Year: 2006

Thincomputing.net published a list of SoftGrid prices which Softricity should announce soon.

The reduction is impressive, with some features like ZeroTouch now free, and it’s an evident consequence of Microsoft acquisition:

• Softgrid Desktop Licenses: €32 / $38 (list)
• Softgrid Terminal Server Licenses: €18 / $21 (list)
• Softgrid Terminal Server Licenses will no longer be based on the concurrent number of users (as in all Microsoft products)
• Softgrid ZeroTouch will be free and part of the Softgrid Server software
• Softgrid SMS Connector: Free (if you have other Softgrid licenses)
• The Universal Desktop license will disappear: it’s either a Destop or a Terminal Server license
• Softricity Software Assurance will disappear completely

Read the whole article at source.

At this point is possible Microsoft will offer the technology for free in a second time, after incorporating Softricity technologies in its products.

Combining together VMware Server and 2X ThinClientServer (PXES edition), both free of charge, customers are able to setup a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) at no cost.

2X published a guide demonstrating how to do so achieving following benefits:

• Maintain and secure Windows desktops and builds and all connected hardware devices from one central location
• Improve support by shadowing sessions and watching the user’s actions
• Easy addition, recovery and replacement of virtual desktops
• Centralize control by allowing you to remotely shutdown or restart all devices
• Reduce costs by converting old PCs to thinclients with the latest XP or Vista
• No Terminal Services CALs required – re-use existing Windows XP license

Read the guide at source.

Ron Oglesby reveals Citrix is working on a couple of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) products: one to be released very soon and another, more complete, planned for somewhere in the future.

…Okay, with the qualifications out of the way let’s talk about Citrix’s stopgap solution they’re calling the “Remote Desktop Broker” (or RDB). The concept with RDB is pretty simple; it’s an application that can feed parameters into the RDP client and provide you a way to manage connections and create resource pools of desktops (VMs, blades, etc.). The RDB application is installed on a Citrix Presentation Server and then published as an application. Users execute the application which then connects them to the type of desktop they (or the app) is configured for.

I’ll get into more detail on HOW it works in a second, but for now understand that it’s an application, not a server, and because of this is it uses a double-hop scenario with ICA connecting to the Presentation Server and then RDP connecting from the Presentation Server to the virtual desktop…

Read the whole article at source.

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Adhering VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Alliance Leostream launches a new product: Virtual Desktop Connection Broker.

The products features are:

• Single Sign-On
  The Leostream Connect agent that runs on the end user’s Windows XP desktop provides single sign-on and sign-off. So the user simply enters their username and password into the Leostream Connect interface and presses Connect, and shortly after they are auto-logged into the remote Windows session
• Virtual Desktop Pooling
  Desktops can be organized into groups or “pools” using a sophisticated, automated, labeling system. Once labeled they can be assigned to users according to that user’s group membership as defined by the external authentication server
• Virtual Desktop Failover
  Leostream checks the state of a Virtual Desktop before assigning, or re-assigning, it so if a VM fails then it is automatically replaced by another from the same pool
• Session Stickiness
  The assignment of a particular Desktop to a user can be permanent, or just for a preset period of time
• Native RDP Client Support
  Leostream integrates with the native Microsoft RDC client rather than the browser or Java-based versions; this enhances performance and ensures compatibility with Microsoft Vista
• Thin Client Support
  Tight integration with thin clients such as the Wyse S10 enable a seamless end-user experience
• Multi-Protocol Support
  Remote desktop protocols supported include: Microsoft’s RDP, Citrix’s ICA, VNC, and VMware Remote Viewer – enabling the use of operating systems that do not support RDP
• Policy Base Session Variables
  Session variables such as screen size, disk re-direction, and remote printing can be set with each access Policy
• Secure Access
  Authentication and RDC session can be secured using SSL certificates – ensuring data security
• Dynamic Management of Virtual Machine State
  The VM state can be automatically changed when assigned and un-assigned, so allowing unused VMs to be kept in a powered-off state economizing both licensing and hardware utilization
• Virtual Hosted Desktop Self-Service
  Users can browse a catalog of Virtual Machines, select one and then request a copy. Each request must then be approved by a supervisor before being created and assigned to that user. The created VMs can be set to expire at a certain date, after which only a Administrator can bring them back into service, and finally they can be set to be deleted on a particular date
• Monitoring and Reporting
  Real-time monitoring of RDC sessions, and reporting via email and SNMP
• External Authentication
  Users can be authenticated and profiled using Active Directory or LDAP servers without a schema change
• User Activity Monitoring and Logging
  User status is displayed, user activity is logged, and users can be logged out of the system, so providing a central view of all user activity
• Virtual Appliance Format
  The Connection Broker is distributed as a Virtual Appliance so it can be rapidly set up, duplicated, moved, and backed- up. It requires a minimum of 1.5G of Memory, and bridged network connectivity. CPU utilization is dependent on the Connection Broker load and will require between 1/10 and all of a 2GHz Xeon processor
• Scalability
  The Connection Broker manages multiple VMware VirtualCenters. The maximum deployment sizes are:
  • 7,000 VMs per VirtualCenter
  • 1024 VirtualCenters per Connection Broker
  • 50,000 VMs can be managed per Connection Broker

Watch a demo here.

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

AppStream, another company occuping the raising segment of application virtualization, released 5th version of its solution.

The new product features:

• Support for VMware and Microsoft Virtual PC images distribution
• Server side backward compatibility
• Robust failover capabilities for high availability configurations
• Ability to create local groups for flexible user management and provisioning
• Improved, more-extensive reporting, including tracking and reporting on offline usage
• Improved MSI Streaming
• Ability to pre-stream applications without end-user intervention
• E-mail upon license-threshold-reached event
• Support for Windows XP Pro SP2; Oracle DB, multiple LDAP server connectivity and forests

Download it here.

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

In an interview with Windows IT Pro, VMware President Diane Greene said the company believe virtualization be more and more focused on the concept of virtual appliance:

…
Because of VMware’s extensive experience with virtualization–a key reason its technologies are more advanced and capable than Microsoft’s virtualization products–Greene says that the company has a better grip on where virtualization is going in the market.

It’s not about virtual environments any more, in which a customer runs Windows or Linux in a software sandbox. Instead, virtualization is moving toward application appliances. “It’s about the appliance, not the OS,” Greene explained. “Microsoft is just tying its Hypervisor technology to the OS and to the underlying hardware required to run Windows.”…

Read the whole article at source.

Virtual appliances are another way to deliver software as a service, partially competing with application virtualization and streaming approach.
In facts while application virtualization is the best fit for distributing a one-program solution, when we have to deliver a solution made of several applications working together virtual appliances seem a better choice.

In the end I would call virtual appliances approach service virtualization, and wouldn’t be surprised to see VMware working at (or acquiring a company involved in) streaming technologies a la Softricity, Stream Theory, AppStream, etc.

Quoting from CRN:

Virtualisation vendor Platespin has revealed plans to formalise its global partner programme, increase VAR numbers and expand into the SME sector.
…
Cadman Chui, vice-president of marketing at Platespin, told CRN: “We want a comprehensive and structured partner programme. However, we are trying to not confuse partners.”
Although details of the new programme are yet to be unveiled, Chui claimed it was likely to be tiered with Platinum, Gold and Silver levels.
…
We have plans to enter the SME market in the next calendar quarter,” he said.
…
However, Chui added that Platespin has plans to expand its end-user focus…

Read the whole article at source.

Quoting from the Altiris official announcement:

Altiris, Inc., a pioneer of service-oriented management solutions, today announced that, according to a recent survey commissioned by Altiris, 41 percent of IT organizations plan to deploy virtualization in client PC environments. The survey also revealed that the top two benefits of virtualization technologies are hardware optimization and reducing the cost of deploying and maintaining applications.

While 41 percent of respondents plan to deploy client PC virtualization, the survey of more than 550 IT professionals found that only 8 percent of all individuals surveyed have currently deployed application virtualization technologies in their client environment. In comparison, 71 percent of those surveyed have deployed or plan to deploy virtualization in their server environment.

Altiris committed IT Community Research to survey individuals from all levels of the IT organization, and from around the world, during June and July 2006.

eWeek published a list of 25 most influential technologies in last 25 years. VMware appears at 7th place after:

• The IBM PC
• Mosaic Web Browser
• Apache
• Intel i386 Processor
• XNS
• The Linux Kernel

I substantially disagree on some placements but I surely agree VMware, representing virtualization technology, has been (and still is) one of the most influential technology ever.

Read the whole top 25 at source.