The Future of Computing? BYOC!

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Check out my latest article, and in depth look at Bring Your Own Computer to Work Policies...

A growing trend in technology firms is Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC or BYOPC). Of course organizations such as Microsoft, Google, Citrix and Cisco are embracing this -- which is to be expected. However, as workforces become increasingly mobile, and virtualization methodologies are further adapted in enterprises, BYOC will inevitably grow.

Deploying Windows 7 with XenDesktop 3

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I've been running Windows 7 since May. I have to say, I've very impressed. Microsoft got it right. They took the best of XP and Vista (and MACs), plus some good common sense features to make a great product. I've run it on three systems, ranging from a brand new Quad-Core 4gb RAM laptop to an old single-core 1gb ram nc6120.

As a virtualization engineer, I'm seeing a lot of customers evaluating virtual desktop deployments as a way to distribute Windows 7 in their enterprise. It would be easy to argue Windows 7 is a reason they are embracing VDI; of course, it is just as easy to say they are using Windows 7 as the excuse for VDI. Either way, both are gathering steam.

Windows NLB on Hyper-V R2

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Today I had the luxury of setting up a Unicast NLB on a couple of Windows 2008 servers (for Citrix Web Interface 5.2). The servers themselves are guest VMs running on Hyper-V R2. I noticed that when trying to create the NLB, it would not converge. The NLB wizard was erroring out, plus the entire NIC would go offline, losing its static IP association. I would also see Error 12289.

Optimizing XenApp on VMWare ESX

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There are numerous benefits for running Citrix XenApp on XenServer; including single vendor support, built-in optimizations, and integration features. However, what if you are working in a VMWare ESX environment? As a consultant or an internal engineer, you cannot always dictate the virtualization environment. The following are some tried and true best practices for optimizing XenApp on VMWare ESX.

Read More, view the full article at GenV: http://www.thegenerationv.com/2009/10/optimizing-xenapp-on-vmware-esx.html

Louisville-Area Citrix Users Group Meeting Oct 21

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Hey guys, I hope all is well! I have not been very active lately due to numerous computer problems (and like most IT geeks, I tend not to want to work on my own PC issues...)

As I mentioned previously, There is a new Louisville-Area Citrix Users Group. Here is a link: http://www.meetup.com/citrixlouisville/

The first meeting is Wednesday, October 21st at the BBC Tap Room.

Chris Bacon is helping sponsor, so if nothing else, come down and get a few free brews on Citrix's tab! I'm planning on going, so I hope to see some of you there. Feel free to pass this on to anyone who may be interested.

TheGenerationV.com

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I'm happy to announce that I am joining the team over at TheGenerationV.com.

I will still be maintaining my personal blog here as time allows, of course, but will also be writing case studies and analysis articles for GenerationV.

TheGenerationV.com is dedicated to hosting discussions and technical articles about next generation technology. TheGenerationV.com was founded on July 10, 2009 by Rick Rohne, however, it is made up of some of the most talented Systems Integrators in the country.

I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts on virtualization with this team of engineers. Please come check it out.

Louisville-Area Citrix Users Group

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Chris Morgan with University of Louisville School of Dentistry has started a Louisville-Area Citrix Users Group. He and I had been discussing this for months with our regional Citrix sales management team. I'm glad to say he has taken the initiative and created a MeetUp site to facilitate this new group.

If you are a Citrix user, administrator or engineer; using Presentation Server, XenApp, XenServer, XenDesktop, NetScaler, or any other Citrix Technologies; or if you are interested in learning more, please sign up at http://www.meetup.com/citrixlouisville/

Also, as new group, we are looking for topic suggestions and vendor sponsorships. Feel free to submit any ideas you may have.

Now With MTM!

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I'm ecstatic to announce I have joined the team at MTM Techonologies as a Systems Consultant. I had the pleasure of working with MTM as a customer for many years. During this time, I had the opportunity to get to know them top to bottom. When the time came for me to make a change, this is the team I knew I wanted to join.

HP NCU vs Symantec End Point Security

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I ran into an odd situation at a client site last week. We were implementing HP Blades, but were having problems with the teaming software. BL460 G1 blades with the NC737i network cards, Windows 2008 Enterprise SP1. Although both NICs were present, the HP Network Configuration Utility (NCU) was BLANK on 9 out of 12 servers. 2 servers were 2003 and were fine, the rest 2008 and all had the same symptoms, save 1.

Quest vWorkspace

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Some time back, Quest Software purchased Provision Networks. They have sense re-branded and re-released their Virtual Access Suite (VAS) product line as vWorkspace.

Latest and Greatest: My Citrix on VMWare

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This may be my last entry on Citrix/VMWare for the time being.

After 1 month of production runs, our 1 vCPU 2GB RAM VMs are churning nicely, averaging around 32 concurrent users. Running at 10 VMs per DELL 2950 Host, we see that Host Memory is stable, Host CPU is well utilized. There is enough capacity that another 2 VMs could potentially be added with no adverse effects, netting approx 380 users per HOST... solid density.

Rolling out updated Citrix VM Template

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I have updated our Citrix VM Template:

• Added CD, left disconnected
• Updated Tools, included Memory Manager (aka Balloon Driver) -- after reviewing this time and again with various engineers, I have come to several conclusions:
• a lot of the info out there is still based on ESX 2.x
• The Balloon Driver is a safety net, which should not be normally called
  on when designed properly
• when in doubt, and until proven otherwise, go with the standard package
• Tweaked the service controls
• Added PowerShell 1.0 (I'm becoming a big fan of PS scripting)

An Interesting Day with Citrix Load Evaluators

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Ever have one of those days? Well today was it for me! We run XenApp 4.5 in 2 geographic production Zones. I get an urgent page from support that EVERYONE hitting one of our Zones was getting "... servers are reporting full load and cannot accept your connection ..." EEK!

More on Citrix Load Evaluators

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Well, most of feed back I received from other industry players confirmed my initial suspicions... counters based on Windows Perf Counters where Windows is a VM are not reliable. A local area architect, who is not married to any one technology, summed it up nicely:

"You have touched on something that is inherent to the virtual world: the performance counters are always wrong. Exactly how wrong, that is debatable. In the past, I have used empirical numbers to control load. That means keying off of something like user count, memory utilization, or page swaps. It isn't an exact science, but some testing should give you the right mix."

Citrix Load Evaluator Rules in a VM

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I mentioned in my previous post that one of my VMs was pegging at 100% of the vCPU, but the Windows Task Manager was showing only spikes (although a lot of them), and my Citrix load value for that server was in the 7200 range. Of course, the system was crawling and unusable for customers.

Update on My Citrix VMWare Machines

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Ok, if you have been following my blog, you know I have been researching and building the best possible Citrix VMs to run on my ESX Hosts. Granted, XenServer might be better for XenApp, but we work with what we have, and I have ESX 3.5.

I currently have 4 production VMs running, 2 in each production Zone. The first two in DataCenter1 went live about a month ago... and churn nicely. They will routinely show a load evaluation of 10000 (Full Load), and the 1 vCPU Utilization is fairly high (based on vCenter stats), but no complaints from users. Initial test = PASS.

Updates on ESX Templates and Citrix on VMWare

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From my previous posts, you can see I am digging in on ESX best practices, specifically for Terminal Services/Citrix.

I will be posting an updated white paper, entailing my best practices, methods, and results soon.

However, in the mean time, Project VRC is now LIVE. Great info comparing ESX, XenServer, Hyper-V, and Bare Metal. According to their tests, they recommend 2 vCPU instead of 1 vCPU... and they present a compelling argument.

For now, I am moving forward with 1 vCPU and 2 GB RAM to start a baseline, but will add a 1 vCPU 4GB RAM and a 2 vCPU and 4GB Ram for comparision. I'll include the results in my summary paper once it is available. If you want the prelim finding, just email me.

In the meantime, check out Project VRC

Creating and Deploying a Citrix Template on VMWare ESX

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Similar to my other related posts, this is specific to my operating environment and may not fit all. However, the best practices referenced here should help in most environments.

Citrix on VMWare ESX

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Although these guidelines are created using the following environment, these standards should apply to just about any Terminal Services-based virtual environment (XenApp 5, Quest vWorkspace 6, 2X, Windows 2008 TS, etc.):

• VMWare ESX 3.5 Update 2
• Virtual Center 2.5
• Windows 2003 R2 SP2 Standard Edition
• Citrix Presentation/XenApp Server 4.5

ESX Virtual Machine Best Practices

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My primary focus is server-based computing, specifically Citrix Presentation/XenApp Server. With a stronger push for virtualization in most market segments, I've seen mixed results for virtualizing Citrix on VMWare.

Several vendors and consultants have recommended using XenServer (now from Citrix, formerly from Xen Source) which is better at handling XenApp workloads. My question as been, WHY? What are the key differences and why the performance difference? The key is Memory Sharing and how VMWare allows overallocation of resources.

Jack-of-all-Trades, Master of None?

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I've always considered myself a Jack-of-all-Trades, but a master of none. I have purposely tried to walk a fine line between business and technology. That's one reason I chose to pursue an MBA instead of just another certification. It gives me portability beyond just IT, as well as better upward mobility on the corporate latter.

I also think being well rounded allows me to act as a better SOLUTION Architect. Having been a programmer, a DBA, a systems engineer, a network administrator, a trainer, and a manager ... I tend to look at problems differently than others that may be more specialized that I am. I take more a holistic approach.

SBC Resources

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Here are some good links/resources for Server-Based Computing:

• Doug Brown's site: http://www.dabcc.com/ ... great resource with original content and site aggregation
• http://www.msterminalservices.org/ One of the best resources for all things SBC.
• Patrick Rouse's site, some good articles and a nice little FAQ: http://www.sessioncomputing.com/
• Brian Madden. One of the single most useful sites for SBC, ever. If you do anyting with TS or Citrix, you will want to reference his site.
• Ctl-Alt-Delete, great TS/Citrix utilities.
• ThinComputing, Michel Roth's site
• http://www.thomaskoetzing.de/, my resource for scripting and web interface customizations... very insightful
• http://sbc.vanbragt.net/mambo/ -- wonderful take on SBC

Blogs and other useful links:

• http://citrixblogger.org/
• http://www.provisionnetworks.com/vips/members.aspx
• http://community.citrix.com/blogs

I'll update the list as I think of other useful resources. If you have something I missed, please post a comment.

Degree vs. Certification

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A common question in IT is, which is better -- a certification or a degree? Unfortunately, there is no right answer. In my mind, it is a combination of both... but mostly is about whether you can do the job or not. Personally, I have a double master's degree (MBA, MS IT), but very few certs (A+, MCP). I chose to focus on college and project management, and have found little need for industry certs. I fill the role of a Sr. Systems Engineer... even though I may not be an MCSE, go figure!

Welcome

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Welcome All!

After researching numerous blogs, I've decided to jump in and start my own. The primary purpose will be to document and comment on information technologies. These posts will be a way for me to combine various tid-bits of data from across the web and multiple resources... hopefully it will be useful for others as well.

My current interests lie in overall System/Solution Architecture and are not dedicated to any specific technology. I am currently a MS Systems Engineer specializing in Citrix XenApp. However, I believe in using the best tools available at any time, regardless of vendor.

If you have any questions, or specific topics you would like to see, please comment.