virtual machines across heterogeneous Hyper-V and XenServer environments.

This short video below by Peter Blum reviews the Advanced StorageLink capability built into Essentials with Hyper-V.

I will post more videos and info on Essentials from Hyper-V from VMWorld Europe.