Using EdgeSight in Provisioned XenDesktop Environments

When using EdgeSight in provisioned XenDesktop environments you have a few options when using the EdgeSight for Virtual Desktops Agent.  Monitoring provisioned XenDesktop environments is pretty straight forward and fairly easy to setup with minimal requirements.  In this blog post I am going to go over what the requirements are for provisioned XenDesktop environments and how to setup the EdgeSight for Virtual Desktops agent.
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Resizing a Provisioning Services vDisk

Resizing a Provisioning Services vDisk is pretty straight forward.  You can use VHDResizer with diskpart or attach the VHD in Windows Server 2008 or Windows 7 and extend the volume through Disk Management.  Carlo Costanzo has a good blog post on using the diskpart method.  You can follow Carlo on Twitter @ccostan for VMware and Citrix information.  In this blog post I am going to go over the steps for resizing a Provisioning Services vDisk using Windows 2008 Disk Management to extend the volume.
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Using EdgeSight with Provisioned XenApp Servers

Using EdgeSight in provisioned XenApp environments can be tricky if you don’t follow the proper installation steps.  Monitoring provisioned XenApp servers is pretty straight forward and easy to setup with minimal requirements.  In this blog post I am going to go over what the requirements are for provisioned XenApp servers and how to setup the EdgeSight for XenApp agent.
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Using XenDesktop with Hyper-V

Recently I have worked with Hyper-V and SCVMM in my lab to get more hands on with Hyper-V R2. I also recently started working with XenDesktop and Hyper-V using the lab manuals I received when I attended Citrix and Microsoft VDI Training back in November. Using XenDesktop with Hyper-V is a pretty straight forward process. In this blog post I am going to go over the process of using XenDesktop with Hyper-V.
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Updating Provisioned XenApp vDisks: To XenAppPrep or not to XenAppPrep?

Over a month ago I was in some conversations with some fellow Citrix consultants on Twitter about how they use XenAppPrep when updating provisioned XenApp servers.  There has also been some forum postings on this subject as well.  This is also a topic of conversation with customers who are testing Provisioning Services with XenApp.  In this blog post I am going to go over some XenAppPrep options when updating provisioned XenApp server images.
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Upgrading Provisioning Services vDisks Target Device Software, Virtual Machine Tools, and Network Drivers

With each release of a Provisioning Services Target Device update, hypervisor virtual machines tools update, or network drivers update we are tasked with upgrading the Provisioning Services vDisk and what method to use to complete the upgrade.  In this blog post I am going to go over the options for upgrading Provisioning Services vDisk Target Device software, Virtual Machine Tools, and Network Drivers.
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Citrix Products 2010: A Wish List (continued) +1

This week Helge Klein started a Citrix products 2010 wish listTim Arenz expanded on Helge’s wish list on his blog earlier today.  I want to expand on both Helge’s and Tim’s additions with my own wishes as well.  I’m sure they both don’t mind since Tim encourages other bloggers to continue adding to this list.  Like Tim, I encourage other bloggers to keep this wish list going.  Helge’s are in black and Tim’s are in red.  So here on are my additions in orange.
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Provisioning Services Database Redundancy – Mirroring or Replication?

Awhile back I wrote the blog post Provisioning Services 5.1 Specifiy Database Mirror Failover Partner…Huh? and got some good feedback from Pete Downing the Principal Product Manager for Provisioning Services.  In his comments on my blog post he mentioned that he would like to discuss my views on SQL Server database mirroring versus replication of the Provisioning Services database.  In this blog post I am going go over my views on database Mirroring versus Replication of the Provisioning Services database.
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Using XenDesktop with VMware

Using XenDesktop with VMware Infrastructure 3 or vSphere 4 require a few extra steps to set up and configure.  VMware Infrastructure 3 and vSphere 4 both have a few different steps for XenDesktop Delivery Controller and XenDesktop Setup Wizard communication along with the proper permissions for the account used to connect to your Virtual Center or vCenter server.  In this blog post I am going to go over the steps to set up and configure XenDesktop Delivery Controller and the XenDesktop Setup Wizard communication along with the permissions needed for both VMware Infrastructure 3 and vSphere 4.
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Upgrading to Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1

Now that Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 has been released, I am going to go over the upgrade process.  Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 has added some new features, fixes, and removed some features.  For a complete overview of the changes in Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 see one of my previous blog posts – Provisioning Services 5.1 Service Pack 1 Overview.  In this blog post I am going to focus on upgrading Provisioning Services 5.1 to Service Pack 1.
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