New Release: XenServer 5.6 Feature Pack 1 Beta "Project Cowley"

The entire XenServer product team is pleased to announce the release of XenServer 5.6 Feature Pack 1 Beta “Project Cowley” to MyCitrix.com. The landing page for this release can be found here and contains links to all relevant resources for this release. The ISO downloads, Virtual Appliances, Beta license file and the beta documentation can all be found at the appropriate downloads section on MyCitrix.com. For external communication the use of the landing page URL is preferred.

What’s New in this release

Feature highlights for this beta release are:

·    Distributed Virtual Switching Integrated, Open vSwitch technology provides distributed fine-grained networking configuration and control policies – increasing visibility into XenServer virtual networks and providing a centralized Controller for administration of multiple vSwitches and cross-host internal networks. The open vSwitch also includes support for jumbo frames configuration on storage networks.

·    VM Protection and Recovery Policy based snapshotting and archiving of selected VMs across a XenServer resource pool enables administrators to schedule and recover when needed from the XenCenter management console.

·    Web Self-Service Portal Allows XenServer administrators to delegate VM rights to select individuals and enables users to request and access VMs via a simple to use web-based portal.

·    XenDesktop performance improvements Further enhances the best-in-class performance for XenDesktop on XenServer including local storage caching for better TCO and increased scalability via performance tuning in the control domain (requires a future version of XenDesktop to use).

·    Enhanced XenCenter Including StorageLink configuration entirely within XenCenter, workload reporting for VM utilization and chargeback.

·    Boot from SAN with multi-pathing support Boot XenServer hosts with Fibre Channel and iSCSI HBAs from a SAN, with multi-pathing support.

·    HA Restart Priority Configure HA policies to restart specific VM(s) first, such as StorageLink Gateway VMs or the Distributed vSwitch Controller VM.

·    Enhanced guest OS support for Windows 7 SP1, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, RHEL 6.0 (RTM), CentOS 6.0 (RTM), Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.0 (RTM), Debian Squeeze (32 and 64-bit), and SLES 11 SP1. Generic RHEL 5.x support..RHEL / CentOS / Oracle Enterprise Linux 5.0- 5.5 support with a generic “RHEL 5” template.

Please read the release notes and documentation for more details.

Support

Partner and customer support for this beta will be provided through the Cowley support forums which will be monitored by several members of the PM and engineering teams. The external bugtracker will also be utilized for collecting information from the field (see the announcement section on the forum for more details).

Post-Beta Deliverables

We are currently working hard to have an updated Evaluation Virtual Appliance available which will include the latest WLB and SL components as well as a pre-installed beta license file. We expect that the updated EVA will be available over the next couple of days.

Application Virtualization Smackdown

Great article by Ruben Spruijt and a link to another great white paper. This time its the Application virtualisation products that are under the microscope. A worthwhile read for anyone who deal with application delivery on a daily basis.

http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/rubenspruijt/archive/2010/09/23/application-virtualization-smackdown-head-to-head-analysis-of-endeavors-citrix-installfree-microsoft-spoon-symantec-and-vmware.aspx

Overland Storage SnapSAN S2000 Is Verified as Citrix Ready

Overland Storage SnapSAN S2000 Is Verified as Citrix Ready. This is a new iSCSI SAN Solution Optimized for Virtualized Server Environments Is Trusted to Enhance Citrix Networking and Virtualization Solutions.

http://www.crosspollinate.org/view?title=Overland+Storage+SnapSAN+S2000+Is+Verified+as+Citrix+Ready&iframe=http://wik.io/info/US/214831598

Depending on pricing this could be an interesting contender in the virtualisation space.

Product Overview:

Form Factor	S2000: 2U rackmount | E2000: 2U rackmount
System Scalability	SAS: 1.2TB - 57.6TB | SATA: 12TB - 192TB Support for 300GB SAS, 500GB SATA, and D-Drive
Processing	Quad Core Intel Xeon Processor
Drive Types	S2000: Up to 12 SATA or SAS drives | E2000 Expansions: Up to 12 SATA or SAS drives (sold in 4-packs)
RAID Levels	0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60
Access Method	Access as a local device via iSCSI
Capabilities	Remote Management, Windows Integration, Mirroring, Replication, Snapshots, Auto-Provisioning, VMware Plugin

VirtualSharp - ReliableDR

An interesting article regarding a new VMware DR product released by VirtualSharp. With lots of DR products on the market it will be interesting to see how this fairs in the market place.

VirtualSharp software creates a virtual datacentre on the fly to ensure delivery of IT after a major breakdown, such as a cyber attack, terrorism or a natural disaster.

"We wanted to shift the paradigm on disaster recovery", said Virtual Sharp CEO Carlos Escapa. "In traditional disaster recovery, SLAs were measured in time. But time objectives are not commitments, organisations wanted to know how quickly they could get services up and running after a disaster – they wanted more predictability."

http://news.techworld.com/virtualisation/3239478/new-company-offers-virtualised-datacentre-on-the-fly/?olo=rss

Citrix and Cisco Joint Solution video

Cisco, Citrix and NetApp vs. VMware...Ding Ding...Round 1

Cut Costs with Desktop Virtualization Solutions

Cisco and Citrix combine forces for comprehensive desktop virtualization solutions that make it easier and more cost-effective to deliver high-definition virtual desktops and applications to users across the enterprise.

Citrix Systems is a leading provider of virtual computing solutions. Citrix combines virtualization, networking, and cloud computing technologies into a full portfolio of products that help enable:

• Virtual work styles for users
• Virtual data centers for IT

Cisco compute and networking solutions have been validated with Citrix XenDesktop. Together, they deliver desktops and applications on demand, anywhere, anytime, and on any device, to help increase productivity for a global workforce.

Deployed on a platform built from the beginning to support virtualized environments, this solution:

• Delivers exceptional user experience.
• Helps IT organizations make desktop operations centralized, highly secure, and compliant
• Better supports the vital aspect of business: people

Virtual Desktop
Get enterprise-scale virtual desktop solutions with the Cisco Unified Computing System and Citrix XenDesktop software. You can balance both:

• User needs for more mobility, flexibility, self-service, and choice
• IT needs to centralize desktop infrastructure, help secure mission-critical data, and respond quickly to changing requirements.

The Cisco Data Center Designs: Desktop Virtualization solution with Citrix XenDesktop helps enable:

• Increased mobility, flexibility, and productivity for your global workforce
• High-performance, scalable, and agile infrastructure
• Exceptional user experiences facilitated by Citrix HDX technology
• Highly secure IT operations and increased compliance by centralizing desktop infrastructure and enterprise-critical data

At a glance
Cisco Desktop Virtualisation Solution with Citrix Xendesktop 1MB
Solutions Overview
Cisco Desktop Virtualisation Solution with Citrix Xendesktop 3MB

Free Download: Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions 2^nd edition is available a free ebook download. 

Updates in this version:

• Smaller in file size: 10.8MB vs 14.7MB
• Longer in page count:  466 pages (instead of 459)
• Updated for Windows Server 2008 R2/Hyper-V R2
• Overview of Hyper-V R, System Requirements for Hyper-V R2
• Chapter on Working with Live Migration
• Review of Microsoft VDI
• Overview of Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R, System Requirements for VMM 2008 R2
• Chapter on Working with VMM 2008 R2
• Overview of Windows Virtual PC Mode

 

DOWNLOAD: Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions (Second Edition)

 

Chapters at a glance:

• Chapter 1: Why Virtualization?
• This chapter provides an overview of Microsoft’s integrated virtualization solution and how it plays a key role in Dynamic IT, Microsoft’s strategy for enabling agile business. The chapter also describes the benefits businesses can achieve through virtualization and how Microsoft’s virtualization platforms, products and technologies can help these businesses move their IT  infrastructures toward the goal of Dynamic IT.
• Chapter 2: Server Virtualization
• This chapter covers the Hyper-V role of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and how these platforms can be used to manage virtualization server workloads in the datacenter. The chapter explores features of Hyper-V including the new Live Migration feature of Windows Server 2008 R2. It also describes the benefits of deploying Hyper-V, and various usage scenarios.
• Chapter 3: Local Desktop Virtualization
• This chapter describes various Microsoft virtualization technologies that enable client operating systems and applications to run within a virtualized environment hosted on the user’s computer. The platforms and products covered in this chapter include Windows Virtual PC and the Windows XP Mode environment, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V), and Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V).
• Chapter 4: Remote Desktop Virtualization
• This chapter describes various Microsoft virtualization technologies that enable client operating systems and applications to run within a virtualized environment hosted on a server located in the datacenter. The platforms and products covered in this chapter include Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), and App-V for Remote Desktop Services.
• Chapter 5: Virtualization Management
• This chapter describes how System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2008 can be used to centrally manage all aspects of a virtualized IT infrastructure. The chapter explains how VMM works and explores how to use the platform to manage virtual machines running on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V servers. The chapter also describes the benefits of the other members of the System Center family of products.
• Chapter 6: Cloud Computing
• This chapter examines Microsoft’s emerging cloud computing platform, how it works, and what benefits businesses can obtain from it. The chapter examines both private and public cloud solutions including Windows Azure, and describes how Microsoft’s Dynamic Data Center Toolkit can be used to integrate cloud computing as a part of your virtualized IT infrastructure.