May 2017 – basvankaam.com

With XenDesktop & XenApp 7.14 comes Scout 3.0 – some big changes, read what’s new

Average time to read: 11 minutes

Version 7.14 of XenDesktop & XenApp comes with an updated version of Scout, version 3.0 to be exact – up from 2.23 before that. As you will find out throughout this post there are a couple of substantial differences between the two. I’ll start by highlighting some of the main features/capabilities of Scout as part XenDesktop & XenApp 7.13 and earlier versions, followed by how this is now handled within version 3.0. I have included a couple of screenshots as well.

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Citrix Synergy is approaching, fast. Here’s my schedule (I hope)

Average time to read: 5 minutes

This weekend I will be traveling to Orlando, Florida, together with a whole bunch of other tech enthusiasts to attend yet another Citrix Synergy event. Though, of course for some it will be their first encounter. Every year Synergy promises to be even better than the year before and the 2017 edition is no exception.

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The one-stop shop for Citrix Smart Check – sneak peak of upcoming version included

Average time to read: 6 minutes

In the past I have written numerous times about Citrix Insight Services, or TaaS before that, which stands for Tools as a Service (don’t be confused, Insight Services was just another name change from TaaS). Smart Check builds upon these services and offers (at least) the same type of pro-active checks (equal to Insight Services) keeping your XenApp and/or XenDesktop Site healthy at all times. However, it is important to note that Smart Check is a completely new service on its own, part of the Smart Tools portfolio (formerly known as Citrix Lifecycle Management Services), which are a 100% Citrix cloud based, though they can be applied on-premises as well. This post is meant to provide you with all relevant information on Smart Check available today as well as any future developments going forward.

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Citrix Octoblu: an Architectural Breakdown

Average time to read: 4 minutes

Not that long ago, I wrote a blogpost about IoT regarding some of the things you (might) need to consider when thinking about delivering IoT as a service, from an integrator perspective, for example. Something which often goes beyond the technology involved. If you missed it, you can read about it here. I also briefly mentioned Citrix Octoblu as a potential IoT platform. And, although I am aware that there are literally hundreds of alternatives out there, that’s what I would like to focus on throughout this post–Octoblu. An architectural breakdown if you will. I used an existing Slideshare presentation as reference (link is posted near the end).

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VMware Cloud Pod Architecture – what it is and how it helps

Average time to read: 4 minutes

When dealing with multiple datacenters, spread over multiple sites or continents even, you are faced with a couple of challenges. For one, you do not want to manage your desktops and/or applications on a per site or datacenter basis. Neither do you want your users in, let’s say New York to connect up to a desktop somewhere in Europe, in most cases anyway. And if you do, you would like to have full control when it comes to assigning desktops and/or applications — or entitlements as VMware likes to call them. Flexibility is key. This is where VMware’s Cloud Pod Architecture can help.
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Going to Citrix Synergy? Don’t miss these CTP hosted sessions – complete overview

Average time to read: 8 minutes

During Citrix Synergy, the CTP hosted sessions are among the highest rated, and with good reason. They are, almost without exception highly technical and will provide you with an unbiased view in every way possible. Below you will find an overview on all Synergy session presented by Citrix CTP’s, or Citrix Technology Professionals in full. Note that I’m not saying other sessions are less interesting or of a lower quality, not at all. It’s just that being a CTP myself I’d like to advertise the program (and its members) from time to time, that’s all really.

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Inside Citrix: Web Interface & StoreFront — XML-based user authentication

Average time to read: 5 minutes

Initially, with the introduction of StoreFront it relied solely on its authentication service for user authentication purposes. This, as you might be aware is different from Web Interface, which will directly contact one of the configured Delivery Controllers where the Broker/XML service will take over. Since Web Interface is still widely deployed and used in (large) production environments (and StoreFront now also supports XML based user authentication) I would like to talk, in a bit more detail about both authentication methods available today.

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