One of the up and coming topics in the virtualization industry is how to properly virtualize phones.

Mobile phones are quickly becoming one of the most convenient and powerful computing devices in our everyday lives. Roughly 20% of the phones in the US are smart phones… with anticipated intersection with “feature” phones coming somewhere around the end of 2011.

It is not uncommon to find a smart phone with a full QWERTY keyboard, high resolution display, multiple GB in storage, WiFi, 3G/4G, 1+ Ghz processor, etc… Increase the display size, and we could be carrying a netbook in our pockets. Heck… some even have video out built in. Install a View client, connect a monitor, and you have a perfectly working VDI client. Talk about BYOPC (Bring Your Own PC). (see Citrix Nirvana Phone)

Citrix and VMware have really taken the phone virtualization up to task. Both have been working on prototypes on how they believe that phone content should be handled.

Citrix: bare metal install

This is the most similar to what we see with ESXi and XenServer… the hypervisor (or microvisor, as it is being referred to (how cute!)) is installed onto the base hardware and the Phone OS is installed on top of the stack. For the virtualization engineers out there, this is a pretty standard concept.

This concept is being promoted as a way to allow a single device to handle personal needs as well as business needs… all the time, ensuring security between those dramatically different use cases.

VMware: hosted install (sits on top of installed phone OS) – Mobile Virtualization Platform (MVP)

This concept is similar to the VMware GSX or VMware Server 1.0/2.0 concept. A hypervisor is mounted inside of the installed phone OS and allows the phone to help manage the device resources.

This concept is being promoted as a way to allow any application to run on any platform (see Java theory: write once, run anywhere) as well as allowing security by isolating applications in their own little world.

Originally, the plan for MVP was to install onto the phone hardware itself. But, due to architecture changes, the decision was made to go to a hosted environment with the base phone OS being the “personal” and “insecure” level and the ability to add the “secure” and “trusted” corporate image on top.

Each company has made investments or acquisitions of companies that can really aid them in this new environment (Citrix: OK Labs; VMware: Trango).

So… each company has drawn a line in the sand. Where does this leave us going forward, though?

I can see some major advantages to both approaches to the implementation. And I see some faults

VMware

Citrix

Roadblocks to the adoption of phone virtualization

I feel like VMware has the upper-hand in their implementation avenue for mobile phone virtualization. While the resource management that a bare metal hypervisor provides is great… the mobile phone user values the experience over the resource management. Having a single set of applications that launch in the appropriate environment is more important and users do not want to switch their phone from corporate mode to personal mode.

I can see major advantages to Android and Microsoft in the phone virtualization environment. Email is the killer application for phones right now… especially in the corporate environment. Microsoft Exchange is one of the key drivers to Corporate IT supporting a phone platform over another. Android is freely available, so the cost to IT departments for obtaining and customizing the software is fairly minimal and includes ActiveSync Exchange integration. Microsoft is one of the most dominant corporate environment technology providers in the world. They have such a massive user base that the inclusion of a CAL with Enterprise Agreements would increase their revenue while ensuring their OS remains relevant in the marketplace.

Phone OS providers like Apple and Blackberry may be left behind. Apple is way too concerned with experience and their image to allow their OS to be run on hardware other than Apple provided hardware. Which is alright… that is the image they portray and they seem to like it. Blackberry is slowly becoming irrelevant… while they have their BES and BIS services, those require intermediary hosted or in-house services to connect with Corporate email. The email security is the key to their continued usage and that is becoming less and less useful as ActiveSync is being licensed elsewhere and more security policies are becoming available for it.

Perhaps the biggest surprises could be the Palm/HP PalmOS and Symbian. While Symbian is very popular outside of the US, the usage is still highly restricted to Nokia hardware. Uncoupling the OS from the Nokia hardware could definitely benefit Nokia as it could be licensed and use on many more platforms! PalmOS is still undergoing an identity crisis. No one is sure where the OS is heading… especially now that HP, not known for their mobile phone prowess, is their owner. They could make a jump to be a virtual only platform and become free or lightly licensed and make a major jump in adoption.

In addition to the phone OS vendors that need to line up for mobile phone virtualization to work, the applications and functions that phones provide are going to need to change. Email is not the only offering that is going to drive this functionality. The ease and ability to develop specialized applications for each company as well as existing Enterprise software providers are going to need to provide mobile client offering that provide, at least, a subset of the standard client functionality are going to be key. Perhaps it is some fancy BI reporting, hooks into the corporate CRM system, collaboration suite, IP telephony, Thin Client, etc…

I love the direction this is heading. Again, VMware has the upper-hand in their implementation methodology despite the head start Citrix has right now. However, getting the OS vendors, application vendors, and Corporate IT to buy in is going to be key to making this work.

Source Links

• http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/smartphones-to-overtake-feature-phones-in-u-s-by-2011/
• http://virtualization.info/en/news/2010/09/vmware-cvp-and-mvp-projects-alive-and-almost-well.html
• http://community.citrix.com/display/ocb/2010/02/08/The+SmartPhone+is+your+desktop+-+Nirvana+Phone+Webinar

© Bill for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Mobile Phone Virtualization Futures
Read more posts categorized as All, Desktop, Server Virtualization

The players are lining up for the biggest acquisition game enterprise IT has witnessed in a while

Today is the (a?) day of reckoning in the 3Par saga, with Dell widely expected to make a counter-offer higher than HP’s bid. But this mega deal, like the Data Domain war before it, sends a strong signal to the enterprise IT world: It’s open season on data storage companies! But the rising superpowers are also likely looking at networking as an area of expansion. The game is afoot!

The Competitors

The simple fact is, enterprise IT prefers to buy from large, established names like HP and IBM rather than smaller and less-familiar companies with names like Ocarina, EqualLogic, or even 3Par. The acceleration of sales by enterprise providers is what makes these big acquisitions so successful and why others involving less-powerful players often fail to deliver the same results.

Full-line “superpowers” like IBM, HP and now Dell and the new Oracle can influence purchasing decisions across a broad spectrum of hardware and software. Many large organizations are tightly coupled to one of these vendors, and will give their products stronger consideration even when they are new or unfamiliar. HP is already flexing their muscle selling their broadened network lineup, and Dell found that it could do this in data storage.

Software vendors like Microsoft, Citrix, and Oracle adamantly maintained a neutral stance toward hardware, but Ellison and company seem serious about changing this. Oracle’s success in selling Sun hardware will likely dictate further software acquisitions for Dell and HP, though IBM already has strength there. Then there is Intel, the wild card who just got wilder with their acquisition of McAfee.

Companies with narrower focus like Cisco, EMC, NetApp, Juniper, and Brocade have the same power within their sphere of influence but cannot pull in wholly-distinct products. Cisco is in the midst of this fight with their technically-excellent UCS blade servers: Although they were certainly a strategic CIO-level vendor in the largest organizations, “blades from a networking company” isn’t the as easy a decision as “networking gear from a full-line company.”

The Game

Then one must consider the market in contention. The enterprise IT space is not expanding, especially in the United States. This is very close to a zero-sum game, with Oracle’s or Dell’s wins being HP’s or IBM’s losses and vice-versa. There is massive money in play, and flexibility enough for it to swing between the competitors, but growth is not unlimited.

Enterprise storage and data center and campus networking are two areas where smaller companies retain enviably-large slices of the pie, explaining the interest in these spaces among the superpowers. These verticals still have room for sales to grow without displacing a fierce full-line foe, and the superpowers have lately been weak here. Storage and networking are enticing opportunities, but each slice is similarly dominated by “vertical superpowers” and partners EMC and Cisco.

So this is the game: Four full-line enterprise superpowers battling each other for datacenter dominance and coveting the extra profits of a few verticals. HP clearly believes they can chip away at EMC and Cisco in storage and networking; Dell and IBM have so far focused mainly on storage; and Oracle hasn’t made a move in either direction, instead challenging the other three in the core server and software space.

Pawns or Knights?

So where does this leave the smaller players? Are they merely pawns in the game, waiting to be sacrificed, or are they knights who can wield power across the field? The largest (Cisco and EMC especially) appear to have ambitions of their own as well as the financial and technical strength to shake up the game. They are unlikely to be acquired by the superpowers. Brocade, too, has broad strength in storage and networking but maintains relationships across the board that make an acquisition difficult.

Strong vertical players like Juniper, NetApp, Riverbed, and Compellent are ripe for acquisition, as were Foundry, 3Com, Data Domain, and 3Par. IBM, Dell, and Oracle are all likely buyers of the networking players, though HP may consider filling in where 3Com was found lacking. All four will likely take a strong look at the remaining storage players as well, with the loser in the battle for 3Par likely to be hungry indeed.

One should also consider the potential impact of smaller acquisitions. Although they would not immediately “move the needle” for a massive superpower, there are many excellent technology companies that could be bought low and pushed strongly. The enterprise-class technology at Sepaton, Pillar Data, Xiotech, BlueArc, Extreme Networks, Force10, Blue Coat, Isilon, CommVault, FalconStor, and many others should not be overlooked. If a superpower can drive a larger acquisition to succeed, imagine what they can do with strong but inexpensive technology from one of these!

Stephen’s Stance

This game is nowhere near finished. The 3Par acquisition will not only generate revenue, it will shake up the ranking of data storage array dominance. This is very likely to kick off additional acquisition in the data storage space, spurring either Dell or HP to pick up additional technology and perhaps causing IBM or Oracle to engage as well. With no easy alternatives to 3Par, I expect Compellent, Xiotech, and Pillar to get closer looks, but Sepaton and BlueArc are just as ripe. NetApp may be too expensive at this point, but would be a nice match for Oracle’s strategy.

HP’s acquisition of 3Com could also signal a race to integrate datacenter and campus networking technology into the stack. Many are suggesting a Brocade acquisition, and it would be much cheaper than Juniper, but OEM ties make it a difficult purchase for any of the superpowers. Extreme and Force10 would be excellent and less-expensive alternatives.

We should also keep our eyes outside the superpower space. Intel showed that they can make big moves, and Microsoft might consider a diversification into hardware as well. One should also look to the East, where Huawei could try to enter the Western market with a merger or joint-venture to cast off the China stigma. Although I would love to see a rebel alliance rise (imagine Juniper, NetApp, and Symantec joining forces!) this is not a likely scenario.

Image credit: Chess Board by mosdave

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2010. | The Enterprise IT Acquisition Game
Read more posts categorized as Featured, Networking, Storage

But what does this all mean to enterprise IT? Who benefits from these vertically-integrated stacks? Who stands to lose out? To paraphrase the wise Jedi master, Yoda, “cloudy, the future is.” So, the stack wars have begun!

What’s a Stack?

The largest IT infrastructure vendors are aligning their own products and joining together in alliances to create vertically-integrated “datacenter in a box” stacks that include server, storage, networking, and higher-level software for virtualization and management. Cisco and EMC are certainly at the forefront of this development with their Acadia VCE vBlock, as demonstrated and deconstructed at our Tech Field Day earlier this month. The reinvigorated HP has its own offering in this space, and is unique in its ability to use all in-house hardware, and IBM and Oracle/Sun are serious challengers. Today, Hitachi announced their own Unified Compute Platform as well.

The battle of the stacks extends upward into software as well. Although VMware and Microsoft (and don’t forget Citrix) are quick to point out that they can run on anyone’s hardware stack, they are being pulled into the war through alliances, ownership, and old feuds. VMware forms the “V” in the Cisco/EMC “VCE” stack, though they also linked up with Cisco and NetApp in February. HP and Microsoft signed an even bigger agreement in January, suggesting that Hyper-V is their preferred virtualization solution. Hitachi’s UCP digs deep into the Microsoft solution set and mixes in home-grown software to do everyone else one better. But perhaps it will be Oracle/Sun who will deliver a real software-focused stack, given Oracle’s historical focus.

All of these stacks have a few things in common:

1. Standard hardware configurations are specified for ease of purchasing and support
2. The hardware stack includes blade servers, integrated I/O technology, Ethernet networking for connectivity, and SAN or NAS storage
3. Unifying software is included to manage the hardware components in one interface
4. A joint services organization is available to help in selection, architecture, and deployment
5. Higher-level software, from the virtualization hypervisor through application platforms, will be included as well

Who’s Driving?

Although all of these stacks include software components, it is interesting to note that it is the hardware guys who are in the driver’s seat. Microsoft and VMware are surely wary of tying up too closely with any one server or storage vendor, lest they lose the ability to compete in other environments. One expects these two to announce partnerships across a few hardware stacks, though it is unlikely that they will both fully integrate with every offering.

When it comes to stack hardware, only HP has a complete solution, having recently acquired 3COM, LeftHand, and Ibrix. IBM, Dell, and Oracle are thin on networking technology, though their storage story is stronger than many give them credit for. EMC clearly lacks the server and networking components and so tied up with a complementary Cisco who is strong in both areas. Then there is Hitachi, with a solid reputation in storage and strong but relatively unknown blade server offering but no clarity on the networking side. Perhaps HDS is already on the phone with Xsigo, VirtenSys, or Arista?

Certainly, all of these hardware vendors would like to offer a complete solution. This leads one to assume that many of the smaller hardware companies will soon be acquired, since they cannot hope to offer their own stack. The networking and virtual I/O companies are especially juicy targets, but don’t count storage out either. One could certainly imagine Cisco picking up a storage company or two and leaving EMC at the altar! Compellent is undervalued right now, and 3PAR must look pretty good, too.

The Cloud Angle

What doe these stacks have to do with that other megatrend in IT, cloud computing? There are two angles here:

1. Integrated stacks are the perfect foundation for private and public cloud deployment, providing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) as a turnkey purchase. I called this the “home theater in a box” concept at Tech Field Day: A single line item gets you all the components you need to roll out a large-to-huge virtualization-ready infrastructure.
2. Integrated stacks are a lame attempt for the hardware guys to stay relevant in a public cloud world. Public cloud providers are taking a top-down approach to infrastructure with most relying on generic commodity servers, storage, and networking rather than buying from the big-iron providers in the stack wars. This consolidation mirrors the dying breaths of the British auto industry, which attempted to retain their hold on the market through scale rather than competitive products.

It’s not immediately clear whether one, both, or neither of these arguments truly provides the impetus for these hardware stacks, but the vendors are all pushing them as cloud-ready. Certainly, the advent of cloud computing is a major factor.

Only the Beginning

This is only the beginning of the stack wars. I have asked the Gestalt IT authors and Tech Field Day delegates to weigh in on this subject, and expect to see a number of insightful pieces written on the topic in the coming weeks. I will continue covering the topic as well. Please consider subscribing to the Gestalt IT RSS feed or following @GestaltIT on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest developments. Thoughtful comments and responses are always welcome as well.

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2010. | The Stack Wars Have Begun!
Read more posts categorized as Cloud Computing, Exclusive, Featured, Networking, Server Virtualization, Storage, Top Story

This post is my summary of research about the latest Microsoft and Citrix announcements. I’m linking and quoting several bloggers and analysts to help VM /ETC readers (and myself!) digest the details of the new licensing and promotions. I also the outline the actual products that make up the Microsoft and Citrix VDI solution, and then finally point to some interesting reactions and perspectives published over the last several days.

New Microsoft VDI Licensing

Most importantly, Microsoft declared a new licensing policy where Windows desktops will no longer need a separate license to be accessed via VDI by companies with Software Assurance. Although I could not specifically find it stated anywhere I looked, I assume this means whether accessed on any Microsoft VDI solution, VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop, or any other vendor’s VDI product. Here’s some additional information on the new licensing as intrepreted by others:

Desktop Virtualization: Microsoft, VMware in Cost Smackdown

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/031910-desktop-virtualization-microsoft-vmware-in.html?page=1

“One key part of the sweeping announcements, covered in an hour-long Webcast, is a simpler and cheaper model for licensing Windows in a virtual desktop environment. Specifically, on July 1, Software Assurance customers will no longer have to buy a separate license to access Windows via a VDI.

Moreover, for customers that use devices that don’t qualify for Software Assurance, such as thin clients and PCs used by contractors, there will be a new license called Windows VDA (virtual desktop access) available for $100 per device per year. This license will allow users to still have access to their complete virtual desktop outside the corporate network on devices such a personal laptops and airport kiosks.”

Maybe Microsoft is finally starting to abandon the concept of anchoring a Windows license to hardware and hopefully beginning to consider introducing virtualization editions of their operating systems? We are definitely not there yet, but at least it’s movement in the right direction.

Microsoft and Citrix VDI Promotions

Along with the new VDI licensing Microsoft and Citrix has also introduced some competitive promotions not only stimulate VDI migration but hopefully capture back some market share in the process. A new web site, citrixandmicrosoft.com, details these new offers.

First is the VDI Kick Start

”Get started with VDI for only $7K¹

Interested in VDI? Kick start your VDI implementation today and save 50% on Microsoft VDI Standard Suite and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition. With the VDI Kick Start promotion, eligible customers only pay $28 per device² for up to 250 devices, giving them the opportunity to launch a VDI implementation for only $7K¹. The offer includes Microsoft VDI Standard Suite subscription and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition annual licenses”.

Second is Rescue for VMware VDI

“Get the best virtual desktop solution – for FREE³!

Struggling with VMware VDI? Replace your VMware View licenses today with the best virtual desktop solution from Microsoft and Citrix VDI – for free³. Through the Rescue for VMware VDI promotion, eligible customers can trade-in their VMware View licenses with same number of Microsoft VDI Standard Suite subscription and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition annual licenses, up to a maximum of 500, at no cost^3”.

Go to the citrixandmicrosoft.com site to see the details of the footnotes in the quotes above. Both promotions are good until December 31, 2010.

Microsoft MSD VP Brad Anderson blogged about the promotions on the Windows Team Blog. Anderson’s post likens the “Rescue from VMware VDI” program to recent US Government attempts to stimulate the auto industry.

“One piece of news that I’m most excited about that helps with this is the “Rescue for VMware VDI” promotion we’re offering with Citrix. Think of it as a Cash for Clunkers trade-in of VMware View licenses to Microsoft VDI Standard Suite and Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition licenses at no additional cost.”

What Makes Up the MS & Citrix VDI Solution?

So what exactly is the Citrix and Microsoft VDI solution? A picture is always a faster way to visualize all the components, and I took the following one from the Citrix and Microsoft Brochure:

To complete the picture is The Microsoft Windows Enterprise: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure web page which contains a lot of MS VDI solution information, but is also the source of the following breakdown of MS VDI Standard and Premium Suite components:

The Microsoft VDI Standard Suite will include licenses to the following technologies:

1. Hypervisor platform (Hyper-V Server 2008 R2)
2. An integrated management suite for VDI (System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, and System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2)
3. Microsoft Application Virtualization through the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)
4. Connection Brokering capability through Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services.

The Microsoft VDI Premium Suite includes all the features of the Microsoft VDI Standard Suite, and also includes:

1. Complete Remote Desktop Services capability, including the option to deploy session based desktops in addition to VDI desktops.
2. Microsoft Application Virtualization for Remote Desktop Services

Note that both the VDI Kickstart and the Rescue For VMware VDI offers are for the MS VDI Suite only.

Reactions and Perspective

Of course, after exciting news like this there are those that can look beyond the fanfare and raise some questions. Here’s several links worth following for a deeper analysis that helps provide a better understanding and point out the areas still needing improvement.

chriswolf.com

A User-centric Microsoft Licensing Model? Not Yet, but Getting Closer

“Looking past the good news that came out of yesterday’s announcement, considerable work remains. Microsoft has still not addressed the service provider market. Considerable clarity is still needed for licensing virtual desktops on shared infrastructure. For example, if a user needs a Windows desktop for a week, he essentially has to pay for 90 days worth of licensing. Why? Even with VDA, the service provider technically has to associate the VDA with the subscriber’s physical device and can’t transfer it for another 90 days. The result is that desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) is far more costly than it should be. This problem will grow once companies like HP, IBM, and Dell offer client hypervisors, and look to offer services where user desktop VMs are automatically replicated from their personal system to the cloud.”

simonbramfitt.com

The sleeping giant awakes – Microsoft gets desktop virtualization right

“Admittedly there are still a few kinks to iron out with the VDA licensing model. Most notably there is a problem with the way that Microsoft handles the difference between “corporate” and “non- corporate” devices. Microsoft defines a corporate device as one that was bought by the organization. Any non-SA eligible endpoint owned by the organization that needs to access a virtual desktop must have its own Windows VDA license. Which, kind of makes sense until you start to move away from desktop devices and down to smart phones; at which point it gets ugly fast. This isn’t anything to do with functionality; you can do a lot with the right smart phone today.  It’s more a matter of the intersection of policy and accounting.

Looked at from a personal perspective, my iPhone is MY iPhone (so it’s non-corporate), but my colleague’s Blackberry was bought by Gartner (that makes it corporate). They both do the same job more or less; I get better apps, he can type faster. But when we look at using them for remote access it gets very messy.   I will be able to take advantage of my laptop’s Windows SA license to access my virtual desktop from my non-corporate device, but my colleague can’t use ‘his’ Blackberry to access that same environment, without an additional VDA license. Of course we could avoid this by giving him $100 and telling him to go and buy his own phone but that’s not the point is it?  Still, with a couple of months to go before the July 1st launch it’s possible that we will see further changes to address this flaw.”

Closing Thoughts

Be sure to read all of the links in this post for more information, but these last few quotes pose some interesting ideas and viewpoints that stood out to me.

J.Tyler Rohrer, founder and COO of Liquidware Labs’ Stratusphere tool being used by many VMware Partners to assess VDI opportunities, blogs that 2010 is now officially the year of virtual desktops

Microsoft VDI Inertia

“As we all sit around this weekend and try to figure out “what does this mean for vendor XYZ” – relax a bit. What this means, in my opinion, is that every vendor needs to sharpen their pencils, products, and presentations because this now IS, the year of VDI.”

Quoting a quote seems like a violation of journalistic ethics, but, hey, I’m a blogger! Besides, this quote on the competition for VDI market share was too good not to mention again.
Microsoft, Citrix lure VMware customers with cutthroat promo

“One desktop virtualization integrator, Tony Wilburn at IT services company Betis Group, called the promotion a “desperate” attempt to generate buzz. He also said it has the added effect of elevating VMware.

“Has Microsoft ever before had to partner with another company in order to take on a rival?” Wilburn said. “When the No. 2 and No. 3 companies in the industry have to team up to take on the No. 1 player, doesn’t that make the one player look even stronger?””

It appears to me that Microsoft and Citrix aligned together for VDI have a fighting chance. I expect a lot of interest will be generated from the incentives of these joint promotions.

© Rich for Gestalt IT, 2010. | Partnership Of Microsoft And Citrix Intensify VDI Spotlight
Read more posts categorized as Desktop, Featured

Branch Repeater is the rebranding of the old WANScaler product, which, in its simplest form was a WAN acceleration product. The new branch repeater is still a WAN accelerator at heart;  however Citrix have added some clever branch office features as well as some new features for XenApp customers. From a topology perspective, you basically place a larger repeater appliance in your data centre and additional smaller repeater appliances in your branch office.  I was actually surprised to learn that this is not the only option available; there is also a repeater software plug-in for use by remote users.  The diagram below shows the basic topology overview.

Branch Office Operations

One of the most interesting aspects of the new branch repeater product is the branch-in-a-box concept.  You can purchase your Citrix Branch Repeater with Windows 2008 or Windows 2003 R2 built in.  This allows you to use your appliance to deliver DHCP, DNS, WINS, AD, DFS as well as file and print services through the onboard hard-drive.  Support for Microsoft’s read only domain controller configuration adds to the package, allowing you to actively consider consolidating an entire branch office infrastructure into one appliance.  Now it sounds like an appliance failure could have devastating consequences for your branch office and you’d probably be right.  It was one of the questions I had for the Citrix Consultants at the iForum, they informed me that you can cluster two appliances together for HA resilience.  Increases cost of course, but what price do you put on availability?

Citrix XenApp features

Citrix have added some nice features to encourage those of us who already use XenApp as a branch office delivery mechanism. ICA is already a very efficient protocol and Citrix have attempted to build on that with HDX IntelliCache and HDX Broadcast technologies.  HDX IntelliCache allows local caching and de-duplication of ICA traffic across multiple ICA sessions, it also allows for the local staging of XenApp streamed applications if that’s a technology you utilise.  HDX Broadcast on the other hand is the technology which optimises and gives granular control over the network elements of ICA.  The list of individual features is quite extensive so I won’t reproduce it,  you can check it out over at Citrix’s website by clicking the links above.  The benefits of the branch repeater when used with XenApp probably depend on the number of XenApp users in a branch or your current use of the technology. A branch with a small number of users may not see a benefit that justifies the cost, however  I can see immediate benefit if a branch office was to require expansion. Use these appliances and you probably wouldn’t need to change your WAN Links.  That has to work on the cost front!

Repeater Plug-in for Citrix Receiver

I mentioned the Repeater software plug-in earlier as this was one of the features that caught my eye, primarily because we have a lot of travelling Citrix users and home based users.  This part of the product set claims to “overcome bandwidth and latency limitations on WiFi, broadband and 3G Connections” while also delivering that high definition experience (HDX).  This in itself interests me enough to explore further, but then I find it also allows you to provide central administration of end devices covering software distribution and configuration settings.  It works seamlessly with the Citrix Access Gateway product and other leading VPN’s to optimise traffic within secure tunnelled network connections.  All in all it sounds brilliant and potentially allows you to deliver improvements for users who work outside the branch office, something that is becoming more common every day.

Conclusion

I mentioned before that this is a WAN Accelerator product at heart, with nice new shiny add-ons to meet a number of customer requirements.  I’m genuinely excited by this product as I think it has a place in companies global infrastructures, especially with remote data centres and Citrix based branch offices becoming more common place.  I myself am going to find this hard to sell to my current employer, mainly due to some nasty issues we once had with another WAN Accelerator called Riverbed.  However that was a long time ago and maybe the industry has moved on since then, maybe it’s time to take a fresh look.  Cost is the one thing I’m not 100% sure about at this point in time, there are a number of different models and it would appear that costs range from $5,000 for the branch side appliances to $11,500 for the data centre side appliances.

If anyone is using the Citrix Branch Repeater appliance, we’d love to hear about your experience of it and possibly you could clarify the cost element for us all.

© Craig for Gestalt IT, 2009. | Citrix Branch Repeater – WAN Acceleration / Branch office in a box
Read more posts categorized as Desktop, Featured, Networking, Server Virtualization

Since no company (except perhaps Salesforce.com) derives 100% of its revenues from cloud computing at this point, none can be called true cloud computing companies. But we can attempt to determine to what extent each has jumped into the market.

One might also include 3PAR, Compellent, NetApp, Cisco, HP, Dell, and other vendors of hardware used by cloud service providers. Others that might be included include Red Hat, Novell, Unisys, and Symantec.

Please leave a comment below if you have any suggestions. I envision this becoming a living list (perhaps a Wiki) in the future.

© Stephen Foskett for Gestalt IT, 2009. | The Public Corporate Face of Cloud Computing
Read more posts categorized as Cloud Computing, Exclusive, Featured, Top Story