Throughout the past year and a half I have had some very positive feedback on the application layering cheat sheet, needles to say that I will continue to update the sheet going forward. Currently I am up to version 3.0 already. The main goal is to highlight some of the most important features and capabilities of each product and changes/additions when compared to the previous cheat sheet, version 2.0 in this case, though I will never be able to include all changes, features, and so on of every product. As such, this is by no means meant as an exclusive list.
Frequently Asked Questions about Inside Citrix
Last year, in May 2016 to be a bit more precise I published my first book named: Inside Citrix – The FlexCast Management Architecture. Since than I have had a ton of positive feedback and reactions, through Twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, you name it. It goes without saying that all this made me a very happy man. Next to the feedback I also received a bunch of questions, ranging from the amount of books sold to how applicable the content is today with the rapid release cycle Citrix is currently maintaining. In this (short) post I’ll try to answer all of the most frequently asked questions throughout the last six months , so I can also refer people back to this post in the (near) future.
Non-NDA. What’s new from Citrix Summit 2017
This post will cover what’s new from Citrix — announcements made from their annual Citrix Summit conference, held in Anaheim this year. As to be expected, this will be a work in progress for the coming days. All information shared will be non-NDA, meaning it will also be shared on other blogs/websites, like Citrix’s’, for example. Single pane access, that’s the main thought, for your convenience. Here goes.Continue Reading
Citrix acquires Unidesk — here’s everything you want/need to know!
Today Citrix announced that they have acquired Unidesk — the leading application packaging (layering) and lifecycle management solution for the digital workspace. If you are not familiar with Unidesk, or application layering technology in general for that matter, I would strongly advice you to go and have a look at their website. They offer a couple of unique features taking application packaging and delivery to a whole new level. As they like to say ‘Layering changes everything‘. Let’s have a look at what this all means for both Citrix and Unidesk.
What’s new with XenApp & XenDesktop 7.12?
I can’t remember the last time I wrote about one of the new XA and/or XD releases, I think it was version 7.5. However, with version 7.12 comes the new and improved LHC, which is something a lot of ‘us’ have been waiting for. Or at least were/are curious about. Go here to find out more about the LHC, now part of the FlexCast Management Architecture, I covered it in detail. And while writing I thought I’d cover some of the other (new) 7.12 features as well.
The long awaited… XenApp and XenDesktop 7.12 Local Host Cache
Finally, it’s here, with XenApp and XenDesktop version 7.12 Citrix has re-introduced the Local Host Cache functionality. A long awaited feature by many Citrix admins globally. Though many of us are familiar with the LHC feature within 6.5, LHC as part of the FlexCast Management Architecture, which is basically what we are talking about here, is architected differently, or built from the ground up even. This has resulted in a more robust solution, immune to corruption (at least that’s the general idea) also needing less maintenance. Let’s have a look and see what it is about.
Citrix Call-Home, a potential successor for Scout — here is what you need to know
Citrix Call Home according to the e-docs pages “Call Home collects diagnostic data and then periodically uploads telemetry packages containing that data directly to Citrix Insight Services for analysis and troubleshooting”. A nice summary, but of course there is a bit more to it. Below I have put together a brief ‘did you know that’ overview, a somewhat different format then what you are used here on basvankaam.com — let me know what you think.
Two factor (SMS) authentication — done right with SMSPassword!
I have always been a fan of two factor authentication, or 2FA in short. Almost all companies and customers I have worked for and with used it in some shape or form. Especially SMS based 2FA — from an administrative perspective it is easy to set up, configure and maintain (if it isn’t you might want to consider switching vendors) and next to that it is also extremely user friendly and secure, when properly implemented that is. And of course, there is no need for any additional (expensive) third party tokens.
Inside Citrix – The making of & lessons learned!
Now that my book is out in the open I get a lot of questions about my approach. People are really interested to find out how long it took me to complete, what kind of tools I used, where I found the time, what drove me to write a book in the first place and of course what I’ve learned along the way. And since I like to share… hopefully this post will answer most, if not all of these and other questions you guys might have.
The application layering technology cheat sheet, version 2.0!
Just over seven months ago I released a blogpost named ‘Application Layering Questions? I got answers. Graphical cheat sheet included!’. A lot has happened since then. And although the above mentioned blog is still very valid regarding it’s content, the cheat sheet could do with an update. A version 2.0 if you will.