VM /ETC

Archive for the ‘XenServer’ Category

There were 2 messages from the Citrix Summit 2008 conference in Orlando this week that really stuck with me. I’ve already posted about the first, “XenServer 5 is ready for the enterprise“. The other message was “Use XenServer to host XenApp”.

Virtualizing XenApp is a concept to get on board with in general, but it’s also logical to assume Citrix can best support and optimize their products when they are used together.

The message is that virtualizing existing and future implementations of XenApp (or Presentation Server) on XenServer can

• Reduce physical server count
• Increase availability
• Increase flexibility
• Improve performance

Let me explain how it was explained to me during a hands on lab. Read the rest of this entry »

XenServer 5 is ready for the Enterprise. That’s been one of the flavors of the partner “kool aid” flowing here at Citrix Summit 2008 this week. Customer adoption will gauge this statement over the next year, but from a feature stand point Citrix’s latest version of XenServer now has the “bells and whistles” necessary to compete for market share in the number one strategic technology for 2009 (according to Gartner), virtualization. Citrix is not just promising future releases and roadmaps either (although there is some of that happening here too), but partners are seeing demos and participating in hands on labs for product capabilities already available.

I was told over 100 new features and enhancements have been added to XenServer 5.0. I can’t say that I have experienced all 100+ of them this week personally, but I’ve seen enough to know the changes are obvious and impressive.

Click through this SlideShare.net presentation for new feature technical details and images provided by Barry Flanagan on his Citrix Community blog. Read the rest of this entry »

Like almost all of the virtualization vendors these days, Citrix has their own set of technologies in development that will enable a highly scalable and dynamic cloud server infrastructure. I attended a Citrix Summit 2008 breakout session yesterday about one of the new Citrix products at the heart of the Citrix Cloud Center (C3) portfolio; Citrix Workflow Studio.

Citrix describes Workflow Studio as an orchestrator of products and processes that allows all the technologies in Citrix’s version of the cloud to be automated and controlled. Combined with the virtualization and consolidation made possible by Citrix XenServer, Workflow Studio will enable administrators to turn virtual infrastructure into a dynamic delivery platform by: Read the rest of this entry »

So everybody and their mother has a virtualization product now. Too bad all the vendors could not standardize on the same key (or key combinations) that releases the mouse from a virtual machine’s (VM) console window. Until that day happens (don’t hold your breath) this post will be my listing of known host key or key combinations by vendor and product for when your mouse is stuck in a VM.

Please leave a comment on any products I have not included and I’ll update the list.

Updated 10.03.08 – corrected key combination for Mac versions and created separate rows for VMware Fusion and Parallels Workstation

One of the posts I used as a research reference was Common Virtualization Keyboard Shortcuts from x86virtualization.com. Check out this post for a complete listing all keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft and VMware products besides the one for escaping the mouse from the VM console.

Since my company is a Citrix Partner I have the opportunity to become a Citrix Certified Administrator (CCA) for XenServer Enterprise Edition 4.1 (version 5 classes are still in development). I just received the instructions for signing up for the training and redeeming the vouchers for the online partner course and labs (here is the link to non partner instructor led courses). I am also attending the Citrix Summit Partner Conference in Orlando, FL at the end of this month (Oct. 26 – 29), so look for some more XenServer and XenDesktop content here on VM / ETC in the upcoming weeks/months.

For now, here is the CCA XenServer Enterprise Edition Exam and various test and certification details for anyone that is interested (and for my future reference!). Read the rest of this entry »

Last week I participated in a training event hosted by Citrix titled “Citrix Hands On Technical Workshop – XenDesktop“. The training was very beneficial in that I was not only able to walk through some configuration labs but I also heard first hand experiences from various partners around the Southeast that have already implemented XenDesktop. This post is a summary of my notes about Citrix’s solution and it’s key differentiators from other VDI alternatives.

The complete XenDestop solution consists of the following components:

• XenServer (or VMware ESX or Microsoft Hyper-V)
• Provisioning Server
• The Desktop Delivery Controller
• XenApp
• Citrix Access Gateway
• WANScaler
• EdgeSight
• GoToAssist
• EasyCall

Details on each of the pieces can be found on Citrix’s XenDesktop Technology page. Administrators familiar with the Citrix line of products will recognize several traditional components from their Presentation Server solutions. The “How Desktop Delivery Works” screen shot above is also from Citrix’s web page. Click on it for a larger view of the image.

Like VMware’s Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM), XenDesktop’s solution is centered around a connection broker, or The Desktop Delivery Controller (DCC). Read the rest of this entry »

Last week’s post about Dell’s embedded hypervisor options and the Help Me Choose: Hypervisor page sparked some reader discussion about whether XenServer can be used with shared storage. The answer to that question is that it depends on which version of XenServer you order. Dell is offering either XenServer Express or XenServer Enterprise versions as embedded options. Express is a limited version and can not use shared storage while Enterprise is fully featured and capable of using a SAN.

Citrix also offers a XenServer Standard edition, but apparently that version is not an option as an embedded hypervisor when ordering Dell hardware.

updated 05.17.08 – image updated to reflect changes to Citrix’s product comparison page after this post was publihsed and to show the 4 versions of XenServer. The table below has not been updated and does not show the Premium Edition. Click on the image for a larger version.

The image in this post and the following table were copied from the Citrix XenServer v4 web page. They offer a quick overview of the differences between the 3 versions.

Read the rest of this entry »