This is Part 3 of my blog regarding BDM we will go through setting up a HyperV virtual machine template to boot from ISO.

A few important things to note-

-    Currently with PVS and HyperV we must use the Emulated(legacy) NIC for pvs to work. You do have the option of setting up a private virtual network for PVS and assigning the legacy NIC to this private network. Then you can assign your Virtual Machine a Synthetic NIC for all other traffic.  For most situations using the legacy nic should provide you enough throughput for pvs (100Full)and normal operation but if not you can add the 2^nd synthetic nic(1GB).

*Even though we are not using PXE boot it still requires PXE be enabled so UNDI gets loaded early in the boot process.  
-       If you have not read the previous parts to this blog and created your ISO I would look at this first.

http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/trevorm/2009/02/25/Using+PVS+Boot+Device+Manger+with+XenDesktop+and+Xenserver \\

1.       We will start by going into SVMM and add our legacy NIC.

a.       Right Click on your XP Virtual Machine and choose Properties and then click on the Hardware Configuration Tab.

b.      Click on Network Adapter>Emulated network Adapter as shown below.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.       Now as you see below we have our Legacy NIC installed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Now we set our XP Virtual Machine to boot from the ISO file(PVS bootstrap) See screen capture below.
Click on the Bus Configuration>Virtual DVD

Choose existing image file and browse to the ISO file.

4.  Under Hardware Properties>Hardware Profile>Bios ... Set your startup order so CD is first and PXE Boot is second as shown below.

*Even though we are not using PXE boot it still requires PXE be enabled so UNDI gets loaded early in the boot process.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5.  You now should be able to boot your Virtual Machine up and connect to your PVS vdisk with out PXE booting.
 

Another component of Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V is Provisioning Services. Learn more in this video from the Product Manager for Provisioning, Pete Downing.

Here is a brief description of Provisioning Services inside Essentials for Hyper-V -

Learn more here.

In my post last post before VMWorld Europe, I embedded a new demo video on the StorageLink functionality with the recently announced Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V. Another component of Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V is Lab Management. In the next video, Peter Blum takes about five minutes to review the capabilities of this new feature inside Essentials.

Here are the requirements for Lab Manager -

Lab Manager host (Platinum Edition only):

• CPU: Intel or AMD x86 or x64 compatible; 1 GHz minimum; 2 GHz preferred
• RAM: (will vary by number of managed physical hosts, number of users and number of deployed VMs)
• Disk space: 10 GB minimum for small labs and 30 GB for large labs (disk usage will vary by number of templates, ISOs, scripts and software packages)
• OS: Windows Server 2003
• Database: PostgresSQL 8.3 for data store installed locally on LabManager host
  
  Lab Manager agent for Hyper-V (Platinum Edition only):

• One agent required per Hyper-V Host
• Installed on the Hyper-V host
• RAM: 512 MB minimum
• Disk space: 1 GB minimum
• OS: Windows Server 2003

Learn more here.

What's Citrix TechEdge?

TechEdge, the new name for Citrix Support and Engineering Institute of Technology (CSEIT), started nine years ago as a small in-depth troubleshooting training event hosted by Citrix Technical Support for support agreement customers.  Over the years, this event has grown from 50 customers to over 300 customers and now  provides training to our support agreement customers prior to Citrix Synergy and to our partners as a part of Citrix Summit.  This has become the event for troubleshooting the Citrix Application Delivery environment.

 Meet the support experts who can answer all of your technical questions:

Citrix Technical Support's top Escalation team engineers are hosting the TechEdge 2009 sessions. Here are some interesting facts about the team.

• On average these guys work and close 65 to 100 cases each per year.

• There are a total of 65 engineers on the team, so that's over 5,000 cases total per year.

• The average engineer has ten to fifteen years experience in the IT industry; the most common certifications are CCA and MCSE, ANG NetScaler and AGEE.
  

What they'll cover:

• End-to-end virtualization with Citrix Delivery Center
• XenDesktop 3 architecture and design
• Planning and implementing a Provisioning Server high availability (HA) solution
• Integrating and troubleshooting Citrix Access Gateway, Enterprise Edition
• Advanced troubleshooting of Citrix NetScaler
• XenServer disaster recovery and automation
• Troubleshooting tools and methodology for Citrix XenApp 5 environments  
  
  

Who can attend?
All partners who have registered for Summit, Citrix Technology Professionals (CTP) and customers with active support or maintenance agreements as of the first day of the event (May 3, 2009).
 

When and where?

The event will be at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday, May 4th from 8:00am to 5:30pm. 

Here's what a few past attendees had to say:

"This was probably the most valuable day of iForum [Synergy]. It was extremely technical and really provided a lot of insight into managing a Citrix environment."

"In-depth seminars, get to meet face to face with the people that support us, a wonderful venue."

Check out past event presentations and videos:

TechEdge 2008
October 29, 2008
Orlando, FL
Presentations and Session Videos

CSEIT 2008
May 19, 2008
Houston, TX
Presentations and Session Videos

CSEIT 2007
October 21, 2007
Las Vegas, NV
Presentations and Session Videos

Click here to register for TechEdge 2009

Learn More:

Want to learn more about TechEdge 2009, www.citrix.com/techedge. Stay tuned for our weekly close-up interview blog posts of the TechEdge presenters. Please let us know your thoughts, questions and feedback.

This post is part of a series on the TechEdge event:

• Check out my interview this week with Jamie Baker to discuss his sessions on End-to-end virtualization with Citrix Delivery Center and XenDesktop 3 architecture and design.

In the previous Provisioning Services with XenApp best practice blog, I spoke about the type of vDisk to use (the feedback was great. So much so that I've added new items for future best practices discussions).   If you are going down the route of using a standard image, you must make another decision. This is probably one of the most commonly asked questions regarding Provisioning Services for XenApp environments, where do I place the write cache?  The goal is to select a location that gives you the best performance without sacrificing other important items like fault tolerance or scalability.  What makes this such a challenging discussion is the number of options we get. 

• Target Device (Physical XenApp or Virtual XenApp) - RAM
• Target Device (Physical XenApp or Virtual XenApp) - Local Storage
• Target Device (Physical XenApp or Virtual XenApp) - Shared Storage
• Provisioning Services - Local Storage
• Provisioning Services - Shared Storage

Each write cache storage option has many different benefits and concerns, especially for the XenApp workload. For most XenApp environments, the best solution will be the one that takes on the following characteristics:

• Fast: XenApp requires a solution that responds quickly as XenApp is maintaining live, interactive user sessions. Any delays in the write cache might be noticeable to the users.
• Dynamic: XenApp servers are delivering many different applications and supporting many different users. Each user and application will have an impact on the write cache. The amount consumed will change day-to-day. The risks of exhausting write cache space would be detrimental to the success of a XenApp environment.
• Available: XenApp servers must be protected from environment failures, because each server is supporting many users simultaneously. The write cache solution selected should be one that does not impact high-availability options from functioning.
  

Target Device - RAM

Definition: The first option for write cache storage location is the target device's RAM. A portion of the target device's RAM is set aside and used for the write cache.

Benefits: The main benefit for using the target device's RAM is it provides the fastest type of write cache.

Concerns:

• A portion of the RAM cannot be used for the server workload. RAM is often better used for XenApp applications or user sessions than for write cache. Plus, using RAM to support the write cache is more expensive than using storage.
• Part of the challenge with using RAM as the write cache storage is determining the amount of RAM required. Provisioning Services can set aside a certain portion of RAM for the write cache, but what happens when the RAM runs out? The write cache is critical to the stable functioning of a provisioned server. When available write cache is exhausted, the server can no longer make changes, which results in a server failure. If the write cache size is not estimated correctly, using a Target Device's RAM might pose detrimental to the stability of the environment.

Target Device - Local Storage

Definition: The second option for write cache storage location is the target device's local storage. This storage could be the physical disk drives on the physical server, or it could be the virtual disk on a virtual server

Benefits:

• This solution does not require additional resources, in that most physical servers being provisioned already have local disks installed and unused.
• Although target device local storage is not as fast as RAM, it still provides fast response times because the read/write to/from the write cache is local, meaning that the requests do not have to cross the network.
• Trying to estimate the size of the write cache is difficult and if done incorrectly, can result in server failure. However, local storage typically provides more than enough space for the write cache, without requiring the administrator to estimate space requirements.

Concerns: If the target device is virtualized, using local storage will prevent live migration processes from succeeding because the storage is not shared across virtual infrastructure servers, like XenServer.

Target Device - Shared Storage

Definition: The third option for write cache storage location is on a shared storage device attached to the target device. This solution is usually only valid for environments virtualizing the target device with a solution like Citrix XenServer. This storage is assigned to each virtual machine from a shared storage repository.

Benefits:

• Although target device shared storage is not as fast as RAM or target device local storage, it still provides fast response times. If the shared storage infrastructure is a SAN or NAS, the reads/writes will still perform adequately because the optimized shared storage infrastructure will help overcome the time added for traversing the network.
• Although the configuration of this solution requires the identification of the shared storage size, the costs associated with over-estimating are not nearly as detrimental as overestimating with RAM. Storage costs are significantly cheaper than RAM so a sizeable buffer over the space estimates is of little concern.
• Because the target device's storage is accessible from multiple virtual machines, virtual server live migration, like XenServer XenMotion, is viable.

Concerns: This solution requires the setup and configuration of a shared storage solution. However, if XenServer is already being utilized, the same shared storage solution can be used for the write cache storage.

Provisioning Services - Local Storage

Definition: The fourth option for write cache storage location is on the Provisioning Services' local storage. This storage uses the physical disks installed within the Provisioning Services.

Benefits: This solution is extremely easy to setup and requires no additional resources or configuration within the environment.

Concerns:

• Requests to/from the write cache must cross the network and be serviced by the Provisioning Services streaming service. Because the write cache is across the network, servicing write cache requests will be slower than the previously mentioned options.
• The streaming service is responsible for sending the appropriate parts of the vDisk to all target devices. Having the write cache on the Provisioning Services server will negatively impact the server's scalability because the streaming service must also service the write cache requests.
• Provisioning Services includes a high-availability option, but in order for this solution to function, all Provisioning Services servers must have access to the vDisk and the target device's write cache. When the write cache is stored on one Provisioning Services server's local storage, this makes it impossible for other Provisioning Services servers to gain access, thus denying the ability to enable Provisioning Services high-availability.
• Although disk space is fairly inexpensive, chances are the Provisioning Services does not have an extensive supply of storage space. With each Provisioning Services server supporting a few hundred target devices, it is quite possible the total write cache could exceed hundreds of gigabytes of storage space. This could result in exhausting all local storage on the Provisioning Services server causing a server failure.

Provisioning Services - Shared Storage

Definition: The fifth option for write cache storage location is on the Provisioning Services server's shared storage. This option utilizes a share storage solution that is connected to the Provisioning Services server.

Benefits:

• The shared storage solution allows for Provisioning Services high-availability as each server can access the vDisks and the write cache.
• Size concerns are mitigated because shared storage devices typically contain significant amounts of storage and can be expanded easily.

Concerns:

• This is one of the slowest solutions because requests to/from the write cache must cross the network and be serviced by the Provisioning Services streaming service. The Provisioning Services server must then forward the write cache requests onto the shared storage, thus resulting in two network hops for the write cache.
• Provisioning Services scalability is impacted as the streaming service is responsible for handling Provisioning Services write cache requests and forwarding them onto the shared storage.
• The solution requires the installation and configuration of a shared storage solution into the environment. If one is already present, then this concern is mitigated.

Best Practice:

Based on the aforementioned criteria and the explanation of the different options for write cache, XenApp servers provisioned with Provisioning Services are best suited for

• Virtual XenApp Server: Target Device - Shared Storage
• Physical XenApp Servers: Target Device - Local Storage
  

Please comment with your thoughts or if there is another best practices you are wondering about. The list has already grown based on feedback from previous blogs. Stay tuned for more upcoming best practice blogs specifically focused on Provisioning Services and XenApp:

• vDisk Type
• vDisk Cache
• Active Directory
• Application Integration
• Application Streaming Cache
• System-level settings: Page file, drive remapping and multiple drives
• Image Management
• Local Database Storage (event viewer, EdgeSight, AntiVirus updates)
• Plus more if we get some good ideas on other areas of focus.
  

Daniel

Follow Daniel's Blog: http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/danielf

Follow Daniel on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/djfeller

Here is what's new and fixed in the newest release of citrix provisioning server 5.0 service pack 2.

New in 5.0 Service Pack 2

• Enhanced licensing to support streaming of Citrix XenApp Platinum*
• Enhanced licensing to support streaming of Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V*
• Support for streaming a Microsoft Hyper-V tm Server 2008 Target Device.

Fixed in 5.0 Service Pack 2

TR-7977: Occasionally fail to Add AD clients in a multi-DC environment.
TR-7979: GetComputerName only works in NetBIOS environements.
TR-7990: PVS uses GetComputerName in several places, which only works in NetBIOS
environements.
TR-8005: KDC errors -Duplicate SPN errors after upgrading to PVS 5.0 SP1a
TR-8006: Wrong SPN created for computer account in AD.
TR-8011: Cannot log in as domain administrator while using fresh copy of a vdisk.
TR-8052: Fix adding clients to AD on sibling domains.
TR-8053: Make client-side machine password changes run in minutes or hours, instead
of days.
TR-8059: Device will fail to reset password because it does not retrieve domain name
properly.
TR-8064: Streamprocess writecache path list is not correct when wcpath values exist in
both the serverCache and serverStoreCache tables.
TR-8070: Adding auth groups to the farm via the MCLI from a very large Active Directory
database (60k+ groups) is failing.

Hotfixes in 5.0 Service Pack 2

PVS-Hotfix-8006: Provisioning Server creates a malformed SPN, resulting in duplicate
SPN's in all the computer accounts they have added to the domain via Provisioning
Server
PVS-Hotfix-8052: Resolves the problem where the Provisioning Console is unable to
access clients in other domains
PVS-Hotfix-8070: Resolves the problem with adding auth groups for the farm using the
MCLI from a very large Active Directory database (60k+ groups)

Finally, XenApp server farms are going to be easier to manage. Am I the only one jumping for joy?  As many of you have heard by now, XenApp Platinum is going to include Provisioning Services.  This is an announcement I've been waiting for, for quite a long time.  Provisioning Services is a great secret weapon for maintaining any system, but I'm going to focus on is XenApp.  If you want a great overview of what Provisioning Services will do for you, take a look at Vinny Sosa's blog.  What I want to focus on are the best practices for integrating Provisioning Services for XenApp. 

The first best practice, is one you need to decide very early on in your build-out... What type of vDisk should you use?  Private, Standard or Differential.  Take a look at the three options below:

Standard Image is the way to go.  The benefits are great. They align completely with the best practices for XenApp servers... Consistency.  The standard image is the key to consistency.  But how can a single image be used for multiple XenApp servers? If I install the operating system and XenApp onto a base image and then use the same, exact image to hundreds of servers, aren't there issues with farm membership, especially as each server has the same name? 

This is the really cool thing about Provisioning Services.  Within the console, you define each target device with a name and a MAC address. The MAC address links the defined target device within the Provisioning Services console to the actual physical/virtual server.  Whatever name you enter will become the actual computer name of the streamed server.  The Provisioning Services streaming service inserts this identification information into the stream.  So, Provisioning Services takes care of the computer name, but we still have to deal with XenApp farm membership. 

Included in the base image, along with the operating system and XenApp, is the XenApp Prep Tool.  Immediately before you create your base image, you run the prep tool. This tool does exactly what you think it should do, it prepares the XenApp server for streaming by removing items (local host cache, Resource Manager local database), stopping services (IMA Service, Citrix SMA service) and a whole slew of other things.  The XenApp Prep tool also creates a new service so when the base image is streamed to any target, the XenApp Prep service starts and begins the personalization and integration into the XenApp farm.  It does a whole bunch of things, but of importance is the changing of the STA ID (they have to be different), updates certain registry keys to force the XenApp server to request updates to the local host cache, recreates local XenApp databases, and restarts XenApp services. I've left off a few items, but essentially what happens is when the XenApp services start, they will try to communicate with the XenApp farm.  If the server does not have a presence in the farm yet, it will automatically be added. If the server has a presence, it will simply receive its local host cache from the data store automatically.  If you want to get more information and the XenAppPrep tool, get it from here:

If you want to see it in action, take a look at this video

Please comment if there is another best practice you are wondering about. Stay tuned for more upcoming best practice blogs specifically focused on Provisioning Services and XenApp:

• vDisk Cache
• Active Directory
• Application Integration
• Application Streaming Cache
• System-level settings: Page file, drive remapping and multiple drives
• Plus more if we get some good ideas on other areas of focus.
  

Daniel

Follow Daniel's Blog: http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/danielf

Follow Daniel on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/djfeller

This is a continuation of my blog regarding Boot device manager but in this blog I will go through specifically using BDM in a Xendesktop/PVS  with VMs hosted on Vmware ESX 3.X
 
1.       The following instructions assume you have already created your ISO file with Bdm.exe ... if not see http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/trevorm/2009/02/25/Using+PVS+Boot+Device+Manger+with+XenDesktop+and+Xenserver

2.       We need to move the iso file  to your ISO library on Virtual Center.  You can use WinSCP to copy it over.

3.       Modify our target Virtual Machine template settings to have it boot to the xdppvs.iso on startup

4.       Next we need to edit the bios of the Virtual Machine and move the dvd/cd object to the top of the boot list. See screenshot below on how to have VM automatically enter into the bios on next boot.














 
5.       Now we have our VM configured to boot from the ISO we created with BDM. For XenDesktop Setup Tool which is used to create multiple VMS very quickly we need to create a template.

6.       We now will set the hard disk on the virtual machine to 1MB since we are using Provisioning Services(PVS)

7.       We have a Vmware Virtual Machine with a 1mb disk, set to boot from a DVD/cd ISO file and now we need to convert it to a template in virtual center.

8.       So now that we have a Template we can run the Xendesktop Setup Tool to create a pool of Virtual desktops in minutes and not eating up terabytes of storage.

Note***

"When configuring the BIOS to work with the boot device (either USB or ISO
image), it is imperative that the NIC PXE option is enabled. The PXE boot option is
required in order for the NIC Option ROM to stay resident in memory during the
pre-boot process. This way, UNDI will be available to the boot device to properly
initialize the NIC. Otherwise, the API not found message would be displayed

by the boot device."

When you hear the term "Cloud Computing", do you see the big, beautiful, puffy white cloud we typically see on a calm summer day or do you see a dark, menacing thunderhead that spells impending doom?  Probably a little bit of both (isn't that always how life is?).  Cloud Computing has great potential to provide significant savings and automation to any business' IT environment, so why haven't you started moving to the cloud?  Probably because some things scare the hell out of you, like the following:

1. Security: Do I really trust a third party to hold my corporate data? Many cloud computing providers have extensive security processes in place to help mitigate this concern, but this data is the lifeblood of your organization.  If it is stolen, your entire business might be at risk.  It doesn't matter how many assurances you have from a 3rd party, losing the data might spell the demise of your organization or open you up to expensive lawsuits.
2. Compliance: Depending on your organization, you might have to adhere to different restrictions to gain a certain compliance certification.  Ever hear of PCI-DSS or HIPAA?  These are the ones most people think of, but there are many more depending on your industry.  How easy will it be for you to prove you are in compliance when you systems are in the cloud? 
   

If these are some of your major concerns with moving to the cloud, does that mean you are stuck running your IT like you have been, or is there still a way for you to implement cloud-based efficiencies into your own IT environment? 

Let's make this simple, cloud computing is essentially using technology to provide a dynamic, scalable computing environment where resources are virtualized and delivered over the Internet securely.  OK, definitions are always good, but how do I put this into practice?  By using the Citrix Delivery Center.  The CDC is a set of solutions that, when integrated, provides a virtual, dynamic, scalable application delivery solution securely over the Internet. An application is simply what you need to do your job, which could be a web application, windows application or even a desktop. 

Let's break the key areas of cloud computing down further:

1. Virtual:  This is an easy one.  First, you virtualize your servers in the data center. This will allow you to more fully utilize ALL of your hardware resources. Through XenServer virtualization, which is free by the way, you can use all of your server for any number of different workloads at the same time. You bought the hardware, might as well use it without waste.
2. Dynamic: An SAP server is not just an SAP server. A XenApp server is not just a XenApp server.  These servers can be anything you want them to be based on the current business situation.  Need a new XenApp server, no problem, just use Provisioning Services, which is part of Citrix Essentials for XenServer or Hyper-V, to deliver a new XenApp server in 30 seconds.  Need to reduce the number of XenApp servers while adding capacity to SAP? Use Provisioning Services to do just that without adding new hardware.  The time it takes to build a new SAP or XenApp server is roughly 30 seconds and this entire process can be automated by designing appropriate workflows for your business with Workflow Studio.
3. Delivery: The first question is what do you want to deliver? Desktops or applications?  How about both?  Use the underlying virtual and dynamic infrastructure to deliver a virtual desktop (XenDesktop), which is correctly populated with the right applications for the user with XenApp application delivery.  Not into virtual desktops yet? No problem, but I bet you are using applications.  Use XenApp to dynamically deliver the applications to any endpoint.
4. Scalable: Scalability means getting the most bang for the buck.  First, you need to use the infrastructure that is best aligned with your delivery solution. Are you using XenApp for application delivery, then your most scalable solution is XenServer due to the optimizations to make XenServer optimized for the XenApp workload.  What about web applications?  Many of the communication tasks a typical web application does can be offloaded by NetScaler.  This means your web server can support many more users because the expensive processing tasks are handled by the optimized NetScaler.
5. Security: Last but not least is security.  Remember, a cloud is going over the internet and you had better make sure your communication is secured.  NetScaler has the Access Gateway functionality to provide SSL-VPN access.  If you are only delivering desktops and applications with XenDesktop and XenApp, your environment is even more secure because all traffic occurs on two ports (ICA and CGP).  This means there is no need to install a full-blown SSL-VPN client on your devices. All you need is a web browser.  Don't forget about your data, that is your lifeblood.  Use NetScaler to create policies to disallow saving files on the endpoint, or printing, or even running certain applications from unapproved locations. Last, but definitely not least, are the web applications the organization is delivering.  We need to make sure sensitive information is kept hidden, like social security numbers and credit card numbers.  We also want to make sure our web applications are hit by different web attacks, like SQL injection, cross-site scripting, etc.  The Application Firewall component of NetScaler protects us. 
   

Does it seem like a lot to take in? Remember, the goal is to turn your environment into an enterprise cloud, which requires you to re-think how you deliver applications to your users. Of course you get the most cloud-like environment by doing the entire suite but the nice thing about the Citrix Delivery Center is that you can pick and choose the options you need. They all plug into each other to create a unified enterprise cloud environment.  I encourage you to take a closer look at the Citrix Delivery Center to see what you can do to your IT environment to achieve the  efficiencies of enterprise clouds.

Daniel

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 -

1. 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.
   
   
2. 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.
   
   
3. 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.
   
   
4. 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.

Join us for this LIVE webcast designed specifically for Citrix & Microsoft Partners.

Webcast: Desktop Virtualization - Turn the Hype into Money
Date: Tuesday, February 24 at 2:00pm ET
Host: Scott Bekker, Editor in Chief, Redmond Channel Partner

Come join our webinar and discover how to 'Turn the Hype into Money' in the escalating virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) market.

Virtualization is hot and virtual desktops are the fastest growing virtualization market today. VDI is growing at an estimated 90% year over year for the next 5 years, making it a $12-15 billion dollar market by 2012.

For IT organizations, it's all about reducing management costs and ensuring business continuity and data security. Learn what desktop virtualization is and what solutions are available now to centralize and deliver desktops as a service to users anywhere, while dramatically reducing total cost of desktop management.
Be at the forefront of VDI technology, so that you will be able to offer end-to-end, virtualization solutions to your customers and boost your sales in 2009.

Visit Redmond Channel Partner Online

One of the more time-consuming tasks for a  XenApp administrator is to build new XenApp servers. This video shows how we can use Provisioning Server to

1. Create an image based on a current installation
2. Take the image and deliver to a whole slew of new XenApp servers

This process not only creates new XenApp servers, but it also adds them into the farm automatically.  Simply publish applications with a drag-and-drop and your done.  Because each XenApp server is coming from a single image, you can guarantee that each server is identical to each other, a very important XenApp best practice.

Video

Daniel

Do you use XenApp? Thinking about it? Heard of it?  Want to make it better?  Are you alive?   If you answered Yes to any of those questions, then I highly encourage you to attend the XenApp Deep-Dive TechTalk series.  Each TechTalk focuses on one aspect of making your XenApp environments easier, better and more available.

Part 1: Simplifying the Migration to XenApp 5 with XenServer (Register)

The first TechTalk on February 2nd at 1PM Eastern Time is focused on a task I did not like doing when I was an XenApp admin (although it was called MetaFrame back then)... XenApp Migrations.  Each release of XenApp has some pretty cool features to help make the users more productive or make the environment easier to manage and XenApp 5 is no exception.  So the big question is why aren't you migrating?  Is it because it takes too much time? Is it because it is too difficult?  A few months ago I blogged about the possibility of simplifying XenApp migrations with the use of XenServer (here and here).  This TechTalk will tell you if it is indeed possible.    Who knows, I might speak for 1 minute and say it doesn't help at all, but I highly doubt that will happen .  If you want to find out if XenServer helps and how, you will just have to tune into the upcoming TechTalk to find out

Part 2: Simplifying Desktop Delivery with XenApp (Register)

A lot of talk lately is virtual desktop this and virtual desktop that.  Well, this TechTalk is also focused on the virtual desktop, but not in a way you would expect. Most people talk about virtual desktops as a new way of managing the desktop infrastructure and how XenDesktop is the best solution.  This TechTalk, on February 3rd at 1PM Eastern Time is focused on the XenApp portion of desktop delivery.  How can and should we use XenApp to make the virtual desktop solution easier?  What best practices are there for application delivery and integration into XenDesktop? Tune in to find out.

Part 3: High Availability for XenApp with XenServer and NetScaler (Register)

Is your XenApp environment delivering mission-critical applications?  What happens if a physical server fails, or a hard drive crashes, or a internet link dies or an entire data center goes offline?  As we all know, XenApp contains many different components and each one is critical to the proper operation of the environment.  This TechTalk, on February 4th at 1PM Eastern Time, will provide some of the best practices for providing fault tolerance and high-availability to XenApp environments.  Don't leave your XenApp users in the dark if the lights go out.

I'm sure everyone will learn something or at least come away with a new perspective or idea on how to use and improve their XenApp environments.  I know I'm looking forward to getting some of your comments on your environments and how they can be made better.  Hope to see many people there.

Daniel

Welcome to the new year and my first blog of 2009.  Let's kick off '09 with a focus on simplification.

Let's focus on a topic that often brings chills to a XenApp administrators spine... upgrades.  Back in the day when I was a MetaFrame administrator, I remember the time, patience, and sometimes stress involved with trying to upgrade 100 servers to the latest version of MetaFrame.  Well, a lot has changed in the world of application delivery. MetaFrame went through numerous identity changes to become XenApp. With those new identities we have witnessed a maturing of the product to include more functions, features and abilities to deliver troublesome applications.  But one thing has remained fairly constant, XenApp upgrades are not as easy as flipping a switch. 

Take, for example, the following knowledge base article from one of my coworkers, Jo Harder.  Jo created a great article explaining the technical concepts for upgrading and migrating XenApp 4.5 to XenApp 5. It covers the process, what to do and which approach to take.  This document has only been out for 4 months and has been the most read article for each of the past 4 months.  By my estimation, the topic of XenApp migrations is very important to people. 

Back in September 2008 I blogged about a potential way to simplify the migration process by integrating XenServer with XenApp.  In this blog I identified 5 areas where I thought this tight integration could show benefit and I called this the HOMER Criteria.  Well, after more investigation, analysis, testing and validation, I'm here to let you know that we can indeed simplify XenApp migrations if we integrate XenServer and Provisioning Server into our architecture. 

How is that possible?  Most people have a standard practice for incorporating new XenApp versions into their environment. This process typically takes on the following sections:# Server validation: We have to make sure that our applications work with the new version

1. Server builds: We have to spend time updating all of our server build images/scripts
2. Implementation: Need to update all servers while not impacting the user environment and not incurring huge hardware expenses
3. Maintenance: Need to keep our new servers consistent and updated with the latest hot fixes and service packs and updates
4. Rollback: In the potential event that the upgrade causes major issues, we need to make sure we have a fast way of recovering our old environment.
   

These are each critical to a successful migration to the latest version of XenApp.  Each one of these areas can be improved through virtualization and workload provisioning and you can expect the following benefits: # Time Savings: The time spent building servers is removed due to Provisioning Server's integration with XenApp. Brand new servers can be brought online in less than 30 seconds.

1. Repeatability: The integrated process used to upgrade to XenApp 5 can also be used for future versions of XenApp, except that future upgrades will be faster as the infrastructure is already virtualized and the process is familiar.
2. Simplification: The process is able to ignore the complexity of different configurations and drivers, helping to reduce the time spent developing server builds and installation configurations.
3. Maintainability: The solution guarantees consistency within the XenApp farm. When an application update or an operating system patch is validated, the entire XenApp farm will utilize the new configuration.
   

Some of you might be intrigued and want to know how to do it.  Learn how by reading the following materials:

• Reference Architecture*:* Understand the architecture, the areas of concern and the potential benefits
• Getting Started Guide*:* Get a high-level overview of the integration process.  This guide gives an overview of each phase, whereas more detailed steps can be found in the implementation guide.
• Implementation Guide*:* This guide takes you through, step-by-step, on how to upgrade your XenApp environments to XenApp 5 on Windows 2008 through the use of XenServer and Provisioning Server.  As you follow these steps you will see how the three products integrated into a solid solution for application delivery.
• Design Considerations*:* Follow these considerations to make your virtual XenApp environment easier to setup, maintain and manage.

So remember, if you are not thrilled about doing a XenApp migration, then try a new approach... Virtual and Provision. 

Daniel

As the New Year quickly approaches, we're all thinking of our New Year's resolutions, and I'm sure that on the top of each of your lists is "Improve the Capabilities of my Corporate Citrix Farm".

OK, maybe it's not at the TOP of your list...

But improving the reliability, scalability, and ease of use of your Citrix installations is an issue that most administrators face constantly. And, as the New Year is upon us, it might be a good time to reflect on that "one thing" that you can do to make your farm more productive, more secure, more reliable, and more manageable.

Along those same lines, I think it's a good time for Citrix to ask... What new products or enhancements would you like to see from us? What can WE do to make your job easier? What can we do to make your farm more secure? What can we do to provide you with the tools you need to make your Citrix installation perform in ways you have not been able to achieve?

Feel free to reply with your #1 ITEM (just one, make it your biggest) that you would like Citrix to focus on in the upcoming year. If it's a direction that we're already working towards, and you'd like us to continue, let us know! If there's an area that you think we should look at, we'd like to know that as well! Although I can't personally promise that your suggestion will work it's way to the top of our list, I think that your feedback, as always, is an integral part of our corporate direction, and helps us to plan for the future as well.

So, let the 2009 wishes begin!...

Our Events team is putting together the content for Citrix Synergy 2009 now. The team would like your input on the content. Please answer the poll questions below -

Part I of the Deep Dive into XenDesktop series reviewed the architecture. Part II covered the install and management tools. Part III reviewed an example XenDesktop Pilot Architecture. Part IV reviewed the Virtual Desktop Delivery of Dan Feller's "XenDesktop Pilot Implementation Guide". Part V reviewed the integration with XenApp for application delivery to the virtual desktops. Part VI covers User Personalization with Citrix User Profile Manager. This is the third section from Dan's Pilot Implementation Guide.

This embedded presentation covers the "Personalization" section of the Pilot Implementation Guide.

Click here to view the presentation in full screen at Slide Share.

This presentation does have several slide notes that provide additional detail. You can view the slide notes here.



Frank Anderson on the XenDesktop team has created a few screencasts covering the features of XenDesktop. You can watch his short screencast covering the provisioning and lifecycle management features of XenDesktop here. Frank's screencast on user experience is available here.

Download the free XenDesktop Express Edition here

I have been having this ongoing conversation with my fellow citrites on provisioning and virutualization. The big question is whether to provision the hypervisor, or to virualize the provisioning server. Each has its pluses and minuses, but they are both equally valid solutions.

If we look at provisioning the hypervisor, the advantages are that we could re-provision bare metal servers to be anything, but we would also have to worry about where write cache for the hypervisor would be located, and then there is the whole cloning of a hypervisor thing.

If we look at virtualizing the provisioning server, the advantages are that we could move the provisioning server to other hosts, which would be a major added benefit to the already robust HA features of Provisioning Server. The negative would be that we would have to allocate more virtual resources for more provisioning servers or use fewer guests per host to achieve the same thing.

I gave a presentation at PubForum 2008 Dublin earlier this year, where I took a similar approach to something wonderful. I used provisioning server to stream to a target device and OS that was itself a provisioning server, and that in turn was used to stream to a target device a client OS. The purpose of the demo was to show you how one could use provisioning and virtualization to truly build a dynamic environment, whether it is a lab, or a production environment. But the main goal was, if I had a rack of servers, that had nothing on them, zip, nada, zilch, and from that I wanted to hit the big green go button, and turn them into whatever, you should be able to do so.

At present we can provision Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V, but not XeServer. I'm not trying to get into a this product, that product debate, but I want to try and flush out what you think about the pluses and minuses of either of these scenarios.

This is an in depth look at How to properly create a virutal disk with Citrix Provisioing Server that can be used as a Private or Standard Virtual Disk for Target Devices that will properly maintain Machine Account password synchronization with Active Directory.

Part I of the Deep Dive into XenDesktop series reviewed the architecture. Part II covered the install and management tools. Part III reviews an example XenDesktop Pilot Architecture. This presentation is based on the "XenDesktop Pilot Reference Architecture" document by Dan Feller. Here is the the introduction to Dan's white paper -

Dan put together a list of requirements for this Pilot Reference Architecture -

I have broken the great content of the pdf into smaller, bite size chunks to make it more digestible within a slide format (especially the step by step tables). Before each step in the tables, I added in the reference diagram with a big arrow that points to the step within the diagram. There are a lot of slides, but the amount of content on each slide is much easier to swallow in this format IMO.

Click here to view the presentation in full screen at Slide Share.

This presentation does have several slide notes that provide additional detail. You can view the slide notes here.

Frank Anderson on the XenDesktop team has created a few screencasts covering the features of XenDesktop. You can watch his short screencast covering the provisioning and lifecycle management features of XenDesktop here. Frank's screencast on user experience is available here.

Download the free XenDesktop Express Edition here

Thanks to Dan Feller for putting together an excellent whitepaper and allowing me to convert that content into this format. I hope you find this useful.