What is VPN and How does it Works

4 Bogus paper VMware EUC claims About Session-Based Desktops (RDS) -

Brian Madden recently published a blog "Is VMware enticing customers with more expensive VDI RDSH which would meet their needs at a lower cost? "

He argues that customers should really do their homework and understand the use cases before abandoning RDSH on VDI not persistent. He also mentioned some of the claims of the document VMware EUC made against RDS. In the comments section, Harry Labana (former CTO for Citrix XenDesktop group) accepts most of the time, adding that the number of VDI and RDS scalability approach (see my previous blog for numbers), so if you can justify the higher cost and the use case you can go for VDI

again, Adam Carter of Microsoft RDS team also blogged demystifying the FUD VMware VDI Microsoft vs. VMware View :. freedom of choice around RDS and stresses that flexibility and use cases are the key to choosing the right delivery model.

the common point between Brian and the blog of Adam is that there are use cases for both RDS and non-persistent VDI desktops. I fully agree and I think the IT empowerment and offering them more flexibility will help solve their problems. If you want to offer your end users a desktop fully managed and locked with the applications now, then there is no better solution than RDS (think call centers, support centers, university laboratories ).

Contrary to what would be VMware you want to believe, you can actually offer a locked desktop via RDS and allow users to customize their desktops with persistent personalization between sessions (think EU-V Citrix and universal profile solution). RDS enables you to deliver more virtual, seamless Windows applications on non-windows devices and tablets which is great for BYO scenario with easy access to their applications without having to run the whole office.

There are many applications in the RDS solution in the VMware document but we will clarify some of the misconceptions most common in this blog.

conflicts Application-to-application are not specific RDS FUD When spreading regarding this subject, one thing that the VMware document you not say here that the conflict from application to application can also occur in a VDI environment. It is not a Citrix or RDS specific problem. You can not run multiple versions of IE natively on the same client device. VMware has this exact same issue with their VDI offering and they are trying to solve this problem by using their streaming solution ThinApp Application. Recommends XenApp server consolidation by applications, which optimizes IT operations and helps eliminate problems faster. With Citrix XenApp, you can also use App-V to troubleshoot application to application compatibility issues. App-V comes as part of the RDS CAL licenses so there is no additional cost involved

A user / session NE lowering the entire server :. As Adam Microsoft describes in his blog - back to Windows Server 08 services running in Session 0, and user sessions executed in isolation from session 1, so there no direct interaction between users and services. In general, it means an application crash in a user session may only affect the user; it will not reduce services or other users of the same because of this isolation server. The isolation between sessions as effectively creates a security barrier between user sessions-with the proper security configuration, the user data is visible only to the user's session where it is used.

RDS does not have broad applications compatibility issues - I will not say that 100% of applications are compatible with RDS, but I would it becomes extremely difficult to find an application that will not run on a terminal server platform. Microsoft and Citrix have worked together for more than 20 years to crush most of the application compatibility issues and jointly published several best practice guides. Citrix AppDNA is the best practical solution for organizations to use to determine the best way to deliver applications (native, hosted, streaming App-V). AppDNA is proven to reduce the risk, time and cost of application migration. VMware does not offer a solution like this and you will need to get a strong fight or to manually configure your applications. Because of the Citrix experience in this area, most major business applications have been verified via the Citrix Ready program to give you greater peace of mind. Microsoft also offers RDS Application Analyzer to determine if an application behavior that would prevent him from running well in a multi-user environment. Citrix XenApp successful over 250,000 users and that number continues to grow, even on the chance of an application may have a compatibility problem, Citrix XenApp VM hosted apps solves these specific instances ensuring IT can deliver all applications to their users

RDS environments can offer the same level of user customization that non-persistent VDI - This is another claim where the VMware paper says only half Of the history. VMware says that unlike RDS based workstations, non-persistent VDI allows users to install applications inside their office. What they do not tell you is that even with non-persistent VDI a user installs an application on the image will lose this application once he or she logs off and the office is reset canceling all changes made to the user. Citrix (profile management solution) and Citrix Ready partners (RES Software, AppSense, etc.) provide the shape and manage personalization tools through unified desktops in VDI and RDS. You as a customer still plenty of options and flexibility in customizing the user in the virtual environment.

recently released XenDesktop VDI 7 offers, RDS, virtual applications and access solutions to remote PC using a single architecture. We as a community can talk all day about how best to deliver lock workstations (RDSH vs non-persistent VDI) XenDesktop7 but you can mix and match the use case to the user and offer the best desktop using a unified service architecture with common protocol, supply and driving the policy. There are cases for all uses non-persistent VDI, persistent VDI and desktop session bases.

I would like to hear more arguments about non-persistent vs RDS. Please add your comments and discuss about it.

NetScaler Application Firewall blocks Apache Struts vulnerabilities -

Recently, several serious vulnerabilities have been found in the framework of the Apache Struts Web application. By using the signature of the application firewall, Citrix was able to quickly generate new signatures that would block any attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities Struts. These signatures can be found at: http://support.citrix.com/article/ctx138807. They will also be part of the next round of updates to regular signatures provided by Citrix

The links to information on Struts vulnerabilities are as follows :.

• following information "action", "redirect" or "redirectAction" is not properly sanitized: http: // struts .apache.org / release /2.3.x/docs/s2-016.html
• an application that included a request parameter designed could be used to OGNL inject arbitrary code in the stack: http://struts.apache.org/development/2.x/docs/s2-014.html
• filters designed to prevent attackers to call arbitrary methods in the settings can be bypassed: http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2012-01/0031.html

Delivering the PVS Bootstrap via HTTP -

Since Provisioning Services became part of the Citrix product portfolio, we talked a lot of different options to spend PVS target devices information necessary to download the bootstrap and connect to the PVS infrastructure. I will not reiterate all options in this blog, so if you need to get up to speed check eDocs -. Getting the Bootstrap

file

One of the most popular options is to use DHCP option 66 (Boot Server name) and Option 67 (Boot File Name). The disadvantage of this approach is that both DHCP options to a single input. For example if you specify PVS1 as boot server and PVS1 down target devices are not able to start. Especially if you use a common desktop environment and automatically restarting virtual desktop after the user logs off, it can become a serious problem.

Now, you may say, why not just use a load balancer to load balance requests for ties between servers? The problem is that the bootstrap is transferred using TFTP, which is quite difficult to balance the load. See "TFTP load balancing - Anything But Trivial" for details

When Dan Feller spoke of the benefit of PLWHA bootstrap in one of the latest blogs "XenDesktop Fact: Provisioning Services does not require PXE ". He received a very interesting comment form Justin Garrison. in short Justin mentioned that it is possible to deliver the bootstrap using HTTP and is running the configuration without any problems for some time now.

Unbelievable! How could we have missed that for so long? The HTTP load balancer is much simpler than TFTP, so it would be an interesting option to simplify a PVS infrastructure without relying on emissions (PXE) or using ISO files (BDM).

So what is the story here?

After seeing this comment I got to the development team PVS immediately. Soon it became clear that the transfer of the bootstrap using HTTP is not defined in the formal specification PXE (http://download.intel.com/design/archives/wfm/downloads/pxespec.pdf), so that we miss very obvious. But we also realized that there are other PXE implementations as gPXE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPXE), which add many more features (HTTP transfer incl.). "Coincidentally" XenServer virtual machines based gPXE-use, so a bootstrap transfer based on HTTP is actually a viable option.

But before too out about it, I must tell you that we do not test based on bootstrap HTTP transfers as part of testing a standard version. So while this may work -and I'll show you that it works in a minute- not officially supported .

Nevertheless, I thought it was geek enough to blog about it and show you the required configuration. All you really need to do is specify the complete HTTP path in option 67 (Boot File Name) on your server or scope but let DHCP option 66 (Boot Name Server) empty . You configuration should look like this:

then XenCenter open and powering on an appropriate virtual machine. You should see something similar to this:

Unfortunately, I have no vSphere and Hyper-V host to see if it also works there. I would be happy to get feedback to understand if one XenServer feature or bootstrap a viable delivery option for all virtualization platforms.

[Update] The new 10.1 release of NetScaler Load Balancing TFTP has become much simpler than it used to be in the past. More information can be found in eDocs -. 10.1 Improvements

AppDNA: analysis of the implementation -

Now it's time for the important things about our project. Ideally we would have most of our applications imported for the time we used the distribution system, as one would expect, including most applications. However, the reality is that there are always applications that are unknown. I've actually never been involved in a project where the client had 100% confidence on knowledge of the number of applications, the name, version, and vendor installation media. These are the minimum requirements for all levels of management applications.

This would be the starting point for the rest of import applications, but it is not mandatory, you can actually do it later as you see best. This is important when considering whether AppDNA would be used for the ongoing management of the application after the project phase is completed. First, you will appreciate the ability to manage applications individually, instead of having to analyze your complete stack each time you add an application. Unfortunately, many organizations consider AppDNA be useful for immediate pain on delayed migration. Guess what? Migration is not going to end, ever. Projects can be considered complete, but the process and the need remains. The project just means move to a standby mode - waiting for the next migration

When the world is changing, you need to change too .. What I mean is that users demand new deployment options because they move between different usage scenarios. For example, they want to use mobile devices instead of PCs. Then touch applications must be user friendly, which in turn create demand for more advanced operating systems. Ok, we have little distracted ...

analysis process in such is very simple for the administrator. Just choose the applications, the relevant modules and analyze! At this stage, there would be opportunity to create groups, families and suites of applications. Let's see what next and focus on analysis.

Analysis can be described shortly with the following illustrations. Although this position is on the analysis, it is important to start showing insight on what we really have in the database. In short, the data on users, user groups, organizational units, usage information, applications and operating systems. The operating systems ship with the product are versions of vanilla, but in reality, every organization has customized its OS build, as a minimum, they have group policies. While we are not reading the Active Directory group policies, they may also be changes to the construction of the operating system and can be captured. Captured OS is then imported or multiple built specific version, and used in the analysis. The end result is the realistic deployment environment from the technical point of view.

Citrix Partner Uproar "Olikka Standings Australia a different course of business growth to three digits" -

Partners, I know you've heard me our initiative Spotlight partner during the past months. Well, today I am happy to share with you a concrete example of our history of the most recent success of the use case. The article in this month highlights Olikka, a systems integrator based in Melbourne Australia ,. Read on for more information on how Oikka growing rapidly.

Olikka is derived from a Swedish word meaning "different", and Melbourne, systems integrator based in Australia is proud of its distinctive strategy for growth and success. According to Michael Pascoe, Director General, Olikka decided to focus primarily on Citrix and Microsoft solutions, to the exclusion of other vendors such as VMware, for two main reasons. The first is the competitive differentiation. "We believe the future is bright for Citrix and Microsoft in our target areas of mobility, office, data center and cloud, and we're betting they will be the winners in the business, especially in VDI and hypervisors , "he said.

Citrix and Microsoft success in the enterprise space supports the mission of Olikka help companies automate the management of their iT environment. Because the process automation requires a significant financial investment, the target company midsize to large enterprises with 300 or more software licenses.

the second reason is the limited partnerships positioning Olikka market as IF specialist. "We are a young, small company to become a big IF, narrow casting and believe our expertise and partnerships is the key to success," said Pascoe. Targeting a limited slice of the IT and focusing on solutions Citrix and Microsoft allocate Olikka to become "really, really good" to these technologies. In turn, knowledge and expertise cut many generalist competitors and appeal to customers seeking real experts.

Read the full article to see how Olikka educates through experience and strong partnerships have supported the company's growth as well as much more.

I encourage everyone to be part of the agitation. Join me by adding your voice to Citrix Partner Uproar!

Also, stay connected- be sure to follow us on Twitter @CitrixPartners.

Video - Mobility: Customer testimony Leroy Merlin -

What Must we wait for mobility in the retail sector? Is Geree comment Today?

Drecourt Franck, CIO of Leroy Merlin, we Explains comment Ensign June Cree strategy of full mobility in his stores, the Service of His employed and SES end customers.

http://www.citrix.com/tv/#videos/9174

The impact of iOS 7 On Enterprises -

It has become an annual ritual Apple announces a new model of the iPhone and the iOS update. One of the things that made Apple so popular is its regular rate-new versions. Even a modest update for iOS brings new useful features and sometimes a whole new look and feel to the phone. It is another example of value in the software training equipment (please see my last blog here).

And the new version of iOS 7 is no different. Announced in June at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, iOS 7 will change the look and feel of the iPhone. Good coverage and details on these changes can be found here. The great change that has been most discussed were the new enterprise management capabilities that Apple has announced. This is the biggest jump for the company since iOS 3 Basic MDM launched. . See my colleague's blog Chandra Sekar how Citrix supports the new iOS 7 enterprise features

Some of the key features of the company include:

• Managed Open in -This is one that many IT managers waited. This allows IT to dictate which applications can open and normally-store company data obtained by email. companies can now manage how and where their data is stored.
• By App VPN -At instead of running all the data through the company VPN, Apple will support split tunneling, with non-business data avoiding the VPN. This reduces the amount of traffic that businesses host their VPNs and helps keep privacy for the end user, particularly important if the end user has purchased his own camera.
• Single Sign On -iOS 7 enables single sign-on (SSO) authentication to multiple business applications to secure data, but make it easier for the end user.
• App prioritization -apps that are constantly in use over time will develop a model that allows the background updating and intelligent programming. It is not really true multitasking, but it's a good balance of work between application and battery life needs. This will be important for third party applications, such as messaging, who want to enjoy the thrust from the synchronization.

should therefore update iOS users as it becomes available and should support businesses? If previous experience proves anything, the majority of users will upgrade to the next version of iOS when it becomes available. Many companies also support. Most have been testing iOS 7 on some phone models through the summer. And the new operating system certainly has enough features to justify the upgrade. But the best common practice for new software updates is to wait a week before GA allow end users to update devices. Why? Sometimes new updates have bugs that may have an impact on enterprise systems. Companies have a great legacy providers and a variety of servers and applications sometimes changes, even small ones, can affect these systems, even if the test was done previously. This is true even for Apple products. previous updates have caused problems that were found only when a large number of devices (hundreds) an impact on the corporate network. For example, Apple launched iOS 6.1 at the end of January this year. Many companies saw that there was a bug with Microsoft Exchange, caused the phone to drain the battery quickly. A patch came out a month later. It was not the first time an exchange problem arose with a new iOS update. It is not a big deal, it happens in other technological fields, but any bug can cause user problems, causing the support should go and adds costs. So what companies must do

The main things companies should do is :?

1. Create an upgrade program. The best practice would be to wait at least a week before recommending users to update.
2. alert users to potential problems updating. Recommend they wait a week before the update.
3. Consult new web sites and forums to see if scaling problems or integration with servers or enterprise applications arise.
4. Create an update schedule with progressive rolled updates. Recommend users to update on a schedule based on departure or surnames.
5. Recommend the back-up users before updating. Many users rarely connect to iTunes, so now is a good time to do it.

iOS is a great update and every company should support. The question is not if, but when, and the prudent company should try to delay a week. This can eventually cause fewer headaches and problems by updating immediately.