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.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Check out this funny video from Citrix about XenApp myths & Bigfoot
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!
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!
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.
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
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Understanding Citrix License Files
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
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
Thursday, July 2, 2009
How to Master Citrix XenServer™
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
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
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Citrix XenServer™ 5.5 Released Today
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.
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.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Citrix Server Best Practices
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.
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.
Monday, June 8, 2009
XenDesktop™ and XenApp™ Are Better Together
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!
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!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Citrix Presentation Server™ 4.0 Approaching End of Life
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Citrix XenServer™ is Free!
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!
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!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Top 5 Reasons to Upgrade to XenApp™5
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.
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.
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