virtualization.info

One week ago virtualization.info broke the news that Citrix was about to transform its VDI connection broker, Desktop Server, into something different. Now the company officially confirms it, exposing its new virtualization strategy now that XenSource acquisition is completed:

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With the completion of the XenSource acquisition, Citrix now adds two new product lines to its portfolio, Citrix XenServer for server virtualization and Citrix XenDesktop for desktop virtualization. Combined with the company’s existing application virtualization products, these two new additions give Citrix the industry’s most comprehensive end-to-end virtualization portfolio:

• Server Virtualization with Citrix XenServer
  The new Citrix XenServer product line is an enterprise-class platform for managing server virtualization in the datacenter as a flexible aggregated pool of computing and storage resources. Based on the high-performance Xen virtualization engine, Citrix XenServer combines comprehensive server virtualization capabilities with unparalleled scalability, performance and ease-of-use. The new product line ranges from Citrix XenServer Express Edition, an easy-to-use single-server solution available for free download, to the more comprehensive Citrix XenServer Enterprise Edition (formerly XenEnterprise).
• Application Virtualization with Citrix Presentation Server
  With more than 70 million users and 99 percent of the global Fortune 500 as customers, Citrix Presentation Server is the industry’s de facto standard for delivering Windows applications with the best performance, security and cost savings. Presentation Server stores all Windows applications in a single central store in the datacenter, then delivers them to end users on-demand via innovative application virtualization technology. Server-side app virtualization stores applications on the server and virtualizes the presentation layer to end users, while client-side app virtualization streams applications to the desktop and runs them in a protected virtualization environment at the end point.
• Desktop Virtualization with Citrix XenDesktop
  Citrix XenDesktop, scheduled to ship in the first half of next year, will be a groundbreaking new product line designed to overcome the challenges of cost, complexity and user experience that have prevented virtual desktops from becoming a mainstream enterprise reality in the past. Citrix XenDesktop will be the industry’s first comprehensive, fully integrated desktop delivery system, moving beyond the limitations of existing virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) point solutions to ensure the simple, secure, fast delivery of Windows desktops to any office worker over any network. Citrix XenDesktop will combine a powerful desktop delivery controller (based on Citrix Desktop Server with native ICA protocol support), Xen virtualization infrastructure for hosting any number of virtual desktops in the datacenter, and virtual desktop provisioning to stream a single desktop image on-demand to multiple virtual machines in the datacenter (based on Citrix Provisioning Server).

XenDesktop will be released in H1 2008, but a Technical Preview Kit is available today here.

What happened to Citrix Desktop Server support for VMware ESX Server? At the moment no informations are available.

The virtualization.info Virtualization Industry Roadmap has been updated accordingly.

Update: The Citrix FAQ page about XenDesktop reveals VMware support strategy:

Does Citrix XenDesktop support VMware environments?

Yes. Citrix XenDesktop supports VMware environments. VMware ESX customers can use Citrix XenDesktop for delivering their virtual desktops hosted on VMware ESX.

Do I have to replace VMware to implement Citrix XenDesktop?

No. Citrix XenDesktop was built to integrate with a variety of VM infrastructures including VMware, XenSource and Microsoft.