XenDesktop Deployments…Single or Multiple Hypervisor Infrastructure?

June 28, 2010 by Jarian Gibson 5 Comments

While working on a XenDesktop project in a huge VMware shop, I started thinking if a single hypervisor should be used or if multiple hypervisors should be used in XenDesktop deployments. Then I was on a conference call with Scott Lane, Senior Systems Engineer for Citrix in the Great Plains Area and also a co-author on this post, about the same XenDesktop project and we started discussing thoughts on this. A number of factors came to mind like cost of the hypervisor (VMware licenses for the XenDesktop project are adding a nice chunk of change to the cost of the deployment), hypervisor features, etc. In this blog post I am going to talk about things to consider about different hypervisors for XenDesktop deployments.

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Using EdgeSight in Provisioned XenDesktop Environments

April 27, 2010 by Jarian Gibson 2 Comments

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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Using XenDesktop with Hyper-V

February 5, 2010 by Jarian Gibson 1 Comment

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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Citrix Products 2010: A Wish List (continued) +1

November 12, 2009 by Jarian Gibson 10 Comments

This week Helge Klein started a Citrix products 2010 wish list.  Tim 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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Filed under Access Gateway Enterprise, Citrix Receiver, Merchandising Server, Provisioning Services, XenApp, XenDesktop, XenServer Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

XenDesktop 4 should have “Flex Licensing”

October 19, 2009 by Jarian Gibson Leave a Comment

When Citrix XenDesktop 4 was announced I was very excited about all the new features except for one – Per Named User licensing.  I thought all the new features were great and they would make XenDesktop 4 the front runner in VDI solutions except for the licensing change.  The change from Concurrent User licensing to Per Named User licensing has caused a lot conversation and lots people don’t like the change.  I am one of those people.  I have voiced my opinion that if XenDesktop licensing is going to be changed to Per Named User then Citrix should at least offer you another licensing option like Per Device.  Nick Holmquist went even further in stating the Concurrent User licensing should be an option as well and has stated that Citrix should offer “Flex Licensing” to make licensing for XenDesktop as flexible as the product itself.  You can read Nick’s complete article – XenDesktop 4 Licensing – Additional Thoughts for his great take on “Flex Licensing”.  I think having “Flex Licensing” for XenDesktop 4 is a great idea.  In this blog post I am going to voice my thoughts on the Per Named User licensing change, Per Device licensing, and “Flex Licensing”.
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Using XenDesktop with VMware

October 13, 2009 by Jarian Gibson 12 Comments

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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NetScaler VPX Express is a must for all XenServer Environments

September 18, 2009 by Jarian Gibson 12 Comments

Citrix has recently released NetScaler VPX.  NetScaler VPX is the XenServer virtual appliance version of a NetScaler hardware appliance that is installed on the XenServer platform.  With the release of this XenServer virtual appliance, NetScaler VPX Express is must for all XenServer environments.  In the following post I will go over NetScaler VPX and why the Express edition is a must for all XenServer environments.
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