BrianMadden.com

Introduction to Storage and How it is Applied in the Virtual World, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Joe Shonk (Please visit the site to view this media) In Joe Shonk’s many virtual desktop and application journeys over the last few years, a reoccurring theme has continued to persist: storage. Specifically, the lack of understanding of how storage works and what kind of impact it has in a virtual environment. In this session, attendees will learn: storage terminology and basics; the difference between block-level...

Oracle VDI gets the Geek Week treatment...finally!

brian@brianmadden.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:12:00 GMT

It's been a while since we had a "Sun Ray = the Best Way" war on BrianMadden.com, but our most tenured readers will remember the small but vocal group of supporters that Sun Ray terminals and Sun/Oracle VDI have. The truth is, when it was a Sun solution, it only rarely made it to the top of our minds. There was little exposure on our part, and little marketing on Sun's part. Now that Oracle is running the show, we've seen changes on both fronts, and we finally reached out to Oracle to get a...

Oracle VDI Testing: The user experience

brian@brianmadden.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Oracle came to our offices in mid-January for a day-long demo of Oracle VDI and Sun Ray terminals. This video is of the user experience on the LAN. We tried to emulate the WAN similar to how we did it in Geek Week in 2010, but the Apposite Linktropy 4500 didn't agree with our setup. Perhaps it was overkill, or perhaps there's an issue with the way the WAN emulation (and pass through when not emulating) works with the ALP protocol, but we didn't trust what we were seeing, so we stuck with the...

Oracle VDI Testing: Lab tour and whiteboard explanation

brian@brianmadden.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Oracle came to our offices in mid-January for a day-long demo of Oracle VDI and Sun Ray terminals. This video is the whiteboard explanation of the components and technology involved in our lab and in a typical Oracle VDI solution. (Please visit the site to view this media)

EdgeSight Under The Hood, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: John Smith (Please visit the site to view this media) There’s a ton of data in EdgeSight—so much so that in the absence of a crystal ball, Citrix will never be able to write a canned report for every possible metric someone may need. This session will show you how to leverage the EdgeSight data model from beneath the GUI, including how to open up SQL Query analyzer and write the query yourself. John will also show...

VDI Smackdown; Head-to-head analysis of Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix VDI in a Box (Kaviza), Microsoft RemoteFX, Quest vWorkspace and VMware View - UPDATE February 2012

brian@brianmadden.com — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Are you looking for an independent overview of the Server Hosted Desktop Virtualization (VDI) solutions and curious about the different features- and functions each Desktop Virtualization vendor is offering!? Then this is the whitepaper you must definitely read. In the current market there is an increasing demand for unbiased information about Desktop Virtualization solutions. This white paper is focused on solutions that are anticipated to have an important role in Application and...

Brian & Gabe LIVE #17: The gang discussed OnLive licensing, RemoteFX on Windows 8, and why Brian hates Microsoft.

brian@brianmadden.com — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:07:00 GMT

For this week's Brian & Gabe (& Jack) LIVE, we decided to push the show back a few hours to give the West Coast folks a fighting chance to catch it live. (That's code for saying that Brian & Jack felt that they would be more interesting if the show wasn't first thing in the morning for them.) Click image above to watch the show! Discussed in today's show: Shawn's thin client article and why no one will want to use thin clients for ten years, even though they do last...

Does it Make Sense and Save Time Migrating to VDI by P2Ving Your Existing Systems?, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Jim Moyle (Please visit the site to view this media) At BriForum 2011 London, Jim Moyle tossed around with some attendees the idea of converting existing PCs to virtual PCs as a method of migrating to VDI. There's been much discussion about this idea in the intervening weeks, and we thought we'd bring the idea to BriForum 2011 Chicago to explain it and have a discussion about it. Click to browse all of...

Why thin clients and zero clients haven't lived up to the "last PC you'll ever buy" hype. (Part 1 of 2)

brian@brianmadden.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

I've been collecting thoughts on this blog article for a few weeks now. It seems this was quite timely given Brian & Gabe's recent interview with Tom Flynn from HP where they talked about thin clients, zero clients, etc. Here are my thoughts on the topic. If you've been around the SBC / VDI industry for any length of time, you should know all about thin clients. Thin clients were the devices that were going to usher in the end of the PC industry as we know it. The benefits of a thin client...

Completely Configuring Your Desktops via Windows 2008 R2 GPOs: How to Live Without "Registry Hacks" in Your Images!, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Ron Oglesby (Please visit the site to view this media) In this session, Ron will present best practices for GPO implementation for desktops and show you how to completely configure your desktops via group policy in Windows 2008 domains. The configurations will include: basic desktop look and feel; start menus and icons; configuring printers and applications; custom application GPO templates; adding "non standard" registry...

OnLive loose ends: Are they using VMware? Dedicated hardware? Custom licensing? Plus, are they on Microsoft's acquisition radar?

brian@brianmadden.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Last week, I posted an article that breaks down my thoughts on OnLive Desktop, the desktop virtualization solution offered by cloud gaming provider OnLive. In the article and in the comments, we tried to figure out exactly how OnLive can deploy Windows 7 Enterprise desktops to users, and how that licensing is handled by Microsoft. Without rehashing the entire discussion, OnLive was mum on how they've managed to license both Windows and Office in a way that enables them to deliver them to users...

Citrix XenClient Hypervisor: Myths and Facts about Real World Readiness, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Thorsten Rood (Please visit the site to view this media) Type 1 hypervisors feel like the ultimate weapon and the long-awaited remaining piece in the puzzle of flexible application delivery concepts. However, Citrix is there, providing an enterprise-targeted mature release of such a technology. In this session, we’ll take a look at what’s in their product and drill down on which things you need to take care...

Look out Citrix HDX & VMware PCoIP: RDP and RemoteFX in Windows 8 is awesome!

brian@brianmadden.com — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

At their Build conference this past September, Microsoft spend a fair amount of time discussing and demoing their plans for RDP and RemoteFX in Windows 8. I finally took the time to watch the videos from the conference, and I gotta say: RemoteFX and RDP in Windows 8 look AWESOME! In fact my first reaction after watching these videos is "RemoteFX on Windows 8 is so cool! Citrix HDX and VMware PCoIP don't have a chance!!" But of course that's a topic that we've been discussing for almost ten...

App-V: Advanced Techniques Post Sequencing, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Hal Lange (Please visit the site to view this media) After your application has been sequenced and works fine, there are still some little things that are nice to have: a default INI file, an individual license for users, or the same application with a slight configuration change for a different group. And wouldn’t it be nice to bring a new config on the fly without resequencing? Sure, you could use a new sequence...

Browsium releases Ion to help migrate to Windows 7, Microsoft no longer pissed off

brian@brianmadden.com — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:01:00 GMT

Browsium has been around for almost two years now with their UniBrows product that runs an Internet Explorer 6 engine inside IE 8 and 9. In that time, they've found a number of ways to get on Microsoft's bad side. With Browsium's latest release--Ion--it appears they're friendly again. If you're not familiar with Browsium, Brian recorded a podcast with CEO Matt Heller back in November of 2011, so you should check that out. Tim Mangan also wrote a blog post about them, and Shawn Bass mentioned...

An Intro to PowerShell and Why You Need It, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Brandon Shell (Please visit the site to view this media) In this sesson, Brandon will start by explaining why Powershell is important in the SBC world and then will dive directly into practical use of the technology. Brandon will cover the basics and provide all the information you would need to start using Powershell to make your life easier. As part of this session he will use SBC related scenarios that will provide...

Brian & Gabe LIVE with guest Tom Flynn, talking about thin clients. Episode 16

brian@brianmadden.com — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:19:00 GMT

Today's Brian & Gabe (& Jack) LIVE was about client devices. Windows 8 tablets, thin client tablets, ARM versus x86, iOS versus Windows, zero versus thin. We were joined by HP's Tom Flynn. Tom is the CTO of their thin client group. He didn't join us to talk about HP, rather, he joined us as a guy who spends a lot of time thinking about these questions. The replay & download link are now available at the top of this article. Topics discussed included" How HP's...

A deeper look at Ericom's "AccessNow" HTML5 client. Why wait for Citrix & VMware? This thing is out now & works with View and vWorkspace.

brian@brianmadden.com — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:55:00 GMT

Gabe wrote about how HTML5 clients work almost a year ago , and he mentioned Ericom's HTML5 client in his review of his Chromebook . Put simply, Ericom AccessNow is an HTML5 client for using remote desktops through web browsers. The client is "installed" on a web server (which can be Windows or Linux), and then end users just visit a web page and BOOM--they're accessing a remote desktop or application via the web. It doesn't require anything on the client--no plug-in, no download, no...

Advanced Netscaler Customizations, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Sam Jacobs (Please visit the site to view this media) This session will focus on complex Netscaler/AGEE integrations and customizations that the IPM TechDev team has deployed over the years. Attendees will learn from the successes and challenges of actual implementations of advanced customizations. Sam will detail how to make the Netscaler consistent with your corporate image and brand and how to integrate with mobile...

BriForum 2012 London Call for Papers is now open!

brian@brianmadden.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:38:00 GMT

Last year we had our first ever BriForum in London, and it was such a great experience that we're bringing it back for 2012 (23-24 May). Part of the BriForum experience is seeing sessions from your peers that cover real-world, technical issues going on today. At BriForum, there isn't any rah-rah marketing and showing off technology that's six months away. BriForum is about linking the community with the information and answers that they need right now. The reason BriForum is so amazing is that...

Cloud desktop provider Nivio combines RDS sessions with locally synced storage

brian@brianmadden.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Last week during MacWorld Nivio launched their cloud desktop, storage, and app service. Naturally, we wanted to ask all the usual questions that come up with any cloud desktop provider—hosting, protocol, clients, Windows licensing. It turns out that it’s quite a bit different than many cloud desktop offerings—think terminal server, AppV, and file-syncing all rolled into one product Read More......(read more)

A Single Handheld Device for Everything: The Nirvana Phone…Heaven or Hell?, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Jim Moyle & Steve Greenberg (Please visit the site to view this media) With the convergence of devices and the availability of Citrix Receiver and other remote protocol clients, it is now possible to access all of your applications and desktops from a Smartphone. But, how does this work? How good is the experience? Is it worth doing? Who would use this? This session provides a deep dive into the technology...

A Quick Look at Windows Thin PC, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Gabe Knuth (Please visit the site to view this media) Microsoft designed Windows Thin PC (WinTPC) to be a lightweight operating system that can be used to repurpose older hardware as thin clients while still providing access to the latest Microsoft Remote Desktop Services solutions like RemoteFX. The problem is that, while the OS is actually pretty powerful, you're limited by the EULA as to what you can do with...

RES Software announces on-premise Dropbox-like "follow me data" solution called RES HyperDrive

brian@brianmadden.com — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:01:00 GMT

RES Software just announced an upcoming new product called RES " HyperDrive " which is an on-premise virtual appliance-based "follow me data" solution that's similar to DropBox, Box, Citrix ShareFile, or VMware Octopus. Like many companies, RES believes that the first step to consumerization and BYO is to make the users' data available to them wherever they are. And, like many companies, RES believes Read More......(read more)

5 Forgotten Features for Citrix Environments, a video from BriForum 2011

brian@brianmadden.com — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

(this was originally posted in August, 2011) Presented by: Denis Gundarev (Please visit the site to view this media) Microsoft Windows Server is a feature-rich operating system, but some of the features are undeservedly forgotten by most of the customers. The goal of this session is to share some tricks that can help to build a scalable and easy to manage Citrix environment. Topics covered include: using Windows Server Resource Management for CPU fair-sharing, NTFS hard and soft...