Blog Posts

This year I was not able to attend Synergy, but I have been getting real time reports from friends and associates who are there. So, there will not be any notifications of failed demo's from me. I have been getting reports second hand from the show that Mark Templton has made some surprising comments and positioning on stage during the keynote.

Note!!!!! This is all second hand, call it FUD, bull or whatever you want. I was not there and did not hear it first hand.

First there was a demonstration of some of the existing and future capabilities of HDX. Things like Multimedia redirection that we have been shipping with View for some time now for RDP. During this part of the keynote there was a comparison to an unnamed protocol. I can only venture to guess that would be RDP and the comparison showed ICA performing better. Surprisingly there are reports that it was stated that the other protocol was equal to ICA on the LAN. Again, this is why I am assuming why the comparison was to RDP.

Afterwards, it was reported that was followed by a statement that PCoIP is better on the LAN than ICA. Of course, we would also agree with that.

If the reports are true which I hope they are, that only leaves the WAN and some outlying feature functionality. There is no question that the ICA team has been plugging away at WAN challenges for a long time. Some of that changes with PortICA as they work to unify the core protocol features between ICA and PortICA. That said, the bar is set.

Brian Madden's live blogging was one of the sources I saw the reports from. You can also follow along here....

Check out the 11:27 and 11:30 time stamp - http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/brianmadden/archive/2009/05/05/live-blogging-the-citrix-synergy-keynote.aspx

The biggest question many have is what VMware and Teradici are doing? I have not been doing the best job sharing information here as the 1:1 interaction has been a bit overwhelming.

One of my goals is to improve that. However, I was able to give both Brian Madden and Chris Wolf sneak peaks a few months back.

http://www.chriswolf.com/?p=239

http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/tv/archive/2009/02/26/brian-madden-tv-episode-3-vmworld-europe-2009-news-amp-wrap-up.aspx

For anyone that did not have the chance to see my VMwold presentation at VMworld EMEA. The goal is clear. Provide a dispaly protocol fit for users from the Task worker to the Designer. That includes both the LAN and the WAN. We do not want to just provide the best user experiance on the LAN but we also want to provide the best experiance on the WAN as well. Through our partnership and co-development with Teradici and based on the inital feedback we feel we are on the right track. In the end, cusotmers will have a broad array of solutions to choose from both physical and virtual including both tera enabled portals and soft clients all supported and managed with VMware View Manager.

Understand, anyone that has not seen what we have is skeptical and it is our responsibility to prove otherwise. Stay tuned for that, as we have more to come, and more to share and are working hard to bring it to you sooner rather than later.

Complexity is one the most important factors and considerations as people move more of their physical desktops toward virtual desktops. Complexity inherently introduces risk and increases the chance for failure and additional cost. One thing I have always said, is we are building and designing a solution from the ground up to enable a new way do doing things in a virtual world. We are not trying to retro fit legacy products to work in a virtual world.

One of the things that impresses me the most about the engineering talent at VMware is the level of effort and willingness to listen to customer needs and requirements and wring out the complexity ultimately simplifying things for the customer. This comes at price to us, it takes time, effort, willingness to listen, and a desire to provide customer focused service. All well worth the price.

Recently we worked with an "independent performance consultancy The Tolly Group" to compare the differences of what it takes to get a mission critical solution such as a Virtual Desktop solution up and running using VMware View or Citrix XenDesktop in a timely, efficient, cost effective manner.

The independent Tolly Group invited both VMware and Citrix to support them as they built VMware View 3 Premier and Citrix XenDesktop Enterprise 2.1 side by side to understand the level of effort required to get each solution deployed and up and running. Initially accepting the invitation, Citrix later decided not to participate. To help ensure the highest level of success we pointed Tolly to the Getting Started with Citrix XenDesktop 2.1 guide and other documentation publicly available on the Citrix web site.

Attached is the findings report and results from Tolly, which can also be obtained from the Tolly Group web site.

Citrix XenDesktop 3 was recently announced and mostly is comprised of adding more of the SpeedScreen technologies to PortICA as it lags in comparison to the feature functionality available from XenApp ICA. It also encompasses enhancements of other technologies such as MMR, called HDX MediaStream and USB enhancements, things we have been shipping with VMware View for some time now. Nothing in the announcement or the XenDesktop 3.0 documentation currently availalbe indicates any improvement of the complexity detailed in this Toll report.

As part of the VMware vClient initiative, VMware has announced a strategic partnership with Teradici to include Teradici's PC-Over-IP technology as part of VMware View.

VMware will license the Teradici PC-Over-IP display protocol and will work with Teradici to co-develop and expand PC-Over-IP.

The PC-Over-IP display protocol is breakthrough technology that truly delivers a PC experiance unlike any legacy protocol available today. Unlike traditional server based computing display protocols, PC-Over-IP was designed from the ground up to deliver a PC like experiance delivering capabilities that have challenged legacy display protocols for over a decade.

By working together, VMware and Teradici can deliver an uncompressed remote desktop experience over existing standard local area networks as well as high-latency wide area networks, and provide both integrated software and hardware implementations of Teradici's PC-over-IP solution.

This joint effort will enable IT organizations to include a broader set of use cases with their current desktop efforts using a single solution.

In effort to provide continued support for customer choice and heterogenous VMware View based solution offerings, VMware View and VMware, will also continue to support and collaborate with partners that offer alternative display protocol solutions such as HP - RGS, Microsoft - RDP, Sun Microsystems - Sun Ray and Panologic.

Despite the VECD licensing model having been availalbe for some time now, including a lot of content that explains how it works. It still seems to be plagued with a shroud of mystery.On a weekly basis it seems I get a report or question from a customer or partner that is struggling to get VECD pricing or a clear explanation on how it works.

Recently Microsoft updated some of the VECD content and it appears they have taken another stab at simplifying what is needed when purchasing VECD. They also cover several uses cases detailing how VECD devices should be licensed in several differant scenarios.

Click here for the new Microsoft VECD Quick Reference Guide

In addition, Patrick Rouse over at Provision recently went through the trial and tribulations for everyone and collected all of the VECD SKUs the SKUs Patrick's blog entry can be found here - Microsoft Licensing Requirements for Desktop Virtualization

Today I am excited to share VDM 2.1 has been released. We have quietly been working on this release and there was not a public beta. Although this release of VDM comes only a few short months after the initial release earlier this year there are quite a few exciting features.

Some of the features that have been added as as follows:

- Pools spanning datastores in order to better manage resources
- Localization of VDM Web Access and Client for Windows in Japanese and German
- Command line parameters for VDM Client
- Integrate MMR multimedia extensions DLL with VDM Client (Windows XP)
- Allow end users to change password
- Multiple sessions per user within a pool
- Improvements to logging
- Allow end users to restart their VM
- Defined process for bulk import of individual desktops
- VDM Configuration Backup (command-line only)
- Allow blocking of incoming RDP connections that are not from VDM Clients
- Allow VDM administrators to set default desktop (command line only)

More information, documentation and downloads can be found here:
http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vdi_pubs.html

Also in support of this release we have announced a certification program for thin client manufactures who want to integrate with VMware VDI using several integration methods that streamline the user experience and deployment of VMware VDI based solutions.
http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/thinclient.html

Today we have several exciting announcements surrounding VMware VDI. The first announcement sets the stage to broaden the VMware VDI ecosystem as we launch a thin client certification program for thin client manufactures wanting to integrate with VMware technologies. Though this program we will be abel to work more closely with thin client manufactures and integrate feature functionality at the client device level that offers an even more complete and integrated solution for customers looking to deploy VMware VDI.

This program has been in the works for some time with a primary goal to increase the value for our joint customers while at the same time simplifying the integration of a wide array of thin clients so customers have a more broad choice when making a client decision for their VMware VDI deployments. The thin client space is very broad offering a wide array of device types such as CE, XPe, Linux, ThinOS, Ultra Thin and Zero Client based devices. This program will allow thin client vendors from across the spectrum to offer a tightly integrated, tested and certified solution.

Chip PC, Computer Lab International (CLI), Devon IT, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, IGEL, NEC, Pano Logic, Praim by CompuMaster, Sun Microsystems, and Wyse are among the thin client vendors who will be certifying their clients as part of the new program.

One of the key components of the program allows us to accommodate the growing trend and move towards zero or ultra thin based clients. Typically these clients that have and an extremely small firmware or embedded OS and software or additional client connectivity is not installed locally. By taking an open approach and working closely with vendors in this space, customers will be able to choose clients devices that offer unique features that are only supported with a VMware VDI solution today and not integrated or tested with other VDI based solutions.

For more information see the following press release

I wanted to wait till the smoke cleared before sharing some thoughts regarding Microsoft opening the specifications on several of its APIs and communication protocols. Part of the released technology was the specification of RDP.

For VMware VDI, this is probably the most interesting of the released protocol specifications. The initial impact to customers may not be that obvious. However, over time, the benefits could be huge. RDP is the preferred protocol for accessing VMware VDI based desktops. Currently, this makes the most sense to leverage as there is no added cost in doing so which is typically the case with third party add on protocols.

Although getting the optimal performance in broad set of network conditions can be tricky, but it's quite adequate in the highest majority of desktop replacement use cases. RDP has always had virtual channels which allow a third party to add feature functionality to RDP. For example, with VDM 2 we developed a generic USB device redirector that allows you to connect most USB devices, not supported by RDP to a client access device and make them available for use with your VMware VDI virtual desktop.

In order for third parties to leverage virtual channels, you either needed a team of lawyers and a chunk of change or some really good engineers that could reverse engineer. For some time now there have been licensees of the RDP spec and others who reverse engineered it in effort to add value. This included people building feature add-ons as well as full RDP client implementations. Open Source efforts such as RDesktop and commercial efforts from companies such as WYSE, VMware, ThinAnywhere, Provision Networks, Sun Microsystems, Calista and others have all contributed to enhancing RDP.

Over three years ago I started researching the use of VMware virtualization as a way to better manage and deliver desktop computing and overcome traditional server based computing short falls. As we started meeting with customers and sharing the vision of VDI it was becoming clear Citrix had lost their seat at the table. Customers were concerned with the issues surrounding Citrix as a solution, such as complexity, application compatibility and loss of a personal computing experience.

VMware VDI was resonating with IT organizations and desktop management teams as an answer for more broad desktop deployments. I was a little surprised, as no one can take away Citrix's past contributions to server based computing. It's always been my opinion Citrix and Microsoft had become comfortable with their position and the direction they were leading customers and the market.

As VMware VDI emerged it was becoming clear this was what customers wanted. I had not seen such vast interest and adoption of a desktop solution in a long time. Despite Microsoft attempting to down play interest, VECD emerged. As Citrix lost ground trying to protect the Presentation Server stronghold, they finally broke down, did a 360 degree about face, and sank 500M on XenSource.

Since they have renamed their legacy products and are attempting to broaden their vision beyond just "Application Delivery". Here at VMware we are building things from the ground up with virtualization in mind, not trying to retro fit legacy solutions to fit in a virtual world. Since the emergence of VMware VDI, millions of dollars are going into the R&D of network delivered desktops and applications. The result is innovation that improves user experience, desktop management and choice for IT organizations.

What does this mean for Citrix? For years there have been the conspiracy theories that Microsoft will buy Citrix. Over the years I have seen less and less evidence or reason to believe this, but I guess it could happen. For some time now, I have said Citrix is getting squeezed from the top by VMware and squeezed from the bottom by Microsoft. The crown jewel for Citrix is ICA. Without that, there is not a lot there you can't get from other cheaper more simple alternatives.

With the acquisition of Calista by Microsoft, it's clear they intended to continue the enhancement of RDP. With the RDP spec now open, more and more engineers can come to the party and rapidly further enhance RDP improving its performance and features in a broad array of use cases. With the XenSource acquisition, Citrix has dipped a toe in the open source world. Now that Micosoft has openly published the RDP specification, will Citrix set ICA free? Do they have any other choice? What long term value does ICA have with so many big companies now able to enhance RDP and in fact, already doing so?

Currently I am traveling across Germany meeting with customers and partners. This morning, just after I finalized preparation for a presentation. I decided to hop over to dabcc.com for a quick peak at what is going on in the SBC and virtualization community.

The first article that caught my eye was an article from a system provider in South Africa, OAS. The OAS was offering a test drive of a VMware VDI virtual desktop, connecting through VDM 2 and a XenDesktop based desktop.

To set the stage here. When I am traveling I use a MAC. If I need to access my VMware VDI desktop I can remotely connect with it using Safari. I also have a local Windows based virtual machine I can use with Fusion if needed. Using my MAC from the meeting room, here in Germany I fired up Safari and browsed over to the the OAS site for XenDesktop access.

At first it appears XenDesktop could not detect what client I needed.

When the client detection failed I decided to try the manual client detection.

The client detection failed so I decided to go ahead and download it. It took about five minutes to download the MACICA_OSX.DMG.zip file. Once it competed, I decided to install it. At this point I got a little confused as the installer said it was installing the ICA client for Presentation Server. Am I connecting to Presentation Server or XenDesktop? I figured I would find out once the client was installed an I get the chance to connect with a desktop. Unfortunately, that did not happen though. For some reason the ICA client could not be installed?

After this, I decided to compare the out of box experience for VDM 2 delivering a desktop. First I put the VDM 2 URL in Safari. I was asked to accept a certificate from OAS as I have never been to their site before. After accepting the certificate I was presented with a login.

After entering the login info and launching the tunnel I was presented with a list of desktops I was entitled to use.

After selecting my desktop and connecting my desktop session was successfully connected.


In all fairness, MAC support for VDM 2 is only experimental. I am unsure and have not checked if XenDestkop is planning to support MAC clients once its released. It may have been unfair of me to expect XenDesktop to work from my MAC?