As part of Synergy Underground project, we interviewed many of the people in the XenApp booth in the TechLab to talk about the different features and components of Citrix XenApp Platinum.

(Each of these videos were shot and streamed live to the Underground site via a Nokia N95 cell phone. The convienience and ability to stream live video directly to the net is the trade off for the lower audio and video quality. Read this post for an explanation of the process and a video on how the live streaming worked.)

Here are three of those video interviews -

Jay Tomlin on Smart Access

David Wagner talks about the new User profile Manager Tech Preview

Victor Thu talks about Easy Call
(low audio in first half)

Determining application compatibility in a XenApp/Terminal Server environment has long been a task that tended to be hit or miss, or should we say, try it and see if it works for certain application.  The Citrix Ready team and other teams in Citrix have been working with teams in Microsoft to try and ease this pain a little.  I wanted to realy a tool that the TS team in Microsoft has been working on to help with the App Compat story moving forward with Longhorn and XenApp 5.0.  The tool is called the Windows Server 2008 TS Application Compatibility Analyzer and is currently in Beta.  As most of us know, the first step in being compatible with XenApp is to be compatible with Terminal Services.  From my discussions with the MS TS team, this tool is NOT , nor designed to be backwards compatible with Windows Server 2003 and TS, but is definitely a step in the right direction for the future.  I fully expect the cooperation we have with the MS team in this area will continue to grow and we are able to eventually have a better set of tools and data to help our joint customers better determine application compatibility in a XenApp/TS environment, and we are following the progress of this area closely in the Citrix Ready team to ensure we leverage such technology to grow the Citrix Ready program as well.  So in the near future, you may find this tool, or similar tools being a pre-requisite for ISV applications to be come Citrix Ready.

Links:

Terminal Services Team Blog - Terminal Services Application Analyzer Beta

Microsoft Connect - Terminal Services Application Compatibility

TS Application Compatibility Download Beta Page

If you have other tools or favorite links to share that can help our Citrix Community with App Compatibility testing, please share you comments below.

You may have seen my previous posts on the really cool Celio Redfly Mobile Compaion, or as I like to call it, the XenDesktop mobile companion. 

 We'll they just became a member of the Citrix Ready family.  They will be at Synergy in the Expo hall, so stop by and check them out.  Also, we will have a  unit or 2 at the Geek Speak Louge for you to check out connected to XenApp and XenDesktop.

 Redfly Citrix Ready catalog entry

One of the most common questions I here from customers is "Does this app work on Citrix?". One of the goals of the Citrix Ready program is to help our customers and ISV alliance partners answer this question.

So how does an ISV answer this question when they are doing a sale into a customer? A lot of ISVs do not have access to a XenApp or CAE environment to really answer this question. Even if they did, they may not have any expertise to setup/configure XenApp or CAE to do testing.

To help this scenario, we have been working on the creation of MyCitrixLab. An online lab environment available to Citrix Alliance ISV Partners to Citrix Ready verify their application in both XenApp/CPS and CAE environment.

MyCitrixLab is currently in Beta testing with a few soon to be Citrix Ready ISV Alliance partners and is planned to go live by Synergy 2008. If you're an ISV and have interest in use of MyCitrixLab to help get your application Citrix Ready verified, please send an email to CitrixReady@citrix.com. Or feel free to look me up at Synergy in the Geek Speak Lounge at Synergy where we can give you a early look.

So what is MyCitrixLab:

• An online lab environment accessible via the internet that meets the configuration requirements specified in the Citrix Ready Verification Test Kits.
  
  
• Lab scheduling environment that allows an ISV alliance partner to schedule a 3 or 7 day lab environment for use with Citrix Ready Verification.
  
  
• SharePoint portal that contains additional information on use of the lab and helpful lab guides.
  • FAQ - additional information on the use of the lab
  • Verification Assist Guides that provide "extra details" on the use of the lab for a specific Citrix Ready Verification Kit. Step by step screen shots walk an ISV partner through each required step to complete the tests in a test kit if they are not familiar with a Citrix environment.
  • Administrator guides for products
  • Links to the Citrix Ready Verification Test Kits
  • Discussion site that lab users can leave tips and tricks on use of the lab for other users.
• Lab Environment
  • All of the actual lab servers/workstations area running on XenServer
  • Citrix Presentation Server/XenApp preconfigured lab environments
    • Lab environments uses of CPS 4.0 or 4.5 both 32bit and 64bit labs
    • CPS servers in a farm preconfigured
    • 2 client systems preconfigured for use with the CPS farm (1 XP and 1 Vista)
    • 1 Domain controller for the isolated lab environment
    • 1 SQL servers to use with apps the require a SQL database
  • Citrix Access Essentials preconfigured lab environments
    • Lab environments uses CAE 2.0
    • 1 CAE server preconfigured
    • 2 client systems preconfigured for use with the CPS farm (1 XP and 1 Vista)
    • 1 Domain controller for the isolated lab environment
    • 1 SQL servers to use with apps the require a SQL database

Note that this lab environment is reserved for use by Citrix Alliance ISV Partners solely for the intent of Citrix Ready verification of their product, so they can help properly answer the above questions "Yes, my app is Citrix Ready for XenApp and CAE!".

The current architecture of MyCitrixLab limits it use in most cases to ISV partners, being it is secured and isolated in such a way that no direct inbound ICA connections can be made from the internet, as well as being securely isolated from other labs being hosted in the environment. This level of isolation today prevents device and other IHV vendors from using the lab. Only the XP and Vista clients in the isolated lab environment have access to the CPS or CAE server's via ICA.

Some screen shots of MyCitrixLab below:


Pic 1: Logon/Sign Up page
 

Pic 2: WI Server page with scheduler shown
 

Pic 3: CPS lab server
 

Pic 4: Vista lab client system
 

Pic 5: MyCitrixLab SharePoint Portal
 
 

Satori Group uses XenServer, XenApp or Citrix Access Essentials to simplify and streamline delivery of their solution to their customers using Citrix virtualization technologies.  Nice implementation of the VADA concept.   

"Working closely with Citrix and Microsoft, Satori Group developed a virtual appliance for delivering a complete application solution to customers. Virtual appliances are preinstalled, pre-configured, ready-to-run enterprise applications packaged with an operating system inside a virtual machine. In contrast, a virtual machine, by itself, does not include applications."

Full release: Satori Group Partners with Citrix to Create Virtual Appliances for Turnkey Application Delivery

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
  

So if you see down bellow Rich pointed out that we are going to be in Seattle and Redmond next week attending the Annual Microsoft MVP Summit.

As Rich pointed out the event is 100% NDA, and we won't be able to share minimum if anything from what's being talked about with the general public.

However you can still make a different, having us be your voice during the meetings by sending us your questions and comments that we can relay to the Microsoft Terminal Services Group.

So if you could ask anything to the guys who are responsible for Terminal Services at Microsoft, what questions would you ask?

cheers,
Gus

Use of the Citrix ICA client on mobile devices that have VGA resolution  or larger, or companion devices such as the Celio Redfly changes the game a bit when using the Citrix ICA client to connect to full Win32 applications delivered by Citrix Xenapp.  The increased resolution can leverage some configuration changes on the ICA client to get more optimal usage.  Below are some tweaks that you can do to get a more "Nirvana" like experience with such devices.  This setting was used in the demo blog entries previously posted. 
Most Win32 applications are usable at a VGA 640x480 resolution, so I recommend running ICA in full screen mode on mobile devices that support VGA resolution.  This allows the user to get rid of the program bar at the top of the screen and the navigation tool bar at the bottom of the ICA client.  Comparison pictures below (Note: screen clarity is degraded in the below screen shots, native screen is clear).  Caution, when you run in full screen mode, you will not have access to the local keyboard button, thus if you device does not have a QWERTY keyboard, you should have a Bluetooth keyboard connected.  

 HP iPaq 210 running ICA connection to SAP Enterprise Portal without the Full Screen option set.  Notice the screen space that is lost at the top and bottom of the screen. 

HP iPaq 210 running ICA connection to SAP Enterprise Portal with the Full Screen option set.  This allows you to leverage the full resolution of the device. 

To set the Full Screen option, simply follow the steps below.  Note that this is a global option and all of the apps you launch will come up in Full Screen mode.  

In the Programs area, start "ICA Client":
  

This should launch the ICA Client UI into your browser.

Select "Edit Global Settings" from this screen:  

Select "Edit Preferences" on the next page:

Scroll down to the "Enable Full Screen" check box and select it:

Scroll down to the bottom and select the "Save" button:

So if you have a mobile device that supports VGA 640x480 resolution or higher, you might try the above settings to get a better user experience.  Also, if you need to access another application on the mobile device while running a XenApp or XenDesktop session in Full Screen mode, you can always hit the Windows button on your device to pull up the devices start menu as shown below.

So our search for the Nirvana Smartphone, or companion device at CTIA 2008 comes to an end with this post.  Our friends at i-mate have gotten us another device to put through the Hotel Acid Test.  In this case an i-mate Ultimate 9502.  I'll let you check out the full specs on their website, but this device packs VGA 640x480 resolution onto a 2.8" screen.  The clarity of the screen is very good, allowing you to clearly read the text, but again, some may need to pull out the reading glasses when not connected to an external monitor.  Stand-alone pics below: 

Pic 1: 9502's browser connected to Web Interface.

Pic 2: 9502 connected to a published desktop.

So how did it do in our Hotel Acid Test, not bad.  While the VGA resolution is a little tight on the native screen, it works well when output to a larger monitor.  As with the 6150, there is no noticeable latency when outputting the video to the TV.  The 9502 uses a RCA audo video cable to output to the external monitor, and it's not quite as clear as the 6150 which uses a VGA cable, but still very usable.  The icons are a little fuzzy, but I'm having not problem using this setup.  You also get a fade-in effect of the letters when typing, but again, not a big deal IMO.  Again, the network connection is 3G WWAN on ATT, and latency while using Word is not an issue at all, very responsive. 

Pic 3: 9502 connected to hotel TV using RCA audo/video cable. 

You are currently limited to the 640x480 resolution even when attached to an external monitor, which is fine for most Win32 apps, or desktops.  But it sure would be nice to have 1024x768 or larger functionality down the road.  The VGA 640x480 resolution could also be less than optimal if connecting to an overhead projector while giving a presentation. 

But in general, I'm liking this device as well.  Seems to have a good mix features that's making using it with XenApp for this post rather comfortable.  Very quick and responsive as I'm typing this post.  Maybe not the ultimate Nirvana Smartphone, but definitely a potential contender in today's market.  I can definitely see certain road warriors leaving their laptop at home if they have this in their pocket. 

Being this is my last post, I had to try my favorite test on a mobile device, viewing a 3D AutoDesk design from XenApp on a mobile device over ICA, you gotta love SpeedScreen!  We gotta get another video of this demo out, but this time running to an external monitor!  A still shot shown below. 

Pic 4: AutoDesk Design Review delivered by XenApp to the 9502 output to the hotel TV.  I cut the flash on this pic so the screen didn't wash out as much. 

Unfortunatley, you get not sense of the performance with a still pic.
Got some comments on this use case, give us your feedback. 

As I stated in my previous post, there is no one Nirvana devicethat will fit everyone's tastes, so here's another twist on the topic. 

Impatica Showmate  is a device, call it a "puck", that you make a Bluetooth connection to from your smartphone using its Screen Projector software that you install on your smartphone.  A VGA cable is connected between the Showmate and the monitor you want to use.  You must register your mobile device with the Showmate.  Simply start the installed client on mobile device, enter in a few numbers from the bottom of the Showmate to register.  Then you just choose what registered Showmate device you want to connect to and hit select.  Your screen then pops up on the monitor the Showmate is connected to. 

 
Pic 1: Picture of the Showmate "puck", and VGA and USB power ports. 

Impatica was in the BlackBerry booth at CTIA showing their Showmate working with BlackBerry phones.  As part of the demo environment, they had the Rove Mobile Citrix Client on demo BB, and showed how they can remote the ICA presentation to an external monitor.  As you can see from the show pics below, they have some novel ideas about using this type of setup on portable LCD screens and such that you would find in police squad cars or utility trucks.  Great idea, especially when matched with the Rove Mobile Citrix Client to get access to all kinds of data from the secured data center. 

Pic 3: Michael Doyle, Impatica Director, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer showing the Impatica Showmate at CTIA 2008.

Pic 4: Showmate displaying a BlackBerry screen onto a portable LCD monitor inside a customer UI, mock of a law enforcement unit.  You can see the ICA session imbedded in the customer UI.

To stay consistent, I put the Impatica Showmate through the same hotel acid test I did with the other vendors.  I must note that the Windows Mobile Impatica ScreenProjector client that I'm using as I type this is still in Beta.  I used the Showmate with 2 devices, a Dell Axim X51v and an ATT 8525.  Latency on the X51v was very noticeable at times on the X51v, but response was good when using the 8525.  Note sure if this is related to old .vs. newer hardware/Bluetooth stacks, or the fact that the X51v has a larger resolution.  In general basic text entry like I'm doing now is pretty good.  Again, thanks to the Impatica team for getting us this beta to try.  I'm sure they still have some tuning tweaks up their sleeves before GA. 

The script is the same, in this case I'm using the Dell Axim X51v connected to the Showmate via Bluetooth to VGA out to the hotel's flat screen TV.  This picture below is an actual picture of the creation of the text for this blog using a XenApp connection to a published desktop, and running MS Word on that desktop over ICA.  This is where I stop and take the picture

Pic 5: Show mate connecting the Axim X51v running the ICA cleint to the hotel TV, and bluetooth mouse and keyboard.

The Showmate form factor is interesting in that you can see the device, or derivative of this device being imbedded in other devices to meet different goals, as shown in there show demo pciture above with a custom UI on the mountable LCD screen.  Imagine the use case of a utility working or law enforcement office having a mobile device that when in there car or truck is having applications and data delivered to them via XenApp or XenDesktop.  But once they exit their vehicle, they take the  mobile device with them and continue to have the same apps and data delivered to them, just on the native screen of the mobile device.  Whether it be a policeman on foot, or a utility working working on a transformer in the bucket of his boom truck.  A very interesting modular device approach IMO.  But at the same time, I can see road warriors carrying the Showmate with them to do presentations from their mobile phone, or use in the hotel as I am.  You can read more on their website, but they already have a lot of road warriors using their Showmate today.  They also have a product that compresses PowerPoint presentations, and then an optimized viewer to run the presentation from the mobile device.  You can get more details on this from their website.   

So does the Showmate pass the Hotel acid test?  Yes, I've been able to create this post using the Showmate, and my mobile device, and it does provide benefits described around a Nirvana Deviceuse case.  So it's definitely another option, with it's own twist on the Nirvana Device seach. 

Like this twist, tell us why or why not.  As always, we are looking for your input on defining the Nirvana Devicefor use with XenApp and XenDesktop.  

The next find on our quest for the Nirvana Smartphoneis the i-mate Ultimate 6150 (i-mate 6150 web site) shown below.   The 6150's native screen resolution is VGA 640x480, making it natively more suitable for displaying Win32 apps via XenApp than most QVGA screens. 

Pic 1: 6150's browser connected to Web Interface ready to authenticate.  

Pic 2: 6150 running a full published desktop at 640x480.  I probably should have cleaned the screen before taking the picture

So what makes the 6150 a Nirvana Devicecandidate (Original Nirvana Device Post), it's got video output natively built into the device.  The 6150 comes with a VGA adapter cable that connects into the side of the device, so you can then connect it to a monitor that accepts VGA input.  The 6150 comes with software that when activated changes the device resolution to 1024x768, turns the 6150's screen into a touchpad mouse and displays the 1024x768 output to the connected monitor.  Unfortunately, the cable that I have with my demo device is only about 4ft long and did not reach to the table that was working from, so I'm using my Bluetooth mouse and keyboard instead.  Might be something for the i-mate team to look at. 

Pic 3: 6150 External output software.

Pic 4: 6150 connected to the hotel's flatscreen TV, running a published desktop from XenApp.  MS Word is open and I'm working on this text using this setup.  The 6150 is the at the base of the TV in this pic.

All of the work to create this post will be using the 6150 connected to a published desktop in my hotel room using the flat screen TV as an external monitor (except for photo resizing which I will do with my OQO, being I don't have photo shop installed on our XenApp demo server).   Seems like a real world use case to me.

In general, I like the 6150, and it is the closest device I've gotten my hands on to date to hit Chris Fleck's Nirvana deviceconcept.  Personally, I like devices to have a QWERTY keyboard on the native device as well, and I hope to get a chance to try the i-mate 8150 down the road, which does have a QWERTY and VGA out capability.  I also like the fact that the VGA feature is native to the device, so I don't need to carry anything extra but the VGA cable.  Flip side is that unlike the Redfly (Celio Redfly post), if I don't have a monitor handy, let's say in the airport, I'm restricted to the native screen of the 6150.  Hey, if i-mate gives me a really long cable, maybe I can plug into one the TVs in the airport that always running CNN

So how do I rate the 6150 as a Nirvana device candidate, again I give it an "I like it".  I think I'd like the 8150 even better with the QWERTY keyboard, but in terms of it being a smartphone that I can run XenApp applications natively and then attach it an external monitor to extend the usability, it passes my initial hotel acid test.  At the end of the day, a Nirvana SmartPhoneis a personal choice.  So if you're interested in the concept, I'd say that the i-mate 6105 is one to have a look at. 

As always, give us your feed back on this topic.  I've got a few more entries on more devices from the show to come.  Hopefully one will be the Nirvana Smartphone you're looking for to use with XenApp or soon XenDesktop, and you can leave the laptop at home on that next business trip.  As with all of the devices being tried, we will get some more hands on time with them when I get back to FTL.  We'll try and update if we find anything new.   

Day 2 of my search for the Nirvana Deviceat CTIA 2008 ended a few hours ago, and we have some cool products to talk about.  Let's see how they do when we replace my OQO Model 2 with Nirvana Device candidates from the show. 

This entry focuses on one of our newest Citrix Alliance partners, Celio Corp and their recent product launch of the Redfly Mobile Companion (http://celiocorp.com).

 
Pic 1: Celio Corp booth at CTIA, including Citrix collateral at the booth. 
 

Pic 2: Redfly demo at the booth connecting to XenApp 4.5. 

The Redfly is a definitely a device cut from the cloth of Chris Fleck's original Nirvana Devicepost.  The Redfly is a portable docking station for Windows Mobile devices, thus a Mobile Companion, and has a built in mouse, keyboard and monitor.  So you wanna run those BIG win32 apps from you WinMo device, but want a bigger screen, checkout the Redfly.  It doesn't have a CPU, memory or an OS.   You connect your WinMo device to the Redfly by either USB or Bluetooth.  If connected via USB, the battery in the Redfly will also charge your WinMo Device (8 hours of battery life), if it allow USB charging.  Once the Redfly software is installed on your WinMo device, it will detect when it is attached to the Redfly, change the effective screen resolution to 800x480 and enable the Redfly's mouse and keyboard transforming the user experience similar to that of a lot of UMPCs.

Pic 3: Redfly attached to an ATT Tilt in my hotel room at the Today screen. 

In this scenario, the ICA client is installed on the ATT Tilt, and all processing involved and required storage is provided by the Tilt.  Again, think of the Redfly as a docking station with a built in mouse, keyboard and monitor that you carry on trips as a companion. 

The 800x480 resolution of the Redfly easily enables me to connect to a virtualized Citrix desktop or published application, in this case a published Microsoft Server 2003 desktop with the Luna interface enabled.  As you can see from the picture below, this device has very good potential for use with  both published applications as well as XenDesktop connections when using a WinMo device.

Pic 4: Picture taken as I was working on the text for this entry.   

The Redfly has a number of other very useful features that really enhance its usability in my opinion.   
First off, there is a VGA out port on the back of the Redfly that enables you to output the screen to a larger monitor, overhead projector or hotel TV as shown in the picture below.  

Pic 5: Redfly using its VGA output to the hotel's flat screen TV. 

You'll notice that the entire screen of the TV is not used and that the 800x480 resolution is maintained even when output to a larger monitor.  Basically, you can use the Redfly as a VGA output device for you WinMo device if you like, very cool.  But I would like to see the Celio guys enable you to change the resolution being displayed when VGAing out to a larger monitor.  Well see what happens in subsequent releases. 

So you can use the Redfly's native screen or output to a larger screen, what about upping to a bigger keyboard and external mouse?  Well, they've thought of this as well.  There are also 2 USB ports on the back of the Redfly that you can plug in USB mice and keyboard.  Even cooler IMO is that I can plug a USB stick into this slot and the device will associate this new storage as "remote storage" on the WinMo device.  And you may have guessed it, ICA will now have access to this USB drive as part of its client drive mapping.  For those concerned about security of such a use case, you can always disable this virtual drive mapping from the XenApp admin console.

Pic 6: Shot of the USB Flash card reader files maped into the XenApp desktop session via virtual client drive mapping.  This is the actual flash card that contains the pics in this post plugged into the back of the Redfly with a USB flash card reader. 

There are a number of other cool features on the Redfly, such as special function keys that are mapped to normal phone functions like Send and End calls, but I'll
let you check out their site for these.  As I stated in my initial post on my blog, when I look at devices in this space, my first thoughts are how Citrix customers can leverage such technology to enhance their use of Citrix products.  So how to I rate this one, I like it.  I see it as a true enabling technology when used with mobile devices to access XenApp or XenDesktop.  IMO, the Redfly Mobile Companion enables a lot of the concepts that we discuss in the Nirvana Device concept.  While it's not a Nirvana smartphone, IMO it takes a lot of today's WinMo devices and gets them a lot closer to the Nirvana use paradigm.   Having the option to use the Redfly as a companion to provide a bigger screen with its mouse and keyboard, or use it as a VGA output device with an even larger external mouse and keyboard is an interesting advantage if this is what you are looking for. 

Reality check: note that this entire post was produced using the ATT Tilt phone, 3G WWAN network, from the Redfly's mouse, keyboard and native monitor connected to a XenApp published desktop.  And it worked really well!  Albiet, I'm used to using UMPC devices with smaller screens and keyboards, it will take some getting used to for some.  So if you looking to lighten your load when traveling, and would like an ICA companion to go with you mobile phone so you can leave your laptop behind, you might want to check out the Redfly from Celio Corp. 

We'd appreciate your thoughts on the use of these types of devices with XenApp and soon XenDesktop.  I'm sure the Celio guys will also be interested in your input, pro or con.  At the end of the day, there is no one Nirvana solution for everyone, but is the Redfly going down the right path for Citrix users looking to further leverage ICA on mobile devices?    

Our search for the Nirvana Device has led me to Las Vegas and CTIA 2008.  Citrix has been working with a number of partners around the concept of the Nirvana Device, and a lot of them are here this week.  The plan is to try and get as many demo devices that I can and report my findings in my blog as related to their use from my hotel room at the show.  So let's start off with my current baseline config of my remote office in my hotel room in Vegas. 

Device: OQO, maker of the Model 2 UMPC (www.oqo.com), and a Citrix Alliance partner.  You may have seen them at iForum or Citrix Summit over the last year.

I've actually been using OQO Model 2 as my primary device over a year now, and UMPCs such as the Model 2 used with Citrix App Delivery work great.  In the FTL office, I dock the Model 2 and the doc has 2 VGA outputs, so I run a dual monitor setup and drive a 21" and 19" monitor from my desk.  I also have a doc at home connected to my home office monitor via a KVM switch.  So when working from home, I simply KVM from my home PC and use the same device that I use from work.   At the CTIA show, I'm docked and connected to the Philips flatscreen TV in my hotel room.  Of course, the form factor of the Model 2 is also great when attending meetings at the office, or working from home on the couch (note: I'm over 40 and have no problem seeing text on the OQO's native screen, but some will have issues clearly seeing text on a device this small, reading glasses may be required by some J).  The Model 2 I have has built in EVDO Rev A from Verizon, which works great when on the road or at home (using it from my hotel room as I type this entry).  I can see this type of devices being used by others like myself that just prefer a small form factor UMPC, as well as some good tactical usages with Citrix customers, where a standard sized laptop is just to big.  Some pics of the baseline remote office setup below:

 
 
As you can see, several of the Nirvana Device concepts that Chris Fleck mentioned in his original post (Original Nirvana Device Post) are already in play.  Being the Model 2 is a UMPC and not a smart phone, I'm cheating a little, but:
-          I am docked and using the hotel's flat screen TV as a larger monitor

-          I am using an external Bluetooth mouse and keyboard

-          I am using a WWAN connection for my network

-          I am using Citrix App Delivery to do my work

While I don't plan on giving up my OQO any time soon, I am going to see what I can find at the show that I could use in the same basic configuration that I'm using the OQO in.

Off to my 2^nd meeting of the day, and hopefully will return tonight with some more Nirvana Device candidates to try out. 

Most of us know or have heard about Virtual Appliances.  Mostly single purpose virtual machines usually running on some variant of Linux today.  So why is this beneficial?

-          Ease of installation - import the VM and start it up

-          Preconfigured - maybe not fully preconfigured, but much more than having a stack of OS and product CDs and bare metal to start with

-          Reduced maintenance costs - starting with a preinstalled and mostly configured solution tends to reduce the number of errors associated with the install and configuration when done from scratch

So why not a Virtual Application Delivery Appliance (VADA)?  A preinstalled and mostly configured XenApp or CAE server that already has a targeted application published in the virtual machine.  A virtual machine that I get from my ISV that I start on my XenServer server.  Web Interface and PNAgent are already setup with defaults.  I add my users to the published application and start delivering the app.  Kind of a normal virtual appliance, but on digital steroids to enhance performance.

This is already starting to happen!  Our Platform Development Group at Citrix has been increasingly having discussions with ISV alliance partners to do just what is explained above.  Some are doing it; others are looking at the feasibility of doing it with their solution.  They have an application, or multi-component software solution that they want to, or are required to deliver via Citrix Application Delivery, and they want to simplify the process for both the customer and themselves as much as possible.  Maybe the deployment of the solution is a standalone environment and not to be part of a bigger farm.  Maybe there are reasons that their solution should run on dedicated server(s) and they simply join an existing farm.  In either case, by deploying their solution as a VADA (I'll let marketing guys change this acronym later), they can greatly reduce their installation/deployment cycle, and spend more time on training the customer on use of the solution, thus increasing customer satisfaction (VADA Bing VADA Boom!).  Post-installation maintenance should also be lower, being a large percentage of the OS and application installation has been automated by creation of the tested baseline virtual machine image which already contains the OS, XenApp and the published application, all following best practices established in the ISVs controlled lab environment.

So why not just jump on this band wagon today?  As always there's a few "gotchas". 

-          Licensing - while a bit easier on the Linux side, what we are discussing here is Microsoft Servers and Citrix Application Delivery products.  Usually ISVs do not have access to distribute licenses for either of these.

-          Server Virtualization Platform - So which platform does the ISV support (XenServer, VMWare, HyperV).  I think you can see some of the benefits of having a standard virtual machine image format, and why it's good that 2 of the 3 vendors listed are working towards such a standard. 

-          Please add your "gotchas" below.

 Intent of this thread is not to indicate the right or wrong way to approach the above scenario, but to get your feedback and ideas on the concept.  I find this concept very intriguing.  So give us and the other readers of this blog your input below.  Respond with your "gotchas" or respond to others "gotchas" on how they should be resolved.  I'll be sure to send a link to this post to our interested ISV partners, so they get the input.

I kicked it off, help me finish it! 

References:

Satori Group VADA blog post

Citrix has partnered with Nokia on ICA clients for their Symbian devices for years.  I recently did an interview with the Nokia team on use of the Citrix ICA client for Series 60 3rd Edition devices such as E61, E70 and E90 devices for their Nokia Forum Pro.  These ICA clients can be downloaded from http://www.citrix.com/English/SS/downloads/details.asp?dID=2755&downloadID=165587&pID=186.

Snippet from the interview below: 

Helping enterprise IT departments

 The Citrix XenApp Client for S60 3rd Edition devices offers some very clear benefits to IT departments as well, Marano adds. "From an IT perspective, the flexibility of mobile devices can be scary," he says. "How do you encourage people to use them, but also make sure that they are used properly and securely? With this solution, the same infrastructure being used today for external laptops and desktops can be used to deliver applications to the Series 60 3rd Edition devices. Minimizing the number of technologies used to deliver business-critical data to end users regardless of device type, by standardizing on a single platform, is a key factor to consider."

The interview gives a good overview of use Nokia S60 devices, but also provides a pretty good overview on the use of mobile devices as a whole with XenApp.

The full PDF interview can be found at: http://www.nokia.com/NOKIA_COM_1/Developers/Success_Stories/Enterprise_&_productivity/Dev_succ_Citrix_SC_v1.0.pdf

My first blog on Mobile Devices and The App Delivery Center seemed to get enough hits that I thought I would follow up with a video demo to give a better view of XenApp applications actually being delivered to a mobile device.  Also felt that it would be good to describe the setup used to create the video, so details follow below.  The demo was intended to show a "real world" use case that a lot of us have been through.  The script for the video is that your boss sends you an email asking you to perform a number of tasks in preparation for an upcoming meeting:

-       update a Word document

-       update an Excel spreadsheet

-       verify a CAD document is up to date

-       join a GoToMeeting

All of these tasks are performed in the below video.  Details on the setup:

-       A real ATT 8525 device with the 10.0 WinMo ICA client was used to connect to  a XenApp 4.5 server

-       The server is hosted on the internet, outside of the Citrix network.

-       The Web Interface changes referred to in my Mobile Devices and The App Delivery Center blog post are in use on this demo server, thus you get the better app sizing described in the aforementioned post (http://support.citrix.com/forums/thread.jspa?forumID=136&threadID=91629&tstart=0).

-       Soti Pocket Controller was used to display the screen of the 8525 on my laptop

-       When connected to Soti, an active sync connection is used, which actually provides the network connection for the 8525.  So the native 3G data connection of the 8525 was not used, BUT.

-       I used the EVDO Rev A connection on my laptop to connect to the internet, so even though the device has ATT 3G connection, a Verizon EVDO Rev A connection was actually used in this case, thus a WWAN connection is being used.

-       Camtasia was used to capture the Soti output on my laptop

So now that you know the gory setup to get this capture, the video is below.  Hope this give a better picture of use of the Citrix Mobile ICA clients.

Obviously some clarity of the video was lost during conversion and upload to YouTube.  But I thing you'll get the idea!

After sponsoring more than a dozen Microsoft launch events around the world, I have reached out to the virtual Citrix event team to get an understanding of the top ten questions we are hearing with respect to Citrix XenApp.  While we all know that history tends to repeat itself, I was still surprised that the same questions we heard back when Microsoft launched Windows Server 2000 and 2003 came up again.  The top 10 boil down to really only 2 key questions:

Question 1: Does Citrix and Microsoft compete in the virtualization space?
I would like to shed some light here. Citrix and Microsoft have shared a strategic partnership for more than 18 years and have worked closely together to innovate on the Windows platform.  As recent as January, we announced an expanded relationship within the adjacent desktop and server virtualization markets. Through the alliance, Citrix and Microsoft will work together to ensure interoperability and cross compatibility with the Windows platform for server, application and desktop virtualization solutions.  Furthermore, we are tightly integrated around the development of our upcoming release of XenApp on the Windows Server 2008 platform. There is no better evidence of this than our joint go-to-market plans that we are effecting. For example, we have been delivering joint presentations to our customers and the market as part of the Microsoft 2008 launch wave, and sponsored conferences and tours. And, for those of you who have not had a chance to attend one of the Microsoft events, take a look at the video clip that was shown at the Microsoft keynote and on their virtual launch site. It specifically highlights the tight integration between our two companies.
Question 2:  What value does XenApp bring relative to the standalone offering of Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services 
Similar to the past, Citrix will continue to build upon the strength of the Windows Server platform to provide customers an end-to-end application virtualization solution. Our solutions complement one another in that we will leverage the enhancements Microsoft has made in Windows Server 2008 around platform stability, security and scalability and extend the platform to introduce some enhancements to our core XenApp functionality.  With the interest of not repeating what has already been written, take a look at  Bryon Thomas's post, Citrix XenApp on Microsoft Windows Terminal Services - A Feature Analysis, which provided an introduction to a more technical analysis at the feature level that helps get at the heart of how Citrix embraces and extends the Windows Server 2008 platform.  It is being revised based on some feedback we received to his post but a new version is due out soon so stay tuned.

We want to know what is burning on your mind. So if these are not the same questions you have, just leave us a comment. Inquiring minds want to know.

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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.

There is a tremendous amount of energy and buzz circulating here at the Microsoft launch event in LA with more than 7,000 registered attendees.  The keynote kicked off with Tom Brokaw who gave a profound speech on the power of technology and how it is the will of people to use technology for the greater good. This set the stage for the "heroes happen here" theme of the conference. Microsoft unveiled the concept of dynamic IT - a scenario where IT can manage complexity and achieve agility, protect information and control access, advance business with IT solutions and amplify the impact of people.  Demos surrounding the three new products - Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 - were shown along with a variety of customer vignettes  to underscore the heroes theme and the importance of using technology to have an impact on society.  

Post keynote, the partner pavilion opened and has been swamped with people.  Citrix is a platinum sponsor so we have premier real estate however people have been lined up to get their name in the raffle and ask questions about our end-to-end virtualization story.  Nothing is better than a demo, so we have been walking attendees through a live beta of XenApp (the new name for Presentation Server) on Windows Server 2008. 

Even with only a few hours left in the day, the lines are growing and the conference is in high gear.  I can't wait to see what others are saying about their experience here....

For years Citrix XenApp (the new name of Presentation Server http://www.Citrix.com/XenApp) customers have been using XenApp, as an application delivery solution, each year, getting  more value as Citrix continually improves and adds more functionality as the needs of users increase. (To learn what Citrix is doing for the next release or XenApp, refer to project Delaware http://www.Citrix.com/Delaware). 

These customers understand the relationship between XenApp and Terminal Services and how together they provide a powerful solution. A question I often get asked is; do I see a day when the functionality of TS will be enough that the need for XenApp will be lessened? Some customers expect this is just a matter of time and assume one day Terminal Services will be enough. 

 The simple answer in my view is that TS will never be enough, because the good enough bar continues to move up.  The good enough bar is the level where a customer is comfortable with the functionality that they are prepared to accept that level of functionally, usability, security etc, is enough for their organization. 
To correctly answer the question you need to ask what is good enough? It is a different answer for different organizations. It's not just a matter of size or even complexity but it's about what dependency the organization is putting on the overall solution and how does an organization see this changing over time. 
Also if you asked what was good enough in 2003 and what is good enough today you will get a very different answer as organization's needs have changed in so many different ways.  

This change in what is good enough, the changing levels of the good enough bar, is due to a number of factors: 
IT has become more critical, and many would not survive today without their IT systems and for some, IT is extremely strategic and is a competitive weapon.  
IT has also become much more complex, with all business processes now automated and each linked in some way. Security issues have also raised the good enough bar, organization are looking for the most secure way to provide application access to users. 
Users needs have also become more complex, using many more applications; they are much more demanding, expecting to have access to their systems all the time.   

Applications themselves are also more complex, and there are multiple generations of application types with organizations. 
I'm sure there are a number of other factors you could add that continue to drive the good enough bar upwards. 
Finally this is not a static environment, the good enough bar of tomorrow will be much higher than today. 

Understanding  that the good enough bar is always changing you can understand why I would say that TS is not good enough even with the new features of Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 ( http://www.Microsoft.com/WindowsServer2008 ), because organizations are not prepared to take a risk and deploy a system that could be otherwise improved by adding more value. 
Citrix XenApp uses the Terminal Services platform to provide the most complete application delivery solution with the best, centralized control, application compatibility, optimized user experience, comprehensive access and scalability. 

As more customers realize the enormous benefits of this new model of computing; delivery all applications anywhere to their users; they will want the best possible solution, one that has the most complete set of features. A solution that has the best chance of being successful today and also adapt to their future needs. Whether an organization is deploying a few application or all their applications, they should look at the most complete solution knowing they will end up with the best end result. 

Then there is the question of cost. What customers have found is it takes less time and resources to deliver a solution that is more complete, that works as a complete system, than try to piece bits together, this weighed with the risk factors shows it's always better to start with the most complete solution the 1^st time rather than add functionality later. There are too many other things that need to get done, why take the risk?  
Organizations that have been using XenApp for more than 6 years know this question has come up each time Microsoft releases a new version of Windows Server with added Terminal Services functionality. To date this has been with Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, and now with the new Windows Server 2008. So for all of theses and for the next release of Windows Server the answer is 'no' TS is not good enough because the good enough bar continues to move up! 

To understand more about XenApp and Terminal Services, I would refer you to another blog by Bryon Thomas on Terminal Services and XenApp, Bryon lists a number of tools available that list the enhanced value of XenApp and he is asking for suggestions on what other tools are needed. ( http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/bryont ) 

I welcome your comments and views on the concept of the good enough bar, how is it rising in your organization?  

Nabeel Youakim

VP & Product Line Executive,

Applications Virtualization Group, Citrix Systems