Throughout the last couple of months a lot has been said (and shown) about and around the Windows Virtual Desktop, so much that I thought a summary would be in place. Do note that I’m relying on what’s publicly available or what I’ve picked up from hearsay. In case of the latter I will make note of it. Updated per 25-03-2019 after my visit to Microsoft Ignite On Tour in Amsterdam where multiple announcements have been made. All facts have been verified by a PM of the WVD / RDS team.
Continue ReadingTransitioning to the Windows Virtual Desktop using Liquidware solutions
A couple of months ago I wrote about how Liquidware and Microsoft’s WVD (Windows Virtual Desktop) are better together, read more here. Today I’d like to talk a bit on how Liquidware solutions help in transitioning to the new WVD offering, including the on boarding process as well as continues management and monitoring once in production.
Continue ReadingWindows Server 2019, but no RDSH? A Multi-User version of Windows10? What’s going on?
Average time to read: 8 minutesLast week Microsoft announced a new version of their Server Operating a.k.a. Windows Server 2019. Since the announcement I’ve seen many comments going back and forth regarding its licensing structure, the use of RDSH (or not) and so on. Here’s a short list of thoughts and facts I was able to gather.
The ultimate Citrix XenDesktop 7.x internals cheat sheet – Version 2.0
Average time to read: 87 minutes
About two and a half years ago I published the ultimate Citrix XenDesktop 7.x internals cheat sheet, version 1.0 and it turned out to be a big hit. In the meantime, it has been viewed over 80.000 times already. All the more reason to start working on version 2.0. Since I have been writing about Citrix technologies for the last couple of years I have built up a broad archive, which I can now partly (re) use and re-write to come up with an even more detailed edition, version 2.0 of the Citrix XenDesktop 7.x internals cheat sheet. I would strongly advice you to download a .PDF copy – If you like the blogpost, you’ll love the .PDF, trust me! It includes a full Table of Contents making it easier to navigate.
Citrix NetScaler… The basics continued, part five. Global Server Load Balancing!
Average time to read: 6 minutesFrom a NetScaler perspective Global Service Load Balancing (GSLB) can seem pretty intimidating. In short, GSLB is used as a way to manage and control the traffic flow between two (or more) separate physical locations (data centers) that are, in most cases, geographically dispersed. This can be for either load balancing purposes, high availability, fault tolerance, disaster recovery and so on. The mechanism behind GSLB is based on Microsoft DNS.
Citrix NetScaler… The basics continued, part one. VIP’s, Monitors and other objects!
Average time to read: 5 minutesWhen dealing with the Citrix NetScalers there is a lot to get your head around, especially when you are still relatively new to the product / technology. The different licensing models, all of the ADC (Application Delivery Controller) features (and there are a lot) the secure remote access gateway functionality and a whole bunch of abbreviations like NSIP, SNIP, MIP, VIP and so on and so forth, which will have your head spinning in no time. You have to know about monitors, static routes, load balancing, HA and more. A very interesting, powerful but potentially confusing product when starting out.
Containers? Docker? Docker on VMware. Docker on Windows. Docker on Citrix?
Average time to read: 11 minutesWith all the excitement going on around Docker, and containerisation in general, including the latest rumours around Microsoft’s Nano Server, I thought it might be useful to have a closer look at this technology to see what it can and cannot do and when it might be a good time to actually start using it in a real world scenario.
XenDesktop 7.x internals continued… The Server VDA in more detail.
Average time to read: 3 minutesAlthough the new FMA based Server VDA has been built from the ground up it still has a lot of similarities when compared to the ‘old’ ICA protocol stack deployed with XenApp 6.5 and earlier versions. However, unlike XenApp, the VDA (Virtual Delivery Agent) directly communicates with the Delivery Controller, it does this through the Broker Agent, basically the same way as we are used to with the desktop VDA (PortICA).