What is VPN and How does it Works

This year, the Citrix Summit, you have the opportunity to take home much more than a conference goodie bag presents. you have the right to a free certification exam, which when you go, bring a resume update, competitive advantage and of course, bragging rights. with new Citrix certification, you can extend the reach of your business and be a Citrix partner more agile success in 2014. Reserve your place.

the certification Centre will newly released feature, certifications based on solutions following:

App and Desktop:

• 1Y0-0: Citrix XenDesktop Management Solutions 7 review
• 1Y0-300: Deploying Citrix XenDesktop 7 examination Solutions
• 1Y0-400: Citrix XenDesktop Design Solutions 7 review

network

• 1Y0-250: Implementing Citrix NetScaler 10 App and Office Solutions
• 1Y0-350: Citrix NetScaler 10 Essentials and networks

Mobility

• Return to register for the 1Y0-370: Design, deployment and management Citrix XenMobile Solutions releasing later this month.

The Certification Centre will be open Monday, January 13, 2014 13: 00-21h00 (EST) and Tuesday, January 14, 2014 under the 08: 00 to 15:00 (EST), Hyatt Regency , Room M.

space is limited. Discover the full range of available examinations and ensure your chance to become certified for applications and workstations, networking and mobility.

Be sure to check these certification exams offered at the Summit, Orlando 2014 if you have any inquiries about Summit or certifications submitted, please reach out to Jessica Willsie.

be part of the bustle!

Citrix Partner Uproar gives each of you the opportunity to express your opinions, ask questions and pass on information to colleagues or clients.

I hope you will add your voice to the "Citrix Partner Uproar!" Also, make sure to follow us on Twitter @CitrixPartners.

The XenServer 6.2.0 SDK for Service Pack 1 is ideal for developers who want programmatically access new XenServer management features for GPU virtualization (including the new vGPU and GPU pass-through). The five available XenServer SDKs, one for each of C, C #, Java, PowerShell and Python, exposing new XenAPI commands for working with physical GPU (pGPUs), GPU groups, virtual GPU (vGPUs) and types virtual GPU.

The GPU technologies for XenDesktop and XenServer are of course also come with configuration operations and provisioning of rich GUI via XenCenter, XenDesktop and MCS.

during our latest development cycles, we have invested in rewriting XenServer PowerShell API to provide developers and administrators with a chic alternative to using the command line XenServer (CLI) d 'interface. In particular, this interface is proving popular with those looking to automate measurement and on vGPU GPU pass-through configuration and benchmarking or self-test frameworks. The PowerShell API is also a popular choice for XenDesktop and Windows administrators working with XenServer.

The following is a tutorial of a typical case of use vGPU configuration applets using XenServer PowerShell SDK. It may be helpful to read my blog colleague of XenServer If the object model provided GPU as background.

The sample output is provided for a server with both NVIDIA Grid K1 and K2 card installed.

We begin by connecting to the server:

 PS C: > Blog XenServer server -Server -username username password -Password 

the first thing we want probably to check is that the GPU groups exist (these are created automatically once the graphics hardware is installed):

 PS C: > Get-XenGPUGroup | select name_label, GPU_types, allocation_algorithm name_label GPU_types allocation_algorithm ---------- --------- -------------------- Group NVIDIA Corporation GK104GL [GRID K2] GPU {10de / 11bf} depth_first Group NVIDIA GK107GL Corporation [GRID K1] GPU {10de / 0ff2} breadth_first 

the allocation_algorithm is the investment policy for the allocation of virtual machines to the GPU to achieve either maximum density by placing as many virtual machines as possible on the same GPU (depth_first) or maximum performance by placing virtual machines on as many as possible GPU (breadth_first). For example, the following command sets the allocation_algorithm to achieve maximum performance:

 PS C: > Get-XenGPUGroup | Set-XenGPUGroup -AllocationAlgorithm breadth_first PS C: > Get-XenGPUGroup | select name_label, GPU_types, allocation_algorithm name_label GPU_types allocation_algorithm ---------- --------- -------------------- Group NVIDIA GK104GL Corporation [GRID K2] GPU {10de / 11bf} breadth_first Group NVIDIA GK107GL Corporation [GRID K1] GPU {10de / 0ff2} breadth_first 

now we can list some information about types vGPU. VGPU types are pre-sets that can be used to create different types of vGPUs

 PS C :. > Get-XenVGPUType | ft VENDOR_NAME, model_name, framebuffer_size, max_heads, `>> max_resolution_x, max_resolution_y >> VENDOR_NAME model_name framebuffer_size max_heads max_resolution_x max_resolution_y ----------- ---------- ------ ---------- --------- ---------------- --------------- - NVIDIA Corporation GRID K100 268435456 February 1920 10 NVIDIA Corporation GRID K140Q 1006632960 February 2560 10 NVIDIA Corporation GRID K240Q 1006632960 February 2560 10 NVIDIA Corporation GRID K260Q 2,013,265,920 April 2560 10 NVIDIA Corporation GRID K0 268435456 February 1920 10 passthrough 0 0 0 0 

the vGPU type "passthrough" is supported for all PCI display devices, and can be used to create pass-through vGPUs as supported since XenServer 6.0.

We can see where PCI display devices of a type of vGPU is supported as follows:

 PS C: > Get-XenVGPUType | Where {$ _ eq model_name "GRID K100."} `>> | Get-XenVGPUTypeProperty -XenProperty SupportedOnPGPUs `>> | Get-XenPGPU | Get-XenPCI -Ref PCI {$ _.} | select device_name, pci_id >> device_name pci_id ----------- ------ GK107GL [GRID K1] 0000: 0a: 00.0 GK107GL [GRID K1] 0000: 07: 00.0 GK107GL [GRID K1] 0000: 08 : 00.0 GK107GL [GRID K1] 0000: 09: 00.0 

type vGPU will be shown as supported or enabled in a group of GPU if it is supported or enabled respectively in pGPUs least one of the group. We can query the GPU groups to find out what types vGPU are supported or enabled. For example:

 PS C: > Get-XenGPUGroup | Where {$ _ name_label -match "GRID K2".} `>> | Get-XenGPUGroupProperty -XenProperty EnabledVGPUTypes `>> | Get-XenVGPUType | select model_name >> model_name ---------- K0 passthrough GRID GRID GRID K260Q K240Q 

One may want to prohibit certain types of vGPU a pGPU. For example, the following commands disable and enable the type of vGPU Grid K240Q:

 PS C: > $ vgpuType = Get-XenVgpuType | or {. Model_name $ _ eq "GRID K240Q"} PS C: > $ vgpuType | Get-XenVGPUTypeProperty -XenProperty EnabledOnPGPUs `>> | Get-XenPGPU | >> select uuid uuid ---- a913a0d-0be9-aea3-862f-3fbfe1823a3f 8a0d1316-0f09-1ee9-f95b-c778c759ee40 PS C: > Remove-XenPGPUProperty -uuid a913a0d-0be9-aea3-862f-3fbfe1823a3f `>> - EnabledVGPUTypes $ vgputype.opaque_ref >> PS C: > $ vgpuType | Get-XenVGPUTypeProperty -XenProperty EnabledOnPGPUs | get-xenpgpu | select uuid uuid ---- 8a0d1316-0f09-1ee9-f95b-c778c759ee40 PS C: > Add-XenPGPU -uuid a913a0d-0be9-aea3-862f-3fbfe1823a3f -EnabledVGPUTypes $ vgputype.opaque_ref PS C: > $ vgpuType | Get-XenVGPUTypeProperty -XenProperty EnabledOnPGPUs | get-xenpgpu | select uuid uuid ---- a913a0d-0be9-aea3-862f-3fbfe1823a3f 8a0d1316-0f09-1ee9-f95b-c778c759ee40 

One may want to know how much of a certain type vGPUs can be started on the pGPUs in a group, in addition to vGPUs already running:

 PS C: > $ gpuGroups = Get-XenGPUGroup PS C:  > Get-XenVGPUtype | % {Get-XenGPUGroupProperty $ gpuGroups [0] `>> -XenProperty RemainingCapacity -VgpuType $ _} >> 0 0 8 4 16 February 

Now suppose we want to assign a vGPU Grid type K260Q to a VM that has not vGPU. This can be done as follows:

 PS C: > $ vm = Get-XenVm -Name "w7-test" PS C: > $ vgpuTypes = Get-XenVGPUtype PS C : > Get-XenVMProperty -VM $ vm -XenProperty VGPUs PS C: > PS C: > New XenVGPU -VM $ vm $ -GPUGroup gpuGroups [0] -DEVICE 0 -Type $ vgpuTypes [3] -PassThru uuid : f1122947-3b11-3fd3-0630-779701b37265 VM: XenAPI.XenRef`1 [XenAPI.VM] GPU_group: XenAPI.XenRef`1 [XenAPI.GPU_group] device: 0 currently_attached: False other_config: {} type: XenAPI.XenRef`1 [XenAPI.VGPU_type] resident_on: XenAPI.XenRef`1 [XenAPI.PGPU] opaque_ref: OpaqueRef: 15b2d1a9-8944-2f28-53df-6b8274d4d6fb Changed: True 

At this point, we can start the virtual machine, install -Guest in the NVIDIA drivers, and enable RDP. Then, one may want to disable the VNC console because it has significant performance overhead. For this we need to stop the virtual machine, set the vgpu_vnc_enabled flag to false and then start the virtual machine

 PS C :. > Invoke-XenVM -VM $ vm -XenAction Shutdown -async -PassThru `>> | Expect XenTask -ShowProgress >> PS C: > $ p = Get-XenVMProperty -VM $ vm -XenProperty Platform PS C: > $ p ["vgpu_vnc_enabled"] = "false" PS C: > Set-XenVM $ -VM vm -platform $ p PS C: > Invoke-XenVM -VM $ vm -XenAction Start -async -PassThru `>> | Expect XenTask -ShowProgress >> 

Before concluding, we must remember to disconnect from the server:

 PS C: > Get-XenSession | Log XenServer 

We have an active community of users PowerShell more about XenServer SDK forum, where engineers of community development and answer questions and share their expertise, so if for questions please do head there.

NetScaler performs not only the functionality of Forefront Threat Management Gateway, but adds many additional features to optimize, protect and Web-based applications ladder. One of the main uses of NetScaler is to front-end applications such as Microsoft Lync, SharePoint and Exchange in the enterprise data center of any size. But most customers used TMG to provide secure access to Exchange for e-mail synchronization.

This is a document that describes what is possible with NetScaler including a nice feature matrix. But there is no step by step guide or best practices to configure the NetScaler for load balancing Exchange and have properly configured authentication for all services. So I will share my personal experience. With this guide, you should be able to configure a NetScaler for external access with e-mail authentication and SSO to the CAS.

Prerequisites

• Configure your NetScaler using the best practices guide and secure with the secure deployment guide you place the box in the DMZ.
• Be sure you have at least one NetScaler Enterprise license installed
• Activating Functions at least the following: LB, SSL, CS, REWRITE, AAA and RESPONDER
• Set time zone and NTP server and check the date and time on the NetScaler
• set your DNS settings properly
• Request and install the necessary certificates. At least 2 host, the CS-Vserver and one for the AAA-Vserver or use a wildcard certificate

• Create for each Exchange server a "server object" under load balancing
• Create for each Exchange service Monitor a custom

1. / owa (Outlook Web Access)
2. / ecp (Exchange Control Panel)
3. / ews (EWS)
4. / Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync (ActiveSync Service mobile email clients)
5. / oab (address book offline)
6. / rpc (Outlook Anywhere or RPC over HTTPS)
7. / Autodiscover (Service Automatic discovery)

• Create for each Exchange service a "Group-Object service" and bind the object server and the appropriate monitor for it

• Create for each Exchange service LB -Vserver and link the appropriate service group for her and a certificate. (Can be a self-signed) You can uncheck directly addressable as we will link later to a CS-Vserver. Take appropriate method as lb-less connection and a useful persistence as SSLSESSION.

Installation and AAA-Authentication Policies TM

• Create a AAA-Vserver with an address IP with external access via https and link the appropriate certificate to it.
• Create an authentication and policy profile (with ns_true) for LDAP and link to the AAA-Vserver
• Creating a session profile and politics (with ns_true) with these settings: Link to the AAA-Vserver

Some parameters refer to a post in the forum with Citrix HTTPOnly Cookie "Yes "some native Android email clients have problems to synchronize mail.

• Form Set on the basis of SSO profiles for OWA. In addition, you can differentiate between private and public computers in the name of intellectual property Source, group membership or other triggers. For private computers just change the name value pair of "flags = 4 & trusted = 4". This applies to Exchange 2010. Exchange 2013 I have yet to validate.

• Configure traffic profiles for each profile form based SSO created another for disconnection.

• Set the necessary traffic policies. In my case user member AD group "VIP" or from an internal network use the privately OWA and other public use. also set the policy of disconnection action with the appropriate URL

• Link SSO traffic policies for OWA and LB-Vserver disconnection policy globally
• Configure authorization policies if necessary to lock the ports and IP access or limit upstream and downloading the attachment types. Link them correctly.

Configure authentication on the LB-vservers

• Open OWA and ECP LB-vservers and go to the advanced tab and enable authentication under "authentication settings" and set the authentication and authentication Vserver FQDN.

• now, open all other LB-vservers and go to the Advanced tab and enable 401 authentication based on the "authentication settings" and set the Vserver authentication.

configure Redirect / political owa

• Configuring an answering action and policy of redirecting owa users to the directory / on the CAS server.

• link this policy with OWA LB-Vserver

Create CS vserver

• Create CS-vserver with the correct IP address, bind it to the correct certificate.
• CSW Create policies for each LB-Vserver target. Use ignore case to avoid incorrect customer implementations. Because OWA is normally accessible by browsers, I search for the header User-Agent "Mozilla".

With this information, you should be able to set up a NetScaler for replacement TMG and Exchange 2013. This configuration also applies to Exchange 2010. Unfortunately there is no specific surveillance service, as in the 2013 server

this is the ns.config shears for this configuration :.

ns.conf_tmg

Thank Rafyel Brooks, who has done excellent work, we now have a guide to use authentication and certificate-based SSO with Kerberos Constrained Delegation

How to configure Citrix NetScaler for the authentication certificate based client with KCD SSO for ActiveSync v1.1

Hot off the press:

Hotfix XS61E034 - For XenServer 6.1 .0 is now available at http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX139940

This fix resolves several items related to corruption VHD, VHD coalescence more ...

- jkbs

(UPDATE: There is a deep ANNEX added to the issues of troubleshooting patching These can also be read here ..)

Hello fellow Citrites, customers, technology and community members partners!

I hope each of you found some time during the holiday season to spend time with friends, family, relatives and your loved XenServer. I know I did! I had planned to blog, but I was testing busy XenServer 6.2 SP 1 in all kinds of configurations, upgrades and tests VM: all with big smile on my face. I'm just "bloggin" to share practices, information, and who said:

Whether it start the first of many articles - my virtual office for you (literally and virtually, but never mind that for now). These articles are intended to apply to mental steroids " 'Webs' Internets" to improve metabolism information, build institutional knowledge at an exponential rate and live with the side effects of success!

The primary objective of this article is to highlight the steps for the successful application of patches or service packs. With the release of XS62ESP1 (SP1) for XenServer 6.2, this article will examine the latest version as a reference point, but rest assured that the steps we should take, adopt and implement (with best practices ) will be . be discussed

So, without further ado, Blogs @ Citrix.com this: " From My Virtual Desktop: Applying a patch or service pack " ...

Step 1. It is your environment ...

Yes. Step 1 is to me and you, the reader recalls, whether your environment. While we test and test and test our products at Citrix, I want everyone to take a step back and think about your external environment only "Citrix products." Facing deploy updates to the equipment in the solid state for software patches for your end users, ask yourself:

• ["Howmanyofmyenvironmentisinproduction?"
• "Can I afford the downtime for maintenance?"
• "I read the release notes and additional guides to help with the deployment of patches, service Packs or other software? "
• " Do I have to update anything else, such as camera firmware, BIOS or system patches apply other first? "
• " Have I checked the compatibility lists, known problems, limitations, processed-based questions or providers, community forums for other experiences related to the user? "
• " should I ask for the support or the vendor community? "
• " do I have a test machine or the test environment? "

these are just a few questions that I learned to drive in my head before I plan to apply any software, hardware or solid state in my firmware, at home and customer business environments. especially if I have a test machine or environment to work with

If I'm not sure any aspect I still contact technical Support Now my provider, focusing back on Citrix and XenServer. if you are unsure, please reach out to our Citrix Citrix Support or discussion forums

step 2. XenServer and razor ... [1945002?]

I'm pretty big fan of Occam and his razor. If you do not know who he is or how strong its shaver is made, check the following link or let me summarize:

• "the simplest answer is usually the right."

I know, right? It is AS GOOD . Although, since he is not alive, I will discuss what I do in my personal time or work regarding the application of a patch, service pack or even an upgrade.

Step 3. "Backup Stuff"

Yup. Disks, USB sticks and external hard drives are a dime a dozen. In the time spent on a call for support to recover data, well, you might have already saved the mission critical data. Note: this is not a verbal jab. Remember restore points in Windows ME? Yeah, I neglected to use them as well until ...

The point is that sometimes things can just go wrong. This is why the infrastructure to the data security, backup, redundancy and comprehensive procedures for disaster recovery are among the CISSP exam and ... well, a large subset of standard operating procedures for business. So before addressing the deployment of Citrix updates (or any product update) to ensure that all assets are labeled, categorized and saved accordingly.

I urge a stop at http://support.citrix.com as more often than not, the documentation is directly there regarding this type of information Release notes, guides installation and so on. An example is this gem: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX121282 (among many other base articles, best practices and product-centric notes) for backup, recovery and tools to assist in these tasks. I know, I know ... but even "back in the day" we reported this.? Http://docs.vmd.citrix.com/XenServer/4.0.1/installation/apbs04.html Cool, huh

We have a wealth of articles of CTX / knowledge Base, but if they do not answer your questions please call Citrix Citrix Support or join our discussion forums. Understanding this data , the scope of data to backup, format (or even data that can be right beside lined) rolloing before the software is a "Top 3 of best practices" or "best Way to Avoidable a problem."

If you can and want to lean towards the absolute side full caution:

• export fully all virtual machines to a separate source, redundant data
• Export metadata and - if you have a pool - the pool export the database to a redundant data source
• OR ... just clone your entire system on testing equipment and apply the updates here

I made the bet before with different types of software solutions / equipment long ago and emerged victorious, but I should not have risked it. A fly is sucked into a machine, a pack of rogue squirrels chew their way through the grid of the city. Or worse! $ 6.00 cup of coffee someone turns all my hard work, not saved in a financial nightmare!

Step 4. Always read the release notes, what is covered and ask questions when questions arise

This is not a polite suggestion or a recommendation just for our wonderful Citrix customers, partners and community. Oh, no - far from it! This should be a behavior muscle-memory for anyone using a product / solution with a provider for any specific purpose in their environment that they (or their employers) costs.

Besides ... If you read! the previous section - "Step 3. Back Stuff" - you are now ahead of most people who do the same software deployment

This is a non-calculation example of what I mean:

• I buy a case of Soda Pop for office
• I see the content of nutrition, but barely readable, the case is in tatters
• I can see that the boxes do not look right: warped, dented and pierced
• They have a strange layer of dust on top of the box
• I see a part of a date expiration, but not all
• is for sale, but there is no clear instructions on "as he was on set, it's okay to buy" or "If the boxes are deformed, dented and we do not use leaky "

Questions or" Hey "Should I wash them and drink?" - it is soda. Does not she phosphoric seeds of destruction of the acid? "Should never lead to the consumption of such Soda Pop without contact with the seller." Bob can not do his job for a while? "Why?" He had a soda and said it has temporarily lost vision. Should be okay in a week, though. "

Oh. No ...

Reading release notes if you are not described as the" Target "or other by-requisites do not give you the warm and fuzzy feelings, then please call or raise a question Support in Citrix discussion forums in addition, if material, firmware or other updates necessary for your system. - in especially for upgrades - contact your supplier (s) of equipment to ensure your solid state systems are up to date such examples are related to, but not limited to:

• . the hardware is supported via the XenSource.org hardware compatibility list (especially for major upgrades or installs revision)
• BIOS revision is underway
• BIOS parameters food / virtualization are correct
• card or other firmware in the solid state is a revision / version supported
• Read for all deprecated functions or in the notes release, such as (for XenServer 6.2.0 http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX137826)

Step 5. disk space and other controls

All mentioned above taken into account, before I just go off and settle "things", I check my surroundings before I move forward. What follows will refer to XenServer 6.2 Service Pack 1, but the concepts can be applied to patches and upgrades (as well).

My environment is not broke, so do I "fix"?

• This is an important issue, especially for Citrix support and support requirements
• If we have the security-related releases, yes - apply
• If your product is about to be end of life, yes - apply it to keep the support of current
• If all else fails or there is no answer, again, call the support or achieve the Citrix discussion forums

Is my environment compatible with this pack of patches or service

• I know, the dreaded HCL - mentioned twice
• I still double check my materials against it to exclude all elements that can make me "less support" or incompatible with the software that I want to deploy
• If I am still in doubt - again, not just for Citrix - I contact support or reach out to suppliers forums

How many target systems must -I apply this hotfix / service pack

If I download the ZIP file, can I l open to see the "XS62ESP1.update" file or do I get an error?

• TCP / IP has come a long way, but I always check my downloads for integrity - especially if it is ZIP format
• If you can not open ZIP file, then you probably need to re-download the software or contact support

have I eject all mounted ISO images from virtual machines?

• All iso attached to virtual machines images must be ejected before applying the patch
• Do not do it, run the following command from the master (if not CD image is mounted, it will say ... expect lots of output):

 xe vm-cd-ejection --multiple 

how much disk space do I have available for these target systems (because the pack / patch service will need space to install)?

• So I downloaded my first patches and look at the size of files XSxxxxx.update that they will still be decompressed when applying to a host
• If XSxxxxx.update is 300MiB, I make sure I have 2 -3.5 times that amount of space available on each host my target (just in case)
• If you need more disk space the installation will be fail

You can check the available disk space by using the following command on your XenServer host via XenCenter or an SSH client, such as "putty" (sample output provided, too):

 df -h Filesystem Size used Avail use% Mounted on / dev / sda1 4.0g 2.4G 1.4G 64% / none 4.0k 1.1G 1.1G 1% / dev / shm / opt /xensource/packages/iso/XenCenter.iso 52M 52M 0100% / var / xen / xc-install 

In the example, I should have enough space. Otherwise, I could remove the old patch files in / var / patch files and oldest log / var / log as follows:

 cd / var / log echo * gz cd / var / patch echo * 

I'm wondering ... who do I talk to?

• This is what Citrix support and Citrix discussion forums are to
• do not hesitate to call us: especially if you have the support

Step 6. How to apply a patch to a standalone host ...

much of this information can be repetitive, but it is written as such for a purpose. Through repetition comes knowledge. Applied knowledge is experience. If I can pass my knowledge to help in your experience with XenServer as good health, so I do what I love (aka, My Job)!

As with any update (patch or service pack) that is published for an existing or new version of XenServer, download and upgrade all clients XenCenter first

I repeat that

as with any update (patch or service pack) that is released to an existing or new version of XenServer, download and upgrade all customers XenCenter first !

XenCenter can be used to facilitate the application of a patch or service pack, but you must have a licensed copy for this. From my own experience and desire to control, I prefer to install patches from the command line. The choice is yours, but at least run through the checks described here to disk space.

I begin by downloading a fix pack or service update XenCenter (if necessary, as applied XenServer 6.2 SP1 successfully). Unzip the zip file, I can be assured that the file is in contact XSxxxxxx.update. I then check my disk space on my root (nda) partition:

 cd / df -h  <- "file system disk, human readable" mounted  Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% on / dev / sda1 4.0g 2.4G 1.4G 63% /  <--- I 1.4G available, so I'm good but close !!  no 4.0k 1.1G 1.1G 1% / dev / shm / opt / XenSource / packages / iso / XenCenter.iso 

I clean all files "old" patch / var / patch and all the "old" log / var / log on my host:

 cd / var / log echo * gz cd / var / patch echo * 

I can secure copy the XS62ESP1.update file (using scp or a Linux host WinSCP from a Windows host) in the original root directory of my standalone XenServer

 XS62ESP1.update scp root @ myxenserverhost : / root / 

now I can begin to apply the patch / service pack. I can not jump in and install it as I do XAPI aware patch / service pack:

 xe patch-download filename = XS62ESP1.update 0850b186-4d47-11e3-a720-001b2151a503 

it will spit out a UUID - 0850b186-4d47-11e3-a720-001b2151a503 -copy and paste what you need (with the UUID of your standalone server):

 xe host-list  <- I run this  uuid (RO): 17aee7b6-9f36-4c97-8616-05799a5b303e  <- My host UUID  name tag (RW): myxenserverhost name description (RW): default installation of XenServer 

now that XAPI is aware / Service I fix pack can then install using the "xe patch-apply" command with the UUID of patch / Service pack that was displayed before and my host stand-alone UUID:

 xe patch-apply uuid = 0850b186-4d47-11e3 a720-001b2151a503 host-uuid = 17aee7b6-9f36-4c97 -8616-05799a5b303e 

This is quite a large patch, wait and you will eventually see:

 Preparation ...

"Are we there yet?" For weeks, I 'felt like a child on a long drive that request when we get there. In my case, however, the "destination" is the release of a new design validated Cisco (CVD) for Citrix XenDesktop 7. During the summer I worked with Cisco engineers, Microsoft and EMC to design a solution and perform scalability testing, design of different configurations and see how they might evolve. After we extensively documented architecture, configurations and test results so you'll be able to reproduce the solution more easily and more quickly deploy

Cisco has published the results of our efforts to end . - A CVD describing an affordable and scalable VDI reference architecture based on Citrix XenDesktop 7. You can download the 400-page full CVD here, but you might want to start with this blog, which will give you the highlights.

what is important about this is that CVD is the first of several developed using the new architecture XenDesktop 7 products. Earlier XenDesktop and XenApp releases used different methods and deployment of servers to provide shared hosted desktops and applications (RDS) or hosted virtual desktops (VDI). XenDesktop 7 follows a unified architecture that allows you to provide RDS desktops and applications using the same interfaces and VDI policies, which helps simplify the deployment of infrastructure. The new design of XenDesktop HDX also includes important enhancements that improve the user experience, especially for mobile devices such as laptops, tablets and smartphones.

A reference architecture that scales

The CVD describes a cost-effective virtual desktop infrastructure solution that evolves profitably from 500 to 1000 seats. The infrastructure is fully virtualized on Microsoft Server 2012 with Hyper-V and hosted on blade servers Cisco UCS B0 M3 and VNXe3300 EMC storage array. Citrix Provisioning Server 7 manages desktop images for mixed workload shared Hosted (RDS) and hosted virtual desktops (VDI), which is common for many customer scenarios.

The CVD outlines dense, scalable configurations that are ideal for small to medium sized deployments. The base configuration supports up to 500 users using a single chassis and four blades, with the components of computing and networking occupying only 8 rack units. Adding a second frame (with seven blades through the two frame) helps support the extension up to 1000 users, at the same time to add frame redundancy. VNXe3300 EMC storage system provides efficient consolidated storage that addresses the validated workloads.

Test Methodology

To validate the solution, we captured global metrics for the entire virtual desktop lifecycle: start-office and user connection for virtual desktops (ramp-up), the user simulation workload (steady state), and the log-offs user. To generate a load in the environment, we used the software Login VSI Login Consultants (www.loginvsi.com) to generate desktop connections, simulate application workloads, and monitor application responsiveness . We used the average workload default Login VSI 3.7, representing office productivity tasks for a knowledge worker "normal".

For each test, we started performance monitoring scripts to monitor the consumption of resources for the infrastructure components (UCS hosts with Hyper-V, the delivery XenDesktop controllers, PVS servers, servers StoreFront the SCVMM server, SQL servers, AD server, client launchers and EMC / O controllers). To start the test, we took all the workstations on the maintenance mode, virtual machines began, and waited for them to save. Login VSI launchers initiated desktop sessions and started user connections, constituting the ramp-up phase. Once all users have been recorded in part at steady state of the trial began in which runs a Login VSI application workload that includes Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer with Flash, printing and PDF viewing.

Login VSI loops through specific operations and measures response times at regular intervals. Response times Connection VSIMax determine the maximum number of users that the test environment can support before performance is constantly deteriorating. Because the reference response time may vary depending on the virtualization technology, using a threshold calculated dynamically provides greater accuracy for comparisons between providers. For this reason, the software Login VSI also reports VSImax Dynamic

We have conducted tests consisting of a single server and multiple server scalability tests with a process in three steps targeted on the following objectives: .

1. determining the single-server scalability limitations. This calculated phase connection VSIMax for each workload (RDS or VDI) on a single blade. Under each workload, the user density was scaled until VSIMax connection was achieved, which was generally when CPU usage reaches 100%.
2. Validation single server scalability in a maximum recommended load. This phase has validated a density level given for a single blade. The recommended maximum density level is one in which the CPU usage reaches a maximum of 0-95%.
3. The determination of a workload mix and validation of the scalability of multiple servers. First, we defined a ratio of RDS and VDI workloads on the basis of previous results single server scalability. In subsequent tests, we examined how the solution was acting under the charge of joint work, first on a single slide and multiple slides for users densities of 500 to 1000 users. By configuring a mixed workload on each slide, we have reduced the total number of slides required in the solution while providing a fault tolerant configuration (from a single blade workload supported for both). This allowed the most profitable global configuration, especially for sites with fewer users.

Main results

In the first phase of testing, we found Log VSImax for shared desktop sessions hosted (RDS) and held positions virtual desktops (VDI) on a single slide

Phase 1 :. Single Server scalability, simple Workload

We began by testing hosted shared desktop sessions on Windows Server 2012 with XenDesktop 7. testing different combinations of servers and vCPUs assigned to these servers, we have found that the best performance was when there was adequate CPU resources available (ie the number of vCPUs assigned to virtual machines does not exceed the number of hyper-threaded cores on the server). Intel Xeon E5-2697v2 ( "Ivy Bridge") processors, 24 cores with Hyper-Threading enabled 48 vCPUs. To achieve the highest density, we configured eight Windows 2012 virtual machines with six vCPUs each.

Using this configuration, we launched 320 sessions to get a VSImax score of 299 (Figure 1) for the unique scalability test hosted shared desktops on a single Cisco UCS B0 M3-blade. CPU utilization was the triggering factor

Figure 1 :. Hosted Shared Desktops, simple Results Server

We next examined the scalability of a single server for virtual desktops hosted with Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit). As shown in Figure 2, we launched 219 sessions to achieve VSImax score of 205 on a single Cisco UCS B0 M3-blade. Again, the CPU usage was the triggering factor

Figure 2 :. Hosted Virtual Desktops, Single Results Server

In both RDS and single server tests VDI, CPU resources are the limiting factor - this should be the case with any scalability test setup properly configured. The scalability of a single server, we saw was impressive, especially compared with the processors of the previous generation. Previously, the same workload was compared using two Sandy Bridge E5-260 processors, resulting in 30% (RDS) and 24% (VDI) to lower user density B0-M3 blade. In tests with "Ivy Bridge" processors for CVD, we could expand the number of users much higher before the CPU usage has become a problem. The table below compares the densities (represented by Log VSIMax) for the like single-server test runs using Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge CPUs.

Phase 2: single server scalability, Mixed Workload

After testing single server scalability, the next step was to identify the best combination of the workload. By mixing workloads on a per-blade basis, we could reduce the total number of slides required while maintaining a diverse set of workloads - one extra blade is needed to achieve redundancy. Segmentation case workload and the use of a dedicated set of servers is easier with larger solutions, but it is difficult to accommodate architectures including only some servers.

Based on the single server test, we determined that the optimal ratio was 70% hosted shared offices and 30% hosted virtual desktops. To support a total of 250 users per blade, we configured 175 user groups that access 6 hosted shared desktop VMs with 75 users on the hosted virtual desktop VM. In testing a single server with this configuration, VSImax was not reached, as shown in Figure 3 below. Under this load, CPU utilization reached approximately 0-95% in the guideline recommended maximum density

Figure 3 :. The burden of joint working, single server Results for recommended load

Phase 3: multiple scalability Server, the mixed workload

Joint workload, single-server above results, we can extrapolate larger configurations and validate scalability by performing several series of additional server tests. Given the configuration of our unique blade to 250 users, we configured two blades for 500 users and workload 4 blades for the 1000 user workload. By adding a blade for fault tolerance, test current solutions then become 3 blades for 500 users and 5 blades for 1000 users (excluding two additional infrastructure blades).

The graphs below show the test results for configurations 500 and 1000 -user user. In both cases, VSIMax scores are not met, meaning that the performance never deteriorated beyond an acceptable level for the given number of users

Figure 4 :. mixed workloads, multiple server results, 500 users

Figure 5: mixed workload, multiple server results 1000 users

Taking advantage of tiered storage

the VNXe3300 EMC storage system provides cost-effective centralized storage pools that can be allocated according to performance requirements. For our tests of scalability 500- and 1000 by the user, user home directories and profiles are stored as CIFS shares on 15k rpm SAS drives EMC storage system. Solid State Drives (SSD) were used for PVS write cache because they offer high performance I / O tiered storage configuration enables the solution to offload intensive I / O for non-persistent data while maintaining adequate performance during startup, steady state and log-off periods Login VSI test even for 1000 users, as shown in Figure 6 below. Note that Figure 6 shows IOPS measured when testing 1000 users, but only represents the I / O used by CIFS shares on the two storage processors (SPA and SPB) providing user home directories and profiles .

Figure 6: EMC VNXe3300 1000-user performance Login VSI

Beyond the numbers

The full CVD contains a variety of performance metrics (CPU, memory, network and I / O) for the 500- and 1000 tests by the user in a mixed scalability RDS / VDI workload. The results indicate near linear scalability on the reference architecture - in other words, each additional blade server provides the capacity to accommodate 250 others. Because the reference architecture scales so well, customers can easily deploy RDS tactical small / VDI solutions and add more blades (a building block approach) to increase the scale

The CVD is remarkable for a number of reasons .:

• CVD is the first to be released for Citrix XenDesktop 7, so customers who follow this architecture can enjoy a unique set of tools to configure RDS and VDI workloads.
• The CVD is designed to meet the needs of small and medium enterprises, with excellent scalability to accommodate growth. Defined configurations include additional blades for fault tolerance.
• It supports mixed workload per blade, which creates a very cost effective solution. In addition, the local tiered storage - storage array EMC VNXe3300 - optimizes storage costs to a solution of 1,000 users
• Due to the high performance blade design Cisco UCS B0 M3 servers, demonstrated CVD. recording densities for Citrix XenDesktop 7 with mixed workloads RDS and VDI.

While it took many months and hours for CVD bring this to life, the results were definitely worth the wait. Again, for more information on the solution, performance measurements, and test results, see the full report here CVD

-. Frank Anderson, Principal Solutions Architect with Citrix Alliances worldwide

I thought it would be fun to choose some fresh, new products announced this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Although these products are real, some of my comments are a bit tongue and cheek. Check them out!
1. BeoSound-Playing music anywhere in your home! http://www.bang-olufsen.com/en/sound/sound-systems/beosound-5
Nails nail 2. Elektra overhang that you can use on your Smartphone screen / tablet. Probably more for the ladies. http://getmomentum.biz/shop-momentum-labs/

3. FINSix Laptop-adopter For those who want small. http://www.finsix.com

4. LG 105 "TV 4k This curve will only cost you $ 70,000! http://www.lg.com/us/uhd-4k-tvs
5. SleepNumber x12-bed where we spend most of our lives! http://www.sleepnumber.com/eng/sleepNumber/know-better-sleep.cfm
6. ClearView Clio the "First Invisible Speaker "- because they are not really ugly to look http://www.clearviewaudio.com/pages/clio

7. Samsung Galaxy Note 12.2 for those? who like their larger tablets! 12.2 inches. http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxypro/

8. Oculus Rift Crystal Cove prototype-Gamers who want to be in their own world , a virtual world, as if they are not already / http://www.oculusvr.com

9. eyeLock Iris Scanner-Just plug this baby into your USB and have the same security you have seen all the TV shows! http://www.eyelock.com
10. Pebble Steel-Next-gen smart watch mobile. Because your phone does't do more than tell the time! https://getpebble.com/steel