Virtualization

Citrix Virtualization White Paper - Virtualization Everywhere

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:16:29 GMT

The following Citrix virtualization white paper discusses how Citrix XenServer provides simple, economical server virtualization designed for easy implementation in any IT environment. From the simplicity of "10 Minutes to Xen" installation to a full range of complementary, best-of-breed solutions from independent solution providers, Citrix XenServer offers innovative, cost-effective solutions for application availability, business continuity, rapid provisioning, and end-to-end visibility and management across virtual and physical environments.

Adoption of virtualization is concentrated among large enterprises, while adoption by mid-sized companies has been much slower. For these companies, enterprise-focused virtualization solutions often present barriers including:

fragmentation between new, virtualization-ready operating systems and legacy platforms running mission-critical applications
application performance constrained by storage and network I/O on virtualized servers
server and storage constraints imposed by virtualization platform providers
security and resiliency concerns raised when multiple critical applications run on the same hardware
implementation hurdles created by complex interdependencies and demanding installation protocols
vendor lock-in issues, raising pricing and support risks many companies prefer to avoid
application delivery constraints imposed at virtual/physical boundaries

Download the white paper here: Virtualization Everywhere

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Citrix are to acquire Xensource

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 19:11:57 GMT

Well it has been a rumour for days / weeks and today it's confirmed. Citrix are to acquire Xensource.

It was only really a matter of time. In the past VMware has started to play in to Citrix ’s Customer field of trying to deliver Virtual Desktops and there is quite a buzz out there about it. Quite a few senior ex Citrix executives now work at VMware and with the coming of Microsoft Windows 2008 with it’s added features Citrix needs to think about strengthen it’s position and friends in the market place.

If you look at the figures yesterday VMware is almost 4 times the market capitalisation of Citrix and that say something. It says that VMware are doing a great job of marketing and momentum, as did Citrix a few years ago. Everywhere I go at the moment I hear VMware this and VMware that.

Buying Xensource, does Citrix gain a stronger partnership with Microsoft, well will have to wait and see what happens there. I don’t think it will do much for Citrix ’s VMware relationship.

Let’s hope that Xensource goes from strength to strength and gets the investment that it should and there should be interesting times ahead.

Click for more on the acquisition

VMware Predicts Death To Operating Systems

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:42:15 GMT

Mendel Rosenblum envisions a world run by virtualization appliances where software makers wouldn't need a bulky or complex OS.

In the view of Mendel Rosenblum, chief scientist and co-founder of virtualization vendor VMware, today's modern operating system is destined for the dustbin, a scenario unlikely to please Microsoft or any of the Linux vendors.

Rosenblum's keynote on Thursday wrapped up the LinuxWorld conference in San Francisco, preaching the virtues of virtualization, which he believes will eventually make today's complex, some would say bloated, operating systems obsolete. "It's just going to go away," Rosenblum said.

Not surprisingly, Rosenblum favors a world in which a virtualization layer is tied directly to the microprocessor and other related hardware of a computer. Running on top of this layer would be virtual machines, or mini-operating systems, that would be designed to run specific applications. Merging the OS and software would create a module that would be more reliable and secure, easier to manage and offer higher performance.

To learn more please read the entire article at its source: VMware Predicts Death To Operating Systems

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Brianmadden anaylsis Should Citrix buy a hypervisor

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 13:40:07 GMT

So with all the information about Hypervisors and the recent information released by Credit Susie and others, Brian and Gabe have provided analysis of this information and written an interesting article that pulls thoughts together to ask the question Should Citrix buy a hypervisor. I have republished part of the the information below.

But you can link direct to the document.

Now that Citrix is focusing on end-to-end application delivery, people have been speculating / asking whether Citrix needs to get into the hypervisor market. (And when people ask “Should Citrix get into the hypervisor market,” that’s really code for “Should Citrix buy a hypervisor?”) In fact when we were at Citrix iForum in Edinburgh, Scotland this past June, we had multiple conversations with people (both Citrix employees and others) about whether Citrix should own a hypervisor.

(A hypervisor, for those who don’t know, is a software virtualization engine. It puts the “VM” in “VMware.” It’s what allows multiple virtual hardware machines to simultaneously run on a single physical system. It’s what Microsoft is building into Windows Server 2008 to allow multiple server VMs to run at once.)

There’s a rumor that Citrix is going to buy virtualization vendor XenSource for a very large amount of money—perhaps as high as $500M. In this article, we’ll look at why Citrix would want to do this, what it would mean for them, and what it might mean for their existing relationships with Microsoft and VMware.

Cheers
Charles
http://charlesaunger.eknowlogy.com

VMware release Version 1.0.3 maintenance build of VMware Server

Charles Aunger / www.eviglio.com — Wed, 02 May 2007 15:30:41 GMT

Build 44356 is a release build of VMware Server 1.0.3

Issues Resolved in VMware Server 1.0.3

This release fixes a problem with VMware Tools that caused the guest to run out of memory.
VMware Server 1.0.3 fixes a bug introduced in the VMware Server version 1.0.2 VIX API. As a result of this bug, if Vix_ReleaseHandle (vmhandle) and VixHost_Disconnect (hosthandle) are called, a crash occurs in VixHost_Disconnect(). This crash is accompanied by the following error message:
VMware Server Error: VMware Server unrecoverable error: (app) ASSERT /build/mts/release/bora-39867/pompeii2005/bora/lib/vmdb/vmdbCtx.c:487 bugNr=23952 A log file is available in "/tmp/vmware-mark/vix-3749.log". Please request support and include the contents of the log file. To collect files to submit to VMware support, run vm-support. We will respond on the basis of your support entitlement.

Security Issues Resolved in VMware Server 1.0.3

Virtual machines can be put in various states of suspension, as specified by the ACPI power management standard. When returning from a sleep state (S2) to the run state (S0), the virtual machine process (VMX) collects information about the last recorded running state for the virtual machine. Under some circumstances, VMX read state information from an incorrect memory location. This issue could be used to complete a successful Denial-of-Service attack where the virtual machine would need to be rebooted.
Thanks to Tavis Ormandy of Google for identifying this issue.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) assigned the name CVE- 2007-1337 to this issue.

Some VMware products support storing configuration information in VMware system files. Under some circumstances, a malicious user could instruct the virtual machine process (VMX) to store malformed data, causing an error. This error could enable a successful Denial-of-Service attack on guest operating systems.
Thanks to Sungard Ixsecurity for identifying this issue.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) assigned the name CVE-2007-1877 to this issue.

Some VMware products managed memory in a way that failed to gracefully handle some general protection faults (GPFs) in Windows guest operating systems. A malicious user could use this vulnerability to crash Windows virtual machines. While this vulnerability could allow an attacker to crash a virtual machine, we do not believe it was possible to escalate privileges or escape virtual containment.
Thanks to Ruben Santamarta of Reversemode for identifying this issue.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) assigned the name CVE-2007-1069 to this issue.

In a 64-bit Windows guest on a 64-bit host, debugging local programs could create system instability. Using a debugger to step into a syscall instruction may corrupt the virtual machine's register context. This corruption produces unpredictable results including corrupted stack pointers, kernel bugchecks, or vmware-vmx process failures.
Thanks to Ken Johnson for identifying this issue.
The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) assigned the name CVE-2007-1876 to this issue.

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Charles Aunger
charles aunger eknowlogy / eviglio / frameworkx / charles.aunger homepage

Virtual Iron and Provision Networks Introduce New Bundled VDI Solution to Streamline the Management and Support of Desktop Computing Infrastructure

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:17:39 GMT

Virtual Iron Software and Provision Networks today introduced a new bundled, server-hosted, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution that targets the challenges of managing, securing and maintaining today’s Windows-based, enterprise desktop infrastructure. The joint solution, which is available immediately, simplifies desktop management, shortens refresh cycles, and reduces hardware and software costs. It delivers all the benefits of server virtualization to desktop infrastructure and provides the first economically attractive alternative for desktop virtualization.

Desktop computing makes up an increasingly large part of the enterprise computing infrastructure today. As distributed end points, desktops are among the most difficult to secure, manage and maintain. Refresh cycles, compliance, ongoing maintenance and user support are huge undertakings. These challenges put IT resources under tremendous pressure and significantly increase total cost of ownership. The Virtual Iron/Provision Networks Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution hosts individual Windows desktop PCs inside virtual machines running on servers in the data center. This thin-client architecture is significantly easier to secure, maintain and support and it enables an organization’s complete Windows desktop environment to be securely accessed and serviced centrally.

“Heartland Financial has adopted several virtualization technologies with tremendous success and we expect server-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to provide similar ROI as part of our long term virtualization strategy,” said Marti Vandemore, CIO at Heartland Financial. “We have engaged RapidApp, a leading service provider in the virtualization space, to deliver their QuickStart service offering and a server-based, hosted VDI environment utilizing Virtual Iron and Provision Networks' technologies.”

The joint solution enables a fully isolated, customizable and secure environment where users are able to work with standard desktop operating systems and applications. Virtual desktops can be user-customized and provisioned on demand instantly, providing performance and user experience that are comparable to a desktop personal computer. This allows enterprises to replace physical desktops with virtual desktops for many usage scenarios such as call centers, offshore development, and secure, remote access. The benefits of VDI are numerous and include:

reduced hardware and software costs
reduced IT support costs
streamlined upgrade path for faster adoption of new software; i.e. Microsoft Vista
increased IT staff productivity and reduced employee downtime
reduced power and cooling requirements
increased data and IP security

VDI also provides capabilities not available in standard PCs, such as the infrastructure for high availability and disaster recovery that can further reduce downtime and improve end user productivity.

click to read full article at source

Charles Aunger
charles aunger eknowlogy / eviglio / frameworkx / charles.aunger homepage

Ben Armstrong Program manager for the Microsoft Windows virtualization team finishes writing Professional Microsoft Virtual Server 2005

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:32:00 GMT

The books aims to provide an in-depth resource on Virtual Server, so the book covers the basics of Virtual Server as well as the configuration; management and programming aspects of using Virtual Server. All in all this book is just shy of 600 pages long

To give you an idea of where this book goes - here is a summary of the chapters and their contents:

Why Virtualize?
This chapter provides information on the various reasons why you might want to look at server virtualization, as well as making recommendations about configurations that might not be suitable for server virtualization.
Getting Started with Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
Here the details of how to install Virtual Server and get everything up and running are provided, as well as using the advanced installation options.
Virtual Server Basic Concepts
The basic concepts of virtual machines, virtual hard disks, virtual networking and emulated hardware are covered in this chapter.
Installing Guest Operating Systems
This chapter provides detailed instructions for installing Windows Server 2003 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 inside of virtual machines, including installing Virtual Machine Additions.
Creating a Virtual Machine Library
Having a good virtual machine library strategy is critical to efficiently using Virtual Server. Here I outline different strategies and discuss how to create template virtual machines for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Linux.
Understanding Virtual Machine Performance
I love this chapter, it provides details of processor, memory, networking and storage performance; as well as how to optimize each for best performance.
Monitoring and Managing Virtual Machines
This chapter outlines the basic tools and methods for management of virtual machines.
Keeping Virtual Machines Up to Date
This chapter discusses different strategies for keeping virtual machines up to date with the latest patches. It also details how to configure a Windows Server Update Server and a YUM server inside of virtual machines.
Keeping Virtual Machines Secure
Here I talk about all of the necessary steps to take to ensure that virtual machines are secure, and remain secure.
Securing Virtual Server
Next I move on to talking about what is required to secure the physical installation of Virtual Server itself.
Backing Up Virtual Machines
This chapter discusses a number of different approaches that can be used in order to back up virtual machines, as well as highlighting the pros and cons of each approach.
Physical to Virtual Migration of Servers
This chapter is all about how to use Microsoft's Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT).
Manual Physical to Virtual Migrations
This is another of my favorite chapters, as it provides all the information necessary for you to perform a manual physical to virtual migration - including information on driver and configuration changes that need to be made.
Clustering Virtual Machines
This chapter discusses how to cluster virtual machines using emulated SCSI or iSCSI, and the reasons why you would want to use either configuration.
Clustering Virtual Server
Here I provide detailed information about clustering Virtual Server using the HAVM.VBS script and Windows Server clustering.
Using the Virtual Server COM Interface
This is the first chapter on developing against the Virtual Server COM interface, and it discusses the basics needed to connect to the COM interface under various development environments.
Scripting Virtual Server
Another favorite chapter of mine, Scripting Virtual Server provides sample VBScripts that demonstrate how to use pretty much every method and property of the Virtual Server COM interface. As well as providing some interesting general use sample scripts.
Using PowerShell to Control Virtual Server
Next I drill into scripting Virtual Server with PowerShell. On top of covering the basics, I demonstrate how to use PowerShell pipelining and function capabilities effectively with Virtual Server.
Developing Managed Applications for Virtual Server
This chapter steps you through the process of creating a simple managed application that allows you to control the state of virtual machines, view statistical information about virtual machines, and interact with them through an embedded VMRC control. Code samples are provided in both VB.NET and C#.
Developing ASP.NET Applications with Virtual Server
Here I show you how to build your own 'self service' website, where users can create and destroy virtual machines using preconfigured virtual machine templates, all without needing to have administrative access to the actual Virtual Server installation (or any virtual machine knowledge at all).
Application Debugging with Virtual Server
Finally I discuss how to use Virtual Server to help with the development and debugging of other applications.

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Charles Aunger
charles aunger eknowlogy / eviglio / frameworkx / charles.aunger homepage

After gobbling up small firms, Citrix hopes to capitalize on their products

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:16:00 GMT

Citrix Systems is entering a new era as it absorbs a string of companies it has acquired in the past three years and tries to adapt to its increasingly demanding customers.

Fort Lauderdale-based Citrix , which launched software product upgrades this week, is in the business of connecting companies and their employees to software applications. Those customers demand to be linked quickly from home offices, laptops and mobile devices. And they want assurances that everything they use is secure.

Increasingly, corporate clients want to log in from growing foreign markets such as China and India.

"People are becoming more impatient about technologies," said David Jones, Citrix vice president for business development. "We have to make it easier for people to work on their terms, not on our terms."

With almost 3,800 employees, Citrix is the largest technology company headquartered in South Florida. Revenues last year reached $1.13 billion, up 25 percent from 2005. It was the first time the company passed the billion-dollar mark.

Analysts expect that revenue growth rates, while still strong, will fall below 20 percent starting this year.

For the past three years Citrix has been on a steady buying spree, picking up at least nine small and medium-sized companies with specific technologies that Citrix coveted. Its $225 million purchase of Expertcity Inc., a Santa Barbara, Calif., company specializing in Web-based access services, "has been a home run by anyone's standards," said analyst Steven Ashley, who follows Citrix for investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co.

So far, Ashley said, Citrix has taken advantage of the acquired companies' capabilities.

This week Citrix upgraded NetScaler, a software package that speeds up the delivery of Web applications. The product was obtained when Citrix bought NetScaler Inc. of San Jose, Calif., for $300 million in 2005.

Citrix also released its Citrix Desktop Server 1.0, which allows remote workers to plug into their company's Microsoft Windows system. The product, part of a market segment known as desktop virtualization, comes from the Citrix acquisition of Massachusetts-based Ardence Inc. in December.

Many of Citrix 's upgraded products are aimed at Web 2.0, a term used to describe the gradual change of the Web from a series of sites to a computing platform characterized by sharing among users.

"What we're doing is making Web applications faster, more secure and more available," said Morgan Gerhart, a senior product manager with the company's access networking group.

But Citrix faces plenty of challenges. It already sells to 98 percent of the Fortune Global 500, so it must get those businesses to pay for upgrades. The companies are likely to run lots of tests of the new products before committing to them, Ashley said.

Citrix also faces competition from the likes of VMware Inc., which focuses on the virtualization market.

Citrix said last month that it would restate past financial results because it misdated stock options. An internal audit committee, which is investigating how options were granted, has said it has found no intentional wrongdoing by any current executive, but did not give details of its review.

Despite the obstacles, the company is confident that it is well positioned to take advantage of corporate demand for faster, more mobile products.

"Users keep changing where and how they work," said Jones, the corporate vice president. "We have never, ever had a bigger opportunity."

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Charles Aunger
charles aunger eknowlogy / eviglio / frameworkx / charles.aunger homepage

Ericom Announces Microsoft® Windows Vista Support in latest PowerTerm® WebConnect 5.51

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:53:00 GMT

Ericom Announces Microsoft® Windows Vista Support in latest PowerTerm® WebConnect 5.51

Ericom Announces Microsoft® Windows Vista Support in Latest PowerTerm® WebConnect Release

A alternative to Citrix ^® Presentation Server, PowerTerm WebConnect provides secure access to applications residing on Windows Terminal Servers, Virtual Desktops and legacy host systems. PowerTerm WebConnect empowers organizations with the ability to address everyday IT challenges, such as reducing the cost of managing applications and desktops, business continuity, IT optimization, and privacy of information.

PowerTerm WebConnect 5.5.1 Features and Enhancements include:

Microsoft^® Windows Vista Support
In addition to current Windows and Linux desktop support, PowerTerm WebConnect provides secure access to Windows Terminal Server and legacy host applications from Vista desktops.

triCerat – Universal Printing
PowerTerm WebConnect provides the option to seamlessly integrate with triCerat ScrewDrivers^® for universal printing capabilities.

Enhanced Microsoft Active Directory and Novell eDirectory Support
PowerTerm WebConnect automatically identifies directory users and groups – saving significant time in the initial PowerTerm WebConnect setup.

Thin Client Management
In addition to current thin client support for XPe and Linux thin clients, administrators can now include and manage CE based thin clients with the PowerTerm WebConnect Admin Tool.

SSL VPN Integration
PowerTerm WebConnect integrates with leading SSL VPN providers for secure end-to-end enterprise application access, providing organizations with a secure Server Based Computing environment that is easy to administer for mobile workers and business partners.

Server Scalability & Stability - RTO TScale^®
For enhanced Terminal Server scalability and stability, PowerTerm WebConnect provides the option to incorporate RTO's TScale memory & CPU optimization – enabling applications to run more efficiently, use less memory and generate less page file activity. This allows servers to support more users with fewer servers.

PowerTerm WebConnect Server Clustering
PowerTerm WebConnect now provides the ability to manage multiple PowerTerm WebConnect servers from a single management tool.

Two-factor authentication security - RSA SecurID^®
For an additional layer of security, PowerTerm WebConnect integrates with RSA SecurID for two-factor authentication.

This latest release of PowerTerm WebConnect also introduces new licensing options with the availability of subscription and concurrent user licensing.

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Charles Aunger
charles aunger eknowlogy / eviglio / frameworkx / charles.aunger homepage

ClearCube Unveils Industry's Most Powerful and Customizable Desktop Virtualization Solution with Sentral v5.5

Charles Aunger / www.eknowlogy.com — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:23:00 GMT

ClearCube today announced ClearCube Sentral™ version 5.5, part of the industry's only solution that manages virtualized PC desktops and dynamically delivers the required level of PC resources to end users. Building on the industry's first connection broker technology, Sentral v5.5 manages mixed physical PC blades with VMware-enabled virtual machines to seamlessly incorporate virtualization technology into centralized desktop computing without sacrificing end-user performance. This flexible management software enables organizations to maximize the value of their investment in virtualization by providing corporate users with the exact computing power needed to effectively conduct their jobs.

"When considering the adoption of client-side virtualization, organizations need to consider the extent to which the chosen technology will impact the end user experience. ClearCube has designed a PC blade solution that is focused on delivering the performance of dedicated, physical PC blades, while leveraging the benefits in efficiency provided by virtualization software." says Michael Rose, associate research analyst, Enterprise Virtualization Software, IDC.

Features and Benefits
ClearCube Sentral is the industry's first software platform to offer connection broker technology for efficiently managing centralized physical and virtual computing resources from a single console. Sentral v5.5 adds a number of new features designed to enhance the end-user computing experience and reduce IT management costs, including:

Virtualization Support–In addition to support for VMware ESX3 Server and VMware Server, Sentral v5.5's virtual abstraction layer can scale for future virtualization deployments with other technologies such as those provided by Microsoft and XenSource.
Microsoft Vista Support–Sentral v5.5 offers support for Microsoft Vista, enabling organizations to manage virtual and physical machines using the new operating system.
Expanded Internationalization Support–Sentral v5.5 features support for more languages, including Spanish, Japanese, German and French.
Scalability–Sentral v5.5 is a true enterprise software product, offering support for active directory environments encompassing multiple tens of thousands of users and for very large mixed physical and virtual installations (thousands of machines and virtual machines).
User-friendly Features–Sentral v5.5 incorporates a number of new tools to make the management console easier to use, including setup and configuration wizards, a more intuitive set of workflows for common management tasks and integration of previously separate test utilities into a comprehensive console diagnostic function.

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Charles Aunger
charles aunger eknowlogy / eviglio / frameworkx / charles.aunger homepage