Raw and sometimes unedited notes based on my experiences with VMware, Thin Clients, Linux etc.
Well I must admit it sounds great, but by using PCI-over-IP does have it's disadvantages, like Video and Audio which are both mandatory these days on business client devices. The current model that both Citrix and VMware (they do agree on something? ;-) use is to have Video be streamed natively to the client device and then use locally installed codec's to reassemble and display the video stream. If you have no CPU or Memory then this will have to be done back at the server - then streamed in uncompressed ......
Very interesting news, especially when you consider this is coming out just a week prior to the VMworld event in SanFrancisco? Surely this news might have been worthy of being released then? So why the rush? Does this actually indicate that VMware is concerned about competion? I wonder how VMware's stock price is going? It was also interesting to note that as much as Citrix have been very lacklustre about announcing any particular roadmap of how they are going to integrate Ardence in to their offerings, ......
Yes you can, but would you want to? This has come up again with an excellent post from Rene Vester at BrianMadden A short guide to virtualizing Presentation and Terminal servers on VMware ESX 3 The main point about this is that it has always been a criteria of selecting suitable Guest systems to be hosted on ESX that they are relatively lightly loaded - otherwise what is the point of Virtualizing a Server - if you can't make some gains by way of consolidation then you are simply adding another layer ......
Well there's no point in having a lovely new Vista if you end up with old looking icons on your desktop is there? Aaron has recently posted a how to on getting this working a treat more at source... Citrix have released (and even re-released) whole slew of updates in the past few weeks that finally get’s a feature of Presentation Server working that’s close to my heart - high colour icons. Yes, high colour icons - the single most important feature that Citrix could add to Presentation Server! Forget ......
This just in from Alessandro, but of particular note and possibly concern for me is the following: Inclusion of Wyse multimedia redirection engine ESX Server 3.5 VMware Tools will include a DLL provided by Wyse to simplify delivery of multimedia contents when VMware Infrastructure 3.5 is used as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) in conjunction with Wyse thin clients. The last feature is particularly important: VMware is preparing to release its own connection broker after silent Propero acquisition, ......
HP Showcases its Future Mobile Gadgets and Innovations in India Today, Hewlett-Packard organized an event in Mumbai, India to showcase their long term future plans for mobile communications. The “HP Mobile Innovations Tour” showcased devices created by the HP design team for the 2012 timeframe. Yes, that is a long time from now, you may think, but after seeing these futuristic gadgets, you will most certainly be enthralled as were we. Present at the event was Phil Devlin, Manager, Product Marketing, ......
I just happened to check some of the news coming through from TechCrunch on Bloglines and noticed that the iPhone now appears to be well and truly hacked to any Carrier, as seen in this screenshot connected to T-Mobile Now That The iPhone Can Be Unlocked, Will Apple Try To Block The Hack? iPhoneSimFree.com And thanks to Ian for pointing out more details on video, and it's interesting to note that George wants to become a Neurosurgeon so that he "can hack the brain"... ;-) AP Aug. 24: George Hotz, ......
Hot off the press from Alessandro, I thought there were so many new features being added that this really deserved more than 3.1, so we'll see how it's received? VMware Infrastructure 3.1 renamed 3.5, hits beta 2 By Alessandro Perilli Initially planning to release it as ESX Server 3.1 and VirtualCenter 2.1, VMware changed its mind and relabeled it as ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, aka Virtual Infrastructure 3.5. The change is well justified by impressive amount of features it sports, which ......
Courtesy of the VMBlogs... If you think there is something that Eric has missed then drop him a line? Great new site from Eric Sloof (soon to be appearing on the right-hand blogroll as soon as I get a moment), vm4all.com. The tagline is "The VMware Tools Repository," and it lists both freeware and commercial utilities you can use with VMware Infrastructure. It has an RSS feed so you can keep up with changes and additions. There are 38 entries so far, with the latest being freeware from Massimiliano ......
This looks so simple at first glance, simply because it's so slick, very well put together, definately worth giving a try? Map Your Runs! Online Pedometer! Plot your running routes over mountains (view elevation), through the woods (topo maps), and speeding through the city (street level views) with just a few mouse clicks. Once your running map is complete you can quickly view it in 3D, satellite maps, or share it with friends. Training / Workout Log Track your running history and progress using ......
I personally don't think that Citrix can/will meet this self imposed deadline, but good on them if they can? Citrix will detail Xen project destiny within 45/60 days By Alessandro Perilli InformationWeek published a brief but interesting interview with Citrix Corporate Vice President of WorldWide Marketing, Wes Wassom, and XenSource CEO, Peter Levine, obviously about recent acquisition. A couple of answers are exposing crucial details to figure out Xen future developments: How many of the hypervisor ......
If you are interested in keeping abreast of all things in the Virtualization space you should make sure you check out Alessandro's blog on a regular basis. Sample chapters of VI3 Advanced Technical Design Guide are available By Alessandro Perilli In the last two years the most popular virtualization book has been for sure VMware ESX Server: Advanced Technical Design Guide, written by two exceptional authors: Ron Oglesby, CTO at RapidApp (now acquired by Glasshouse), and Scott Herold, former Director ......
Try this for size? and they are also extending the fuctionality of this to include off-line use as well based on the Google Gears project - more info on this development on their blog at http://blogs.zoho.com/ Heads up came from TechCrunch Office Suite Zoho Writer Online word processor with collaboration features. No download, No install, just sign up to create documents. 100% free Try Now Zoho Projects Project management software to create, manage & collaborate online. Free for 1 project. For ......
One thing is for sure, if Microsoft were to buy/offer XenSource $1b and trump Citrix - then I think we would be able to safely say "the bubble has burst" on Tech Stocks again.... Having said that, this <cough> reporter from TheDeal then goes on to compare Microsofts Virtualization efforts to Google's acquisition of Green Border for the browser virtualization technologies - so on that little insight I'm not going to be worrying too much if I was Citrix. But in fairness, there is a very good ......
So I was reading these two articles in todays IT Section and it started me thinking about the fact that I hadn't really looked through Opsware's web site to see what it did, and then it started to dawn on me that not only is Opsware looking really good, it also looks like a shift for HP in that this does a lot of the tasks that are currently done by Altiris Deployment Manager (OEM'd by HP as the Rapid Deployment Pack (RDP)). It can build from bare metal, offers Config Management, Patching, Compliance, ......
More comment on the Citrix acquisition of XenSource.... Citrix buys XenSource: what next?And what will Microsoft and VMware do now? By Manek Dubash, Techworld Last time we wrote about virtualisation -- only just over a month ago -- we said: "the virtualisation market is in a bit of turmoil at the moment, shaken up by the prospect of billions of dollars of revenue." How prophetic those words have proven to be, albeit not in the manner we expected. Market gorilla VMware now has a rival. But what does ......
I've seen quite a few write ups regarding this beast and seen the videos, so it would be nice to get a chance to check it out while it's here. Sun blade box plenty of power fast '); document.write(''); // End Hide -->John Sterlicchi | August 21, 2007 ONE container arriving at Sydney's docks just before Christmas won't contain toys or other festive season delights. Rather, it will be full of servers, storage and cables to create what is probably the ultimate modular, portable data centre. Sun's Blackbox ......
Personally I think it's shameful how long this to and froing has been going on with the three commercial stations about retransmitting over Satellite, EPG rights(??), etc. And 7 trying to get going with the Tivo after so long is a disgrace as well. Someone should take all the people responsible and lock them up and feed them pizza under the door until they can come up with an agreement /rant off ;-) TiVo will fail, says pay TV exec '); document.write(''); // End Hide --> Lara Sinclair | August 20, ......
Courtesy of Dugie at Dugie’s Pensieve Virtual Server R2 ‘Cookbooks’ released Virtualization August 20th, 2007 Microsoft have released “5 Cookbooks” for Virtual Server R2. Cookbooks are a step-by-step guide (with screen shots) on how to “make and bake” a solution. Thanks to Matt McSpirit for the early heads up! Each of the cookbooks are about ~100 pages in length and you can download them directly below: Hosted Backup.pdf - data backup and recovery to customers as a hosted solution with Virtual Server ......
OK it is a RISC Processor, not x86, but it does show us what might be possible? and more comment from the IT Section of The Australian Newspaper Start-up sees 1000 core chip - from the IT Section of The Australian Newspaper Tilera debuts its sixty-four core processor, melts faces By Joshua Topolsky on tilera Filed under: Misc. Gadgets Chipmaker Tilera, clearly bored with the peasant-like core counts of two or four as offered by such pedestrian competition like Intel and AMD, has decided to turn the ......
So if you are looking at trying to trim costs and stuff more gear in the Datacentre than is physically possible then this might also be a useful way of "getting more out of less"? ;-) HP adds thermal mapping to energy-saving services Knowledge of air-flows in datacentres can lead to greater efficiency, vendor says HP has added thermal mapping capabilities to its datacentre assessment services that show customers how they can potentially save between 10% and 45% on energy costs by using cooling systems ......
This Q&A from Alessandro is quite interesting from my point of view, but more importantly for this quote from Wes Wasson: XenSource does not get any revenue from the underlying hypervisor, nor will Citrix. Our revenue will come from adding a compelling set of application delivery value propositions on top of the hypervisor, whether it is Xen or Viridian. The more successful Viridian is, the more opportunity Citrix will have to sell value-added application delivery offerings on top of this platform, ......
So is it a crazy month for Virtualization or what? News in from Alessandro regarding KVM being possibly ported to Windows? and VMware quietly slipping in the news that it is serious about adding Security to the Virtualization Layer? KVM being ported to Windows and FreeBSD After XenSource acquisition by Citrix, another breaking news is going to shake virtualization industry: young virtualization platform KVM, already included in Linux kernel, is being ported on Windows. At the moment there are no ......
On the back of my last post - Roundup of news regarding Citrix XenSource deal plus quotes from Mark Templeton there are a number of people who feel that with Citrix's latest acquisition of XenSource that it is now being touted as a perfect opportunity for Microsoft to purchase Citrix. Well we've also heard in the past that even Cisco might be interested? but stop and think for a moment how good a deal would it be for HP to but Citrix? That would certainly make sense if they wanted to get to IBM's ......
So there has been all sorts of news coming out regarding Citrix's purchase of XenSource, including the following articles below But what has been really interesting to read this morning is that apparently Novell were wooing XenSource about 9 months ago according to Allessandro's post Novell wanted to acquire XenSource 9 months ago, but so far the two best that do put it all in perspective are: The Truth Behind The Citrix XenSource Deal? from Michel at Thincomputing.net With XenSource, Citrix Sees ......
So after you have survived another update Tuesday you are thinking that all's well with the on-line world? Perhaps it's worth checking all those other media snap-in's and add ons to make sure you have minimized the security implications? And don't think that you're safe just because you're running Firefox, etc? As an example this was what the scan came back with for my Laptop: Applications / Result Version Detected Status Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 Adobe Reader 7.x 7.0.9.50 ......
Leeeeeettttsss get ready to Rumble...... It seems the gloves are off and we could be looking at a cage match here if this early shot from VMware is anything to go by? From Alessandro - VMware heavily attacks Citrix/XenSource through its partner channel Apparently VMware is in hurry to clarify its channel how much better its technology is compared to new Citrix/Xensource platform. And do this without kind words. virtualization.info has received a letter addressed to VMware partners just one day after ......
I was just ordering copies of the Server 2008 Beta 3 and was very nearly tripped up by the way Microsoft have changed the default naming of the O/S, now they specify the 32-bit as the "stated" O/S and I am assuming that the other one is the 64-bit? Part Number Product Name Qty. Price Item Total P73-03759 Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 Standard 32-bit * Please enter 0-9 for quantity. 0.00 0.00 P72-02810 Windows Server® 2008 Beta 3 Enterprise 32-bit * Please enter 0-9 for quantity. 0.00 0.00 P73-03760 ......
Mmmm, looks a bit like we're going to be bombarded with Market during the next 194 days (and counting) ?? Countdown to Launch 194 Add this Gadget to your Vista desktop ......
Thanks to Dugie, this is starting to lift the veil a little on what it might look like? ;-) BTW he also has a nice link to a slide deck from WinHEC regarding this Some perspective on the ‘thickness’ of Windows Virtualization Virtualization August 17th, 2007 I wanted to blog some more on recent chats I had at TechEd, particularly with some confusion with Windows Server Virtualization (aka Viridian). There was a common misconception that Microsoft Virtualization was “very fat“. So in an attempt to ......
This is something I'm currently working on and as it's been ongoing for a little while I figured I'd post the problem just in case anyone else might have any ideas?? So I currently have a Customer who has these issues: They have a mix of WinCE 4.2 and 5.0 As they are a Library they want very tight security on the devices They need to give users access to save content to either a USB Stick or a USB Floppy The change in the access mechanism between CE 4.2 and 5.0 has left them with a security issue ......
Looks like Thinstall is strating to gain some support down in this neck of the woods? Apps on tap help consolidation Barbara Gengler | August 14, 2007 APPLICATION virtualisation products from Microsoft, Citrix, Scalent Systems and Thinstall are winning acceptance as the next step for enterprises that want to consolidate their infrastructure. As an alternative software concept, application virtualisation uses policy-based automation to intelligently match available server supply with application demand. ......
So I just need to add this to the list of things to look at when I get time? ;-) Cool! The iQurious / visionapp Experience is now free At BriForum in Chicago this past April, Rick Dehlinger told me about a project he was working on called the "iQurious Experience." Based on visionapp's Platform Management Suite, the "Experience" is a product that automatically builds a complete working Presentation Server 4.5 environment in about 20 minutes. The general idea is that you download the tool, point it ......
It is interesting to note the differences between Parallels and Fusion... Where VMWare Fusion Shines Over Parallels Desktop There’s no question that Parallels Desktop is the current tool to beat when it come to running Windows applications under Mac OS X. There are a number of great features that Parallels offers like being able to create a VM image from a real PC and import VMWare images. These are a few things that VMWare Fusion doesn’t yet offer, but does it matter? So one has to wonder, why choose ......
Well, you have to hand it to the boys at El Reg, they certainly sound confident it's on for tomorrow? Citrix to reveal XenSource buy tomorrow Gets hypervised By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View → More by this author Published Tuesday 14th August 2007 20:45 GMT Citrix will announce its acquisition of XenSource tomorrow, The Register has learned. In a bid to expand its software management play, Citrix will grab the developer of the open source Xen hypervisor. The deal will give XenSource heftier corporate ......
Well from a Thin Client vendors perspective it's the last line that's a killer - "We're now starting to think about virtualising our 82,000 desktops." Green payoff in server upgrade TRANSPLANTING 178 administration servers into six robust machines slashed the WA Department of Education's management costs, and it is providing sub-second failovers in case of breakdown. Glenn Veen says the new system is outstanding Server virtualisation in conjunction with high-speed broadband to 850 sites now allows ......
So as it's been sponsored by Citrix you can have a fair idea as to what it's going to say? ;-)) Hopefully I'll get some time to review this later tonight and add some comments here A Guide to Application Delivery for IT Infrastructure Operations Managers: Moving IT from App Deployment to App Delivery - Web Apps and WANs August 13, 2007 Download this guide, compliments of Citrix. Abstract: (Source: Citrix) In this commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Citrix, Forrester ......
So…. Question? Would I use TS/Citrix or would I use VDI if I was building or designing the Front-Office of a Greenfield site today? This is a quite a hot topic, because as much as VDI/xDI/DDI is the latest craze that’s sweeping the IT sector, is it really all it’s cracked up to be? What has changed? My thoughts are that until relatively recently Corporate IT was rock solid and unchangeable, absolutely rooted in Change Management, driving Mainframes and COBOL – but now we are living in a much faster ......
Well there is a bit more too it than this but essentially Citrix has discovered an issue with: Sessions might disconnect unexpectedly during shadowing or when connecting to a server using non-Windows clients The key here is the non-Windows Clients, as most vendors are selling the WinXPe and WinCE powered devices CTX113267 - Hotfix PSE400R03W2K014 - For Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 for Windows 2000 Server NeoLinux client sessions might terminate unexpectedly CTX113271 - Hotfix PSE400R03W2K3050 - ......
Well I have watched loads of "Grand Designs" in the UK and the first thing that went through my mind was - "how hard must have that been to build?", followed by "how hard must have that been to design?" and finally - I'd have loved to have seen the builders face as he started to understand what he was being asked to build? Microsoft Fanboys Do Stupid Things Too... By sumeethevans@bink.nu on Windows (general) ......
So thanks to Doug at DABCC there is this article - this also contains a downloadable PDF of Credit Suisse's research on Citrix Is Citrix Making A Broader Virtualization Play? Posted on Friday, August 10, 2007 2:47:00 AM - E-mail Printer Friendly Version Written by: Philip Winslow and Dennis Simson Implications. In our opinion, one of the Xen developers—either XenSource or Virtual Iron—could represent an attractive target for Citrix, as we believe that hypervisor and associated management solutions ......
It looks like I should have sold my Xbox 360 last month?...... bummer ;-) Xbox 360 Premium confirmed shipping with HDMI Posted Aug 8th 2007 5:33PM by Joshua Topolsky Filed under: Gaming It looks like after all the rumor-mongering and speculation, the bomb is in fact dropping on Xbox 360 Premium hopefuls: the game systems are shipping with HDMI. At least one lucky customer who purchased a Premium system at a Target in Atlanta is currently enjoying the spoils of Microsoft's not-so-secret addition, ......
I came across this useful piece of info today and thought it was worth sharing... Number of Microsoft Certified Professionals Worldwide Updated: July 19, 2007 The Microsoft Certified Professionals (MCP) program was established in 1992. To date, more than 2 million people have achieved Microsoft Certification worldwide. Based on customer feedback, we have updated this list to include both the credential and the number of professionals on each release or certification. Because the MCP program is constantly ......
From Engadget: This certainly looks very slick for GPS Navigation, I'm sure TomTom won't be far behind? Mio's C620 / C620t navigation units to offer '3D maps' Posted Aug 9th 2007 11:24AM by Darren Murph Filed under: GPS As if Mio didn't have enough new kit coming down the pipeline, now we've learned that the outfit is reportedly readying another duo of portable navigation devices. The C620 and C620t seem to only differ in the traffic functionality built into the latter, as each will sport a 4.3-inch ......
From TheRegister: Best sort this out straight away if you are using any variant of Norton AV? Symantec security products less than secure Two words: Live Update By Dan Goodin in San Francisco → More by this author Published Thursday 9th August 2007 23:27 GMT In a world where digital gremlins seem to lurk in almost every shadow, many of us feel safer using an internet security package. But for those using many Norton security products who haven't updated recently, that feeling is a false sense of ......
From Allesandro comes this news - this is a huge list of updates, shouldn't this be 3.5 or so? ;-) VMware ESX Server 3.1.0 / VirtualCenter 2.1.0 features list - Updated with full details Tuesday, August 07, 2007 | 0 Comments With maximum secrecy VMware is preparing next minor version of its flagship platform: VMware Infrastructure 3.1. Despite numbering this release will bring on the table remarkable features to further increase the gap between virtualization leader and its competitors. virtualization.info ......
Courtesy of Dugie: Windows 2008 VHD available Virtualization August 9th, 2007 Here at TechED at the moment, but I’m taking a moment to blog that the Windows 2008 VHD is now on Microsoft Downloads It’s a 5 part download totalling 2.8Gb — Gotta run to a session, but I’ll post back in a couple of days ......
See if you can cast your mind back to when Compaq brought out the sexy new iPaq around 2000? It looked a bit like this and boy was it in demand, compared to the HP Jornada and the Casio models it really raised some eyebrows - I'd even go so far as to say it was the iPod of the time. More on these models. But since Compaq was taken over by HP it's almost like we have been plodding along with the slightly boring but functional HP style of PDA's that have inherited the iPaq name - so this news below ......
Now this is a very interesting thought, especially when placed in context with the history of the fact that Symbian is effectively the son of Psion, and forgive me now for sounding incredibly optimistic, but given the legacy of what the Psion team and code could achieve then from a performance perspective in small tight code it's quite possible it could blow the doors of the Benchmarks? Let's take this crazy thought one step further and suggest that they launch a Notebook? Better yet, just take the ......
So far in speaking with Clients this certainly reinforces what I'm hearing - no one seems in any hurry to go and install Vista - so far I know of only one Compant here in Australia that has plans to install this in the next 6 months. Business doubts grow about Vista migration Gregg Keizer Users are happy with what they have or considering Linux and Macs Fewer businesses are now planning to move to Windows Vista than seven months ago, according to a survey by patch management vendor PatchLink, while ......
Only a couple of weeks ago I was reminiscing with a colleague about the old Psion clamshell PDA's that were able to run on a couple of AA batteries for almost a week at a time, had almost instant boot and resume times, had a great sized screen (well before colour was available), and all sorts of other neat plus's. In fact I know of some people who actually now use eBay to keep a plentiful stock of spare parts - just in case... It's very interesting to read the background of that particular time and ......
So this is hardly a surprise in some ways is it? And yet it's surprising what the human body can accomplish? Brainless civil servant amazes doctors Frenchman's skull a 'huge fluid-filled chamber' By Lester Haines → More by this author Published Monday 23rd July 2007 09:21 GMT A French man whose skull was mostly occupied by a "huge fluid-filled chamber" was able to operate perfectly well as a civil servant - despite having "little more than a thin sheet of actual brain tissue", Reuters reports. The ......
I noted this yesterday and I must confess that initially I had a brief look at Desktone's web site and after looking everywhere for some technical detail it would appear that the most you are going to get at this stage is the very nice graphic and not much else? I must confess that I'm quite curious about the "dynamic best fit protocol" and what that might entail? At the moment everyone is trying to jump on the xDI bandwagon and try to carve out a slice for themselves and yet they all still appear ......
So some while back (Jan, 2006) I created a post regarding Oil becomes the newest weapon in Moscow's arsenal ?? and now we find that not only has Putin gone and tried to claim the North Pole for Russia Russians Plant Flag on the Arctic Seabed but he's also setting out to rewrite history in a more Nationalistic flavour with this being reported recently by the Washington Post - New Manuals Push A Putin's-Eye View In Russian Schools And how about this one? Sex for the motherland: Russian youths encouraged ......
I noticed a short note from Gabe on Brian Madden but I was even more interested in the Anon. comment: http://www.brianmadden.com/... Reader Comments The product was practically rewritten from scratch posted by Guest on 8/2/2007 5:55:40 AM Following the acquisition, rumor has it VMware was shocked by the unusability of the product and its shortcomings. They had to rewrite most of it. The original broker was Linux-based. The new one is designed as a Windows ......