Citrix, ThinPrint & Wyse Products, Support Tips and Virtualization Information

Citrix XenDesktop 4 vs VMWare

2010-08-06T09:16:00.001-04:00

Citrix pioneered desktop and application delivery over 20 years ago, and in recent years, they have been rapidly innovating with their industry leading XenDesktop product line. Since the initial launch of XenDesktop in 2008, Citrix has delivered three major product releases, offering unmatched capabilities, such as HDX and FlexCast delivery technology.

In contrast, competitive products such as VMware View have remained relatively static in terms of innovation and new functionality. Only Citrix XenDesktop 4 delivers:

• The best type of virtual desktop for every user in your enterprise

• A high definition user experience, assuring performance over LAN and WAN connections

• Instant and secure access to desktops from any device, anytime, anywhere without any compromises

• The ability to manage fewer desktop images and reduce management costs with on-demand apps by XenApp

• The best data security and access control with rich set of policies

• An open architecture, ensuring support for any hypervisor, storage or network devices

Read the whitepaper “Citrix XenDesktop 4: The clear choice for desktop virtualization”

Check out the XenDesktop vs VMWare comparison report

ThinPrint .print 8.0 – new features and functions

2010-05-19T09:14:00.004-04:00

ThinPrint .print Version 8.0 includes new, significant enhancements to the .print Application Server Engine for your application and/or terminal servers, as well as the .print Server Engine for use with dedicated print servers. Both products enable you to manage your printing environment more easily and clearly. Your users benefit from a much higher degree of user-friendliness. Here is an overview of the new features:

Simplified administration

Installation via MSI
Roll-out ThinPrint automatically throughout your company. The Unattended Installation option reduces your installation effort to a minimum.
Install admin tools separately
Simply install the .print admin tools on your administration computer and you can remotely configure .print throughout your company.
Windows Server 2008 R2 server core support
Use ThinPrint .print on very powerful servers equipped with Windows Server 2008 R2 Core.
Use AutoConnect as a Group Policy (GPO)
Simplified use of printer templates and network sharing in the Dynamic Printer Matrix
Session-in-Session support

Improved user-friendliness

Live updating of locally connected printers
Turbo-mapping accelerates your session start
Automatic transfer of local printing options
Free configuration of the print option transfer
Printing options in 15 languages

Gain and maintain an overview

Completely revised user interface and MMC snap-in
Customized installation scale
Hints and tips right where you need them
An even better overview of your printer landscape
AutoConnect now even better
AutoConnect Diagnostics
Enhanced .print Tracking Service

Thanks to the new .print 8.0 user interface, AutoConnect is now even more user-friendly. Configuration changes, checks and error searches are considerably easier. And with the help of the new AutoConnect diagnostics interface, administrators can recognize problems before a user even notices them.

Summary of the most important AutoConnect features:

.print AutoConnect Diagnostics allows effective printer mapping control.
Instant Search in the dynamic printer matrix and the map additional printers table enable easy configuration checks and error searches.
The Dynamic Printer Matrix templates or network paths can be entered easily via a drop down menu or via the Active Directory search.
When setting-up the standard printer the administrator can choose if he wants to give preference to the client's standard printer or the server.
Group Policies (GPO) simplify the printer mappings administration.

Citrix Synergy 2010

2010-04-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

Where virtualization, networking and cloud computing meet

Citrix Synergy is the industry’s only conference focused on the growing convergence between virtualization, networking and cloud computing and how it can solve real business problems. It’s an open exchange of ideas, technology innovations and real-world experiences on how to deliver just about any desktop, application, media or service to any user, anywhere. As a result, Synergy provides the best value for your conference dollar by pulling together the foremost experts in virtualization, networking and cloud computing all in one event. You’ll return to the office knowing specifically how to build a simpler and more cost-efficient computing environment that will put your organization at the forefront of the coming on-demand IT services era.

Synergy 2010 is a global conference featuring a two-event structure to cover North America in spring and Europe in fall. The spring event will take place May 12-14 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, California, a cosmopolitan city offering a wealth of cultural and recreational attractions.

We invite you to explore the complete Synergy site to learn more about the San Francisco event, including, agenda, session content, venue and special activities, awards, environmental initiatives, and money-saving offers and promotions.

If you can only attend one conference in 2010, Synergy is the one. Position your business to succeed in a rapidly changing world, and join us at Synergy.

For more information, or to register, go to http://www.citrixsynergy.com/

Introducing Citrix XenApp 6

2010-03-11T13:31:00.000-05:00

Citrix is pleased to announce that Citrix XenApp 6 for Windows Server 2008 R2 will be available for electronic download March 24, 2010!

With more than 230,000 customers and over 100 million users worldwide, Citrix XenApp is the de facto standard in on-demand application delivery to both virtual and physical desktops. It is the most cost-effective and secure way to manage and deliver applications, while providing users personalized, self-service access to applications from any device.

Purpose-built for Windows Server 2008 R2, XenApp 6 introduces exciting new features and enhancements for advanced management and scalability, a rich multi-media experience over any network and self-service applications and universal device support from PC to Mac to smartphone.

Key Features of XenApp 6

Enterprise-class scalability

Built for Windows Server 2008 R2 - Increase scalability of your XenApp farm with up to 15% more users per server and take advantage of the enhancements and optimizations made to the newest Microsoft operating system.
Simple, fast product installation - Install XenApp in half the time with role-based setup wizards and simplified server deployment.
AppCenter - Simplify application management with a single, more intuitive console to perform management tasks.
Seamless integration with Microsoft management tools - Streamline application management using familiar Active Directory group policies and automate management workflows using PowerShell.

High definition user experience

HDX RealTime collaboration - Enable real-time audio and video collaboration using Microsoft Office Communicator and VoIP softphones.
HDX RealTime audio - Ensure CD quality audio while using 90% less bandwidth.
HDX Plug-n-Play for Windows portable USB devices - Ensure a seamless user experience with expanded USB support for POS interfaces, webcams, microphones, scanners, digital cameras and more.

Self-service apps

Self-service app storefront - Deliver self-service access to the applications users need with Citrix Dazzle, the first self-service storefront for enterprise applications.
App-V integration - Manage and deliver both Citrix and Microsoft virtual applications on demand from a single point with Microsoft App-V.

Any device, anywhere

Citrix Receiver for Windows, Mac & Linux - Deliver applications on demand to Windows, Mac and Linux desktops using a single, auto-updating client.
Expanded plug-in support for Citrix Receiver - Ensure high performance access to more applications and services than ever before with new Receiver plug-ins for WAN acceleration, Single sign-on, and EasyCall voice communications.
Citrix Receiver for iPhone and Android - Give users ultimate mobility with access to corporate applications from the palm of your hand with popular smartphones, including iPhone, Windows Mobile, and now Android.

Hear why XenApp 6 is the de facto standard in application delivery to any desktop.

Reasons to Virtualize Your Workplace

2010-01-29T14:56:00.002-05:00

Saves Money- Rented office space costs an average of $33 per square foot (per year). According to InnoVisions Canada, companies can eliminate one office for every three telecommuters. AT&T reduced its office-space costs by 50% by virtualizing their office, and Merrill Lynch saves $6,000 per year for each office they eliminate!

Increases Productivity- Telecommuters are more productive. According to a 2008 survey by CompTIA, 67% of respondents said their organizations were more productive thanks to part-time and full-time commuting. Also, American Express claims their telecommuters produce 43% more business than office workers!

Increases Employee Retention- In CompTIA's 2008 survey, 37% of respondents said telecommuting improves employee retention. Another 39% said they have access to more qualified personnel, who don't always live within commuting distance, thanks to telecommuting. Furthermore, Telecommuting, at least part-time, can reduce stress and keep key people from leaving your organization. That kind of give and take has the added bonus of building company loyalty.

It’s Green- A study commissioned by the US Consumer Electronics Association reported that telecommuting saves 9 to 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year- the equivalent of one million U.S. households. That means energy savings for your company. The study also estimated that 3.9 million telecommuters reduce fuel consumption by about 840 million gallons and carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 14 million tons. (Information gathered from TechRepublic)

ThinPrint .print Engine 8.0 Release

2010-01-04T09:56:00.000-05:00

The new ThinPrint .print Version 8.0, which will be available in the beginning of 2010, blazes new trails in the area of "cutting costs." It simplifies your entire print management, saving valuable work time for your customers' system administration and users and also provides comprehensive cost transparency with respect to the printing behavior in their company.

Both the system administration and users will save valuable work time with respect to printing and print management:
• Improved ThinPrint .print snap-in for Microsoft Management Console: All important print management status functions at a glance
• Even faster with .print AutoConnect: Configuration, adjustment and operation now extremely simple
• Printer mapping now also on the basis of Group Policies
• Control over all active printer mappings at all times with new AutoConnect Diagnostics
• Automatic use of local printing options: Even in a remote session or in the case of access on a virtualized desktop
• Session-in-Session support, including in scenarios with distributed or virtualized applications - without additional configuration expense or unfamiliar printer names
• Expanded possibilities of the .print Tracking Service

Check out the complete feature overview and first screenshots at http://www.thinprint.com/Default.aspx?alias=www.thinprint.com/8-0

Top 5 Reasons to Upgrade to Citrix XenApp™5

2009-12-11T10:23:00.000-05:00

1. Modernized, Intuitive, & Rich User Experience
Innovative new Web Interface with enhanced security through Advanced Kerberos Authentication and extended support for additional third-party authentication products that support RADIUS protocol.

2. Next-Generation Application Streaming
10x faster startup of streamed apps and differential updates improve and simplify app management.

3. XPS Universal Printer Driver
Advanced printer management capabilities, such as driver management, XPS-based Universal Printer Driver, compression, bandwidth control and printer routing.

4. Assured Service-Level Performance
New and intelligent load management system that includes Preferential Load Balancing and CPU management for assuring service-level agreements.

5. Improved Network Performance
Deliver LAN-like app performance over the WAN, making branch office and mobile workers more productive.

XenApp Myth #5 - User experience is not as good as locally installed apps

2009-10-05T12:41:00.001-04:00

Citrix Myth #4 - XenApp Doesn't Support Printing & Local Devices

2009-09-21T15:55:00.001-04:00

Citrix Myth #3 - Multimedia Apps Won’t Run On Citrix

2009-09-04T16:49:00.001-04:00

XenApp Myth #2 - Apps Don't Work Offline

2009-08-25T16:23:00.003-04:00

XenApp Myth #1 - Only Certain Apps Work with XenApp

2009-08-06T15:13:00.001-04:00

Check out this funny video from Citrix about XenApp myths & Bigfoot

2009-08-06T14:44:00.001-04:00

Forget everything you thought you knew. Watch this startling new footage that sheds light on the very existence of Bigfoot — but even more importantly — the misconceptions that may be keeping you from reaping the full benefits of Citrix XenAppTM (which you may know as MetaFrame or Presentation Server).

Don’t be fooled, XenApp delivers all Windows® applications as a service to users anywhere — while reducing application management costs by up to 50%. It’s shocking. It’s amazing.And it’s true.

Watch the incredible footage for yourself!

Thousands of apps work with XenApp - even custom ones!

2009-08-06T14:34:00.001-04:00

Learn how you can get the most out of XenApp —with the App Compatibility toolkit.
There are some serious misconceptions out there about app compatibility with Citrix XenApp™ (which you may know as MetaFrame or Presentation Server). The truth is, most apps simply work with XenApp. That’s thousands of user-validated apps.
With XenApp’s single instance application management, apps are stored, maintained and updated once in the datacenter and delivered on-demand to users — both online and offline. This simplifies management, avoids application conflicts and makes it easy to provide real-time application updates.

Access the App Compatibility Toolkit now.

With it you can:

•Scan the full list of user-validated applications
•Verify XenApp compatibility for any app in your environment
•Get fast Proof of Concept and final app delivery
•Leverage the confidence of community validation

Access the App Compatibility Toolkit now!

Understanding Citrix License Files

2009-07-21T10:46:00.000-04:00

Most Citrix products require a .lic file to be copied to the Citrix Licensing Server under C:\Program Files\Citrix\Licensing\MyFiles. License files contain important information about the Citrix products that are licensed such as the edition, number of users, dates the licenses were purchased, dates the licenses were installed, and the Subscription Advantage membership status. Subscription Advantage membership provides upgrade rights to new versions of Citrix products.

Here an example license file from a Citrix XenApp Server:
# This file is in UTF-8 format.
#
SERVER this_host HOSTNAME=CTXSRV01
VENDOR CITRIX
USE_SERVER
INCREMENT MPS_ENT_CCU CITRIX 2010.0121 permanent 25 \
VENDOR_STRING=;LT=Retail;GP=720;CL=ENT,ADV,STD,AST;SA=1;ODP=0 \
DUP_GROUP=V ISSUED=22-Jan-2009 NOTICE="Your Company’s Name”SN=LA-0000000000-00000:123 START=21-jan-2009 SIGN= \
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX \
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

HOSTNAME=CTXSRV01 This is the hostname of your Citrix license server. It is case sensitive and must match exactly or the license file will not work.

MPS_ENT_CCU This is the product version and edition – in this case MPS stands for MetaFrame Presentation Server (which is now known as XenApp), ENT stands for Enterprise edition, and CCU stands for concurrent user licensing.

2010.0121 This is the date that controls the Subscription Advantage benefits. Since most Citrix products include the first year of subscription, the default is 1 year after the purchase date.

permanent Most Citrix licenses are perpetual, meaning you can us the product indefinitely. These will show permanent here. For evaluation licenses, this field will contain a date (for example: 30-Dec-2009) and the product will stop working after that date.
25 \ This shows the quantity of licenses included in this license file – in this case 25

ISSUED=22-Jan-2009 This is the date the license file was downloaded from www.mycitrix.com.

NOTICE= Your company’s name should appear here.

SN= LA-0000000000-00000 This is the serial number of your licensed product.

START=21-jan-2009 This is the date the product was purchased.

When you renew your Subscription Advantage Membership, you receive an email from Citrix with a license code that begins with the letters RE- (RE-0000000000-00000). Since Citrix licenses are perpetual, you don’t have to apply the renewal license code right away. You can download and apply security patches and hotfixes without a renewal license file.

But – in order to apply feature packs or migrate to a newer version of XenApp, you will need your original code and the renewal code (these can be downloaded together into one .lic file, or you can have several separate .lic files in the MyFiles folder). Also - the license management console will give the Administrator a warning message that the server has invalid subscription until the renewal .lic file is applied.

Want to learn even more about Citrix license files? Check out this article:http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX110847

How to Master Citrix XenServer™

2009-07-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

If you downloaded the Free XenServer product, this class will tell you everything you need to know to get XenServer up and running. This free class includes a feature overview, hardware & software pre-requisites, and a live demo of installation and basic features.

The second session will give you information about Citrix Essentials for XenServer and tell you why XenApp on XenServer is the choice for virtualization.

The classes are on Fridays at 10:00am BST (5:00am EST): June 12th & 26th and July 10th

Contact us at 888.204.7870 or via email at info@thinclientpricing.com

Citrix XenServer™ 5.5 Released Today

2009-06-16T09:03:00.002-04:00

XenServer 5.5 adds new features that enable easier virtualization management and broader integration with enterprise systems. XenServer 5.5 includes features such as consolidated backup, enhanced conversion and search tools, Active Directory integration and expanded guest support for virtually every version of Windows and Linux operating systems.

Also available today is the new 5.5 release of Citrix Essentials™ for XenServer and Hyper-V™, providing advanced virtualization management capabilities for customers using Citrix XenServer or Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 Hyper-V. Citrix Essentials 5.5 enhances both of these high-growth virtualization platforms by adding expanded storage integration, automated lab and stage management and dynamic workload balancing.

Citrix Server Best Practices

2009-06-11T09:36:00.001-04:00

Multi-user Server Based Computing
Server sizing in Microsoft Terminal Services and Citrix XenApp 5.0 environments differs greatly from traditional server environments. Since multiple users simultaneously access these servers, the hardware needs to be dedicated and more robust than that of your traditional member server. In addition, because the Operating System needs to be specifically configured to handle a multi-user environment, these types of servers deal with hardware differently than standard member servers. Other factors include independence from other overhead processes and services that could render the access method useless in the event of their failure, and the security risks associated with hosting user sessions on servers acting as mission critical domain controllers or database servers. The server based computing model as a business access strategy is a proprietary information systems technology requiring a dedicated effort. The goal of any multi-user server based computing deployment is to deliver easy, secure, and high performance access to the end-user. Field testing has produced the following results:

Test Configuration
The benchmarking test was conducted with the following configurations to demonstrate the need for dedicated server computing and the break-point for multi-server load balancing and failover.

Server Configuration
Dell PowerEdge 2900 III
Dual Intel Quad Core Xeon 2.33GHz
(2 x 74GB SATA) RAID 1 Array
4GB Dual-Ranked DDR RAM
Windows Server 2003 Standard R2
Citrix XenApp 5.0 Enterprise
Microsoft Office Small Business 2007

Client Configuration
DELL Optiplex 755 Tower Desktop
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz
2GB DDR2 RAM
Windows VISTA Business

Test Results
A server’s degradation point was reached when its score fell below 80. The results showed a maximum of 177 simulated users concurrently running Microsoft Office applications before this threshold was reached. In this test environment, increasing the number of concurrent users beyond this would have resulted in decreased server and end-user performance. Most production environments deploy applications with much higher system resource requirements that reduce the maximum number of users supported by a single server before performance degradation. Server scaling is environment specific based on application overhead and end-user interaction classified as task oriented or power usage. This test was based on task oriented only. Dedicated computing is required regardless of circumstance.

Conclusions
1. Resource Usage: Citrix, a database driven application, makes usage of the server's hardware and operating system resources in a proprietary way that can be incompatible with Visual Database processing and performance.

2. Security & Continuity: Enabling end-user access to a database server for the purpose of hosting virtual work environments puts the production VISUAL Database at risk for a mission critical failure due to unrelated server usage.

3. Hardware Compatibility: VISUAL Database servers operate most efficiently on a Disk Subsystem configuration of RAID 1, 5. Multi-user servers operate most efficiently on a Disk Subsystem configuration of RAID 1 for simultaneous read/write operations. In addition, memory allocation switches differ between Citrix application servers and VISUAL Database servers when configuring virtual vs. conventional memory usage.

XenDesktop™ and XenApp™ Are Better Together

2009-06-08T15:35:00.001-04:00

Installing applications on a local OS has always been problematic. IT must deploy applications, manage updates, and apply patches to each desktop device individually. Citrix solved that application delivery problem 19 years ago with hosted applications, where applications are installed on servers in the data center and then accessed via any client device.

With Citrix XenDesktop, a Windows XP or Vista OS is delivered as a virtual desktop running in the data center. Applications are delivered to XenDesktop virtual desktops using XenApp. This means IT administrators no longer manage individual instances of the OS and all of the continual updates, patches, and security fixes, on each physical PC. Instead, they manage a single instance of the OS in the data center, which is combined with user settings and applications delivered by XenApp at the time of logon, to provide users with their own personalized desktop and applications delivered from the data center.

By using XenApp with XenDesktop together, organizations dramatically lower the TCO and improve IT agility for managing physical PCs compared to traditional desktop management models.

Download this white paper to learn more!

Citrix Presentation Server™ 4.0 Approaching End of Life

2009-05-29T10:33:00.001-04:00

Attention Citrix Presentation Server™ 4.0 users! In June 2009, Citrix® will stop patching Presentation Server 4.0. Also, Citrix will not provide support on any level for Presentation Server 4.0 in 2010.

What does this mean? Now it is time to embrace Citrix XenApp 5!

If you have a current Citrix Subscription Advantage Membership you can upgrade to XenApp 5 for free.

If you do not have a current SA membership, please contact one of our Solutions Advisors at 888.204.7870.

Citrix XenServer™ is Free!

2009-05-26T15:45:00.001-04:00

Enterprise-class, cloud-proven virtualization is now free

Not a demo. Not a trial. With Citrix XenServer™, you’ll get production-ready server virtualization for free! Citrix has set a new standard that includes enterprise-class features such as live migration and centralized management - free. And there’s no limit to the number of servers you can virtualize or the number of virtual machines you can host on a virtualized server.

By combining the ease of installation of XenServer with a no cost offering, you can virtualize every server in your datacenter, no matter how large or small, and reap the benefits.

Why move to XenServer?
Eliminate cost and complexity
Get your virtualization platform up and running in 10 minutes
Realize a faster ROI
Virtualize even your most demanding workloads
Improve application management, delivery, and availability.

Key XenServer features:
64-bit high performance hypervisor
Support for Windows® and Linux guests
Live motion
Centralized multi-server management
Shared SAN and NAS storage
P2V & V2V conversion
Virtual infrastructure patch management

Download XenServer now!

Top 5 Reasons to Upgrade to XenApp™5

2009-05-15T11:24:00.000-04:00

1. Modernized, Intuitive, & Rich User Experience
Innovative new Web Interface with enhanced security through Advanced Kerberos Authentication and extended support for additional third-party authentication products that support RADIUS protocol.

2. Next-Generation Application Streaming
10x faster startup of streamed apps and differential updates improve and simplify app management.

3. XPS Universal Printer Driver
Advanced printer management capabilities, such as driver management, XPS-based Universal Printer Driver, compression, bandwidth control and printer routing.

4. Assured Service-Level Performance
New and intelligent load management system that includes Preferential Load Balancing and CPU management for assuring service-level agreements.

5. Improved Network Performance
Deliver LAN-like app performance over the WAN, making branch office and mobile workers more productive.