Moose Views December 2007

Cover Story: The Changing Face of Presentation Server
How New Viruses Get Named
Creating Guest Accounts For Visiting Relatives
What Does Windows Server 2008 Mean for Citrix?
Kind Things To Say When Someone Gives You A “Special” Gift...
Shop Online Safely With A Virtual Credit Card
Seasons' Greetings
Moose Logic Coming Events

(Moose Views is a monthly newsletter prepared by Moose Logic to bring you information and tips on maintaining a trouble-free network)

The Changing Face of Presentation Server

I thought it might be worthwhile here at the end of the year to summarize the changes we’ve seen over the past year in the Citrix Presentation Server family.

If you’re a Citrix user, you are probably aware of the release of Presentation Server v4.5 this past spring. Several things changed with this release:

Windows 2000 Server is not supported. If you want to run PS v4.5, you must upgrade to Windows Server 2003.
Presentation Server Standard Edition was discontinued. Customers running Standard Edition with current Subscription Advantage can upgrade to Advanced Edition at no additional cost (although the ongoing cost of Subscription Advantage will go up slightly).
Presentation Server Platinum Edition was introduced, and the “Access Suite” was discontinued. Platinum Edition rolls up Presentation Server Enterprise, Password Manager, Access Gateway with Advanced Access Control, and EdgeSight for Presentation Server into a single license. Since the introduction of Platinum, Citrix has added more features to it, such as session recording and click-to-call. It’s clear that this is going to be the “all-inclusive” version of the future.
Access Essentials v2.0 was introduced. This release eliminated three key objections people had about Access Essentials (“AE”): First, there is now an upgrade path out of AE to Presentation Server Enterprise when you outgrow the limits of AE (75 named users). Second, AE now supports multiple load-balanced servers, so your AE server no longer has to represent a single point of failure. Third, it is no longer necessary to run the software Secure Gateway and Web Interface on the AE server—you can put them on a separate server in your DMZ.

With the release of Presentation Server v4.5, the cost per concurrent user for Enterprise Edition went up from $400 to $450 (MSRP) to reflect the addition of application streaming to the product. Platinum Edition carries an MSRP of $600/user. (Of course, nobody in the real word pays MSRP, so the cost differential in the “street price” is less than $150.) For that additional less-than-$150 cost, you get Password Manager, “Universal” Access Gateway licenses (that can be used with any of the SSL/VPN appliance models and that include Advanced Access Control), EdgeSight (end-user performance monitoring), ICA Session Recording, Click-to-Call functionality (although you also need to purchase a gateway appliance to interface to your phone system), and whatever other cool features Citrix decides to wrap into Platinum Edition in the future. That strikes me as a pretty good deal.

If you need Presentation Server Enterprise features, and any one of the other components, you should probably just go ahead and buy Platinum Edition, just as you would buy one of the Microsoft Office Suites rather than buy the individual products that make up the Suite.

As always, if you have questions about Presentation Server features, or about the other components of Platinum Edition, just give us a call. We work hard to make sure we know all this stuff...so you don’t have to!

How New Viruses Get Named

Thousands of viruses are currently circulating on the Internet with more being discovered daily. So how does a virus get it’s name?

There is no official government body or organization that names viruses. In most cases, the anti-virus company that discovers it gets to name it; and, it’s a very competitive race to see who can discover new viruses first!

The criminals creating viruses like to leave clues as to what they want their virus to be named, but researchers who discover (and fight) them don’t give their authors the satisfaction of keeping the name. To hackers, creating a destructive, difficult to disable virus is a badge of honor. So instead of giving these cyber criminals the publicity they crave, virus researchers will name a virus based on the type of system it attacks, what it does, or other random reasons.

For example, the Code Red virus got its name from an eEye Digital Security researcher's beverage of choice -- the cola variety of Mountain Dew soft drink. Apparently he was drinking this the night he cracked the corruptive code.

Creativity aside, most anti-virus companies have policies and letter-number formulas for naming viruses because it’s becoming more and more difficult to come up with unique names for viruses. Symantec’s Norton anti-virus software currently has a catalogue of over 58,193 known viruses—and the number grows every day.

Creating Guest Accounts For Visiting Relatives

The holidays are right upon us and there’s a good chance some of your relatives will want to use your computer while visiting. If you want to give them access but don’t want them viewing your personal files, then you’ll need to set up a guest account. This will give them access to your programs, but not to your personal files. Here’s how (assuming you’re running Windows XP)…

Click the “Start” button then “Control Panel”. Double-click “User Accounts”, then click the “Guest Account” button. On the next window, click “Turn on the Guest Account”. That's it! The next time you log on, you'll be given a choice of your regular accounts or the Guest Account. Just have the in-laws select the Guest Account and your files are safe from their prying eyes. If they're really nosy, put a password on your account. Simply go back to the “User Accounts” window and click “Change an Account”. Choose your account, then click “Create a Password”. Enter the password twice, and a hint if you like. Repeat those steps for any account that you want to protect.

What Does Windows Server 2008 Mean for Citrix?

Ever since the Citrix / Microsoft deal that led to Windows NT4 Terminal Server Edition, we have heard predictions, with every subsequent Microsoft Server release, that this one will be the Citrix-killer. You’ll probably hear them again as we get closer to the release of Windows Server 2008. Are they right this time? In a word, no. At the Citrix iForum Conference at the end of October, I attended a session on the roadmap for Presentation Server and Windows Server 2008. On of the speakers was Joshua Schnoll, Microsoft’s Product Manager for Terminal Services. He said, and I quote, “If you’ve been running Presentation Server on Windows Server 2003, you’re going to want to run it on Windows Server 2008.” The value proposition is still there, and I think Citrix is smart enough to make sure that there is always a value proposition there.

This doesn’t imply anything negative toward Microsoft or Windows Server 2008. Beginning with Windows Server 2000, we’ve seen improvements in Terminal Services stability and performance with every release, and I fully expect Windows Server 2008 to be a better platform for Terminal Services than Windows Server 2003. What this means is that Microsoft recognizes the value of their partnership with Citrix, and the value that Citrix adds to Terminal Services. I expect that with Server 2008 we’ll see a few more cases where a single-server LAN-based deployment can be done quite well with Terminal Services alone. But if you’re running multiple servers, or connecting across a WAN or across the Internet, want context-sensitive access control, or more robust management features, you’re still going to want the features and functionality of Presentation Server. We’ll have more to say about this as we get closer to release...

Kind Things To Say When Someone Gives You A “Special” Gift...

“Hey, there’s a gift I would have never thought of buying for myself!”
“Boy, if I had not recently shot up four sizes, that would have fit!”
“Gosh, I hope this never catches on fire! It is fire season you know...there are lots of unexplained fires happening…”
“I love it—but I’m afraid wearing this will only inspire jealousy in others so I’ll have to keep it hidden away.”
“Boy! This is perfect... for my summer house!”
“I’m so glad you gave me this! The dog completely destroyed the last one I had...let’s hope he doesn’t get to THIS one...”
“I really don’t deserve this. Really.”
“Wouldn’t you know...it’s just my luck that this is the year I vowed to give all my gifts to charity!”
“I love this, but I’m highly allergic to it.”
“Well, well, well... what do we have here?!?!”

Shop Online Safely With A Virtual Credit Card

With the holidays here, I’m sure you are doing some of your shopping online. After all, who likes being stuck in mall traffic jams, going out in the cold, and standing in long checkout lines?

However, with identity theft and online scams at an all-time high, you may want to consider “virtual credit cards” to ensure a safer shopping experience. Citibank, Bank of America, and Discover all offer virtual credit card numbers that have spending limits. Once the limit is reached, the card will decline and the transaction will be rejected. This will prevent someone stealing your account number and charging large amounts.

Seasons' Greetings

You can have everything you want in life if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.” - Zig Ziglar

We believe that Zig is absolutely correct—and during this holiday season, we want to take a moment to thank everyone who has helped us nearly double in size this year. We look forward to helping you get what you want —or at least eliminating your computer problems!

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