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Volume 4, Issue 9 - November, 2009 - © 2009 by Moose Logic, All Rights Reserved
Cover Story: Citrix Fine-Tunes XenDesktop 4 Licensing
Fun November Facts
Are Your Backups Good? (Are You Sure?)
Leaving Your Pet Home When You Travel
A Parrot's Thanksgiving
Moose Logic Coming Events
November Recommended Reading
(Moose Views is a monthly newsletter prepared by Moose Logic to bring you information and tips on maintaining a trouble-free network)
Citrix Fine-Tunes XenDesktop 4 Licensing
In last month’s article about XenDesktop 4 (“XD4”), we told you that XD4 was moving toward a
strict per-user licensing model, rather than the concurrent-use model that Citrix products
have been using since forever. Since their initial news release, however, Citrix has
modified that position, and made some changes in how XD4 can be licensed.
First of all, XD4 Enterprise and Platinum Editions can now be licensed in either per-user or per-device mode. The per-device mode has obvious benefits in, say, classroom situations where a single device will be shared by multiple users, a clinical workstation in a hospital that is used by multiple users, or a factory floor where different shifts come and go. This aligns very closely with the Microsoft RDS CAL licensing model. (RDS, or Remote Desktop Services, is the new name for Terminal Services.) If a given use case would be more economically licensed using per-device RDS CALs, then per-device licensing for XD4 will probably make more sense as well.
A user who has been assigned a user license is entitled to use an unlimited number of devices to access an unlimited number of desktops. A device that has been assigned a device license can be used by an unlimited number of users. Just as is the case with Microsoft RDS CALs, user licenses can be reassigned permanently if a licensed user leaves the organization, or temporarily if a licensed user is absent for a protracted period of time. Likewise, a device license can be reassigned if a device must be replaced, or reassigned temporarily while a device is being repaired.
Customers can have both user and device licensing in the same enterprise, and licenses may be switched from user to device and vice-versa after 90 days. Once you reassign a license from one type to the other, you must wait at least another 90 days before you can switch back.
Just in case that’s not confusing enough, the low-end XD4 “VDI Edition” – which supports only VDI deployments and does not include any of the XenApp or “FlexCast” functionality – can be licensed in per-user or per-device or concurrent mode. Concurrent licenses for the VDI Edition can be upgraded to either user or device licenses for XD4 Enterprise or Platinum Edition. However, within the VDI Edition, you cannot convert VDI concurrent licenses to VDI user or device licenses, nor can you convert VDI user or device licenses to VDI concurrent licenses. (Whew!)
License Management
Device licenses are assigned by manually adding a unique device identity to a device log. This device log must be manually maintained as devices come and go. User licenses leverage Active Directory – you create and maintain a specific OU for your licensed users.
One wrinkle that you may not be aware of is the concept of “overdraft” licenses. Citrix will actually grant one overdraft license for every 10 licenses that you allocate to a license file. These overdraft licenses are automatically rolled into the license file when it’s generated, and are displayed in a separate column of the License Management Console. The allocation of an overdraft license is recorded in the XenDesktop event log, but you won’t know unless you go looking for it – there is currently no alerting system that would proactively tell you that it’s happened. I would expect that, at some point, Citrix will build in some kind of overdraft alert.
Bear in mind that the overdraft licenses are not intended to let you, on an ongoing basis, exceed the license count you purchased. They’re intended to prevent the situation where a user is denied service because of a temporary spike in usage, or because a license hasn’t been properly allocated or re-allocated, and give you time to purchase additional licenses before the lack of available licenses becomes a crisis. Bottom line here is that if you think you’re getting close to your maximum license count, you should probably check the License Management Console from time to time to see how many licenses are actually in use, and whether you’re into your overdraft pool.
First of all, XD4 Enterprise and Platinum Editions can now be licensed in either per-user or per-device mode. The per-device mode has obvious benefits in, say, classroom situations where a single device will be shared by multiple users, a clinical workstation in a hospital that is used by multiple users, or a factory floor where different shifts come and go. This aligns very closely with the Microsoft RDS CAL licensing model. (RDS, or Remote Desktop Services, is the new name for Terminal Services.) If a given use case would be more economically licensed using per-device RDS CALs, then per-device licensing for XD4 will probably make more sense as well.
A user who has been assigned a user license is entitled to use an unlimited number of devices to access an unlimited number of desktops. A device that has been assigned a device license can be used by an unlimited number of users. Just as is the case with Microsoft RDS CALs, user licenses can be reassigned permanently if a licensed user leaves the organization, or temporarily if a licensed user is absent for a protracted period of time. Likewise, a device license can be reassigned if a device must be replaced, or reassigned temporarily while a device is being repaired.
Customers can have both user and device licensing in the same enterprise, and licenses may be switched from user to device and vice-versa after 90 days. Once you reassign a license from one type to the other, you must wait at least another 90 days before you can switch back.
Just in case that’s not confusing enough, the low-end XD4 “VDI Edition” – which supports only VDI deployments and does not include any of the XenApp or “FlexCast” functionality – can be licensed in per-user or per-device or concurrent mode. Concurrent licenses for the VDI Edition can be upgraded to either user or device licenses for XD4 Enterprise or Platinum Edition. However, within the VDI Edition, you cannot convert VDI concurrent licenses to VDI user or device licenses, nor can you convert VDI user or device licenses to VDI concurrent licenses. (Whew!)
License Management
Device licenses are assigned by manually adding a unique device identity to a device log. This device log must be manually maintained as devices come and go. User licenses leverage Active Directory – you create and maintain a specific OU for your licensed users.
One wrinkle that you may not be aware of is the concept of “overdraft” licenses. Citrix will actually grant one overdraft license for every 10 licenses that you allocate to a license file. These overdraft licenses are automatically rolled into the license file when it’s generated, and are displayed in a separate column of the License Management Console. The allocation of an overdraft license is recorded in the XenDesktop event log, but you won’t know unless you go looking for it – there is currently no alerting system that would proactively tell you that it’s happened. I would expect that, at some point, Citrix will build in some kind of overdraft alert.
Bear in mind that the overdraft licenses are not intended to let you, on an ongoing basis, exceed the license count you purchased. They’re intended to prevent the situation where a user is denied service because of a temporary spike in usage, or because a license hasn’t been properly allocated or re-allocated, and give you time to purchase additional licenses before the lack of available licenses becomes a crisis. Bottom line here is that if you think you’re getting close to your maximum license count, you should probably check the License Management Console from time to time to see how many licenses are actually in use, and whether you’re into your overdraft pool.
Fun November Facts
You
probably thought November was all about Thanksgiving, right? But you may not have known that
November also is...
- American Diabetes Month
- Aviation History Month
- Diabetic Eye Disease Month
- Epilepsy Awareness Month
- Family Stories Month
- Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month
- Lung Cancer Awareness Month
- Month of the Military Family
- National Adoption Month
- National AIDS Awareness Month
- National Alzheimer's Disease Month
- National American Indian Heritage Month
- National Family Caregivers Month
- National Georgia Pecan Month
- National Inspirational Role Models Month
- National Lifewriting Month
- National Long-Term Care Awareness Month
- National Pomegranate Month
- National Roasting Month
- National Scholarship Month
- Peanut Butter Lovers' Month
- Pet Cancer Awareness Month
- Prematurity Awareness Month
- Vegan Month
Are Your Backups Good? (Are You Sure?)
If you’re like most businesses, you have some kind of data backup strategy in place. And, if you’re like most businesses, it likely involves a tape drive of some kind. And if it does, you’re probably less than 100% happy with it.Let’s face it—tapes are old technology. Hard drives are cheap these days, so we buy lots of capacity. Since the capacity is there, it gets used. Now we have to back it up—and large-capacity tape drives are expensive. Large capacity tape auto-loaders, which you’ll need once your backups exceed the capacity of a single tape (unless you want to stick around and change the tape) are even more expensive.
Writing to tapes can also be slow, which means that frequently the night isn’t long enough anymore to complete all the backups. Which means they’re still running, eating up processing power and network bandwidth, when people are trying to work the next morning.
On top of that, tape backups have a 100% failure rate — ALL tape backups will fail at some point. Tapes wear out. Tape drives get dirty and wear out. Typically only about a third of companies test their backup tapes by doing test restores. Of those that do, 77% have found failures. The rest won’t know that their backups are no good until they have a disaster and need to restore from them.
That’s not a good time to find out, because 93% of companies that lose their data for 10 days or more end up filing for bankruptcy within a year.
And even if you’re doing everything right with your tapes, what happens if…
- The tape drive you bought three years ago malfunctions and can no longer read the tapes — and it’s now obsolete and you can’t find a replacement?
- The tapes become corrupted due to heat or mishandling?
- Someone accidentally formats or overwrites a critical tape?
- A faulty sprinkler system soaks everything in your office?
- A disgruntled employee deliberately erases everything, or a thief breaks in and steals everything?
- Your office is completely destroyed by fire, flood, earthquake, or other natural disaster?
In general, we think that hard disk-based backups are preferable to tape-based backups for most small and medium enterprises. Capacities are higher, disks are less expensive, and backups complete faster.
If you really want tapes for long-term archives, you’re probably better off with a two-stage strategy—back up to disks, then go from there to tape. At least that way you can schedule that second stage pretty much any time without affecting your production network.
The one thing you can’t do is be complacent about it. You’ve got to back up your data, you’ve got to test the integrity of your backups, and you’ve got to get a copy of the data out of the building.
Leaving Your Pet Home When You Travel
This is a subject that’s near and dear to the heart of your author, because after being
dog-less for six months (after our elderly shepherd-lab went to dog heaven last April) we
once again have a healthy, active dog in the family. He’s a 2-year old shepherd-something
mix that we got from the NOAH shelter near Stanwood — a wonderful place,
by the way, and worthy of our support. We’re delighted to have Zeke around, but it does
complicate any trip planning we do.
If you’re planning a holiday trip, and trying to figure out what to do with your furry buddy, perhaps these tips will help.
When planning a trip, you may be able to take your pet with you. But often, this is stressful for you and your pet, and logistically may be near to impossible. If you decide to leave your pet at home while you are gone, you have several alternatives: a kennel, a family member or friend who can look after your pet, or a pet sitter.
If you choose to board your pet in a kennel, be sure to get references and inspect the facilities first. You can get recommendations from your veterinarian or a local shelter. Find out whether your state requires inspections and whether your selected kennel has passed an inspection and meets mandated standards.
For you East Siders, we’ve heard good things about both the Academy for K-9 Behavior in Bothell and the PetSmart store in Woodinville from family members who have boarded their dogs there—but don’t take my word for it, do your own due diligence.
Editor's Note: Moose Views reader Pete Prekeges also recommends the Bone-A-Fide kennel in Snohomish. Pete sent us this information after reading the printed version of the newsletter, so only you on-line readers are getting the benefit of his input. Thanks, Pete!
Your pet should be able to accept basic commands and should be well socialized around other people and pets to be a good candidate for a kennel. He should also be current on vaccinations. If you are planning a long trip, a short stay at the kennel a week or two ahead of time can help your pet get used to the environment. This will also let you know if your pet has any problems with being away from home.
If you choose to drop your pet off at a family member's or friend's home, you should also take some of these same basic precautions. If the home has small children, spend some time beforehand playing with your pet and the kids. This will give them both a chance to learn how to properly interact with each other. You can bring your pet's bedding, bowls, and toys along as well (and maybe a well-worn T-shirt that smells like you). You will also need to make sure that any existing pets in the home get along well with your pet.
If
you are hiring a pet sitter, get references and interview the candidate beforehand. A pet
sitter is a great option for pets that are elderly, need special care, or are timid. If you
are going to be gone during the holidays, be sure to make reservations with your pet sitter
early, as these are traditionally very busy times of the year. Leave clear instructions
regarding the care of your pet, along with emergency contact information, and a way to
contact you. You should have the pet sitter come over for an hour or two before your planned
trip to get acquainted with your home, the location of pet supplies, and to spend some time
getting to know your pet.
Also, unless you’re paying the sitter to be there 100% of the time you’re gone, give some thought to what will happen when the pet sitter is not there. Is your animal OK when left alone in the house? (This tends to be more of an issue with dogs than with cats.)
Sometimes inappropriate behavior (like chewing up the coffee table) can be prevented by having a pet crate—but, again, make sure you gradually accustom the dog to the crate. Don’t put him in a crate and expect him to stay in it for eight hours straight the first time!
Whichever option you choose, by planning ahead and giving your pet a chance to get used to the change in daily routine, you should be able to have an enjoyable and guilt-free trip.
If you’re planning a holiday trip, and trying to figure out what to do with your furry buddy, perhaps these tips will help.
When planning a trip, you may be able to take your pet with you. But often, this is stressful for you and your pet, and logistically may be near to impossible. If you decide to leave your pet at home while you are gone, you have several alternatives: a kennel, a family member or friend who can look after your pet, or a pet sitter.
If you choose to board your pet in a kennel, be sure to get references and inspect the facilities first. You can get recommendations from your veterinarian or a local shelter. Find out whether your state requires inspections and whether your selected kennel has passed an inspection and meets mandated standards.
For you East Siders, we’ve heard good things about both the Academy for K-9 Behavior in Bothell and the PetSmart store in Woodinville from family members who have boarded their dogs there—but don’t take my word for it, do your own due diligence.
Editor's Note: Moose Views reader Pete Prekeges also recommends the Bone-A-Fide kennel in Snohomish. Pete sent us this information after reading the printed version of the newsletter, so only you on-line readers are getting the benefit of his input. Thanks, Pete!
Your pet should be able to accept basic commands and should be well socialized around other people and pets to be a good candidate for a kennel. He should also be current on vaccinations. If you are planning a long trip, a short stay at the kennel a week or two ahead of time can help your pet get used to the environment. This will also let you know if your pet has any problems with being away from home.
If you choose to drop your pet off at a family member's or friend's home, you should also take some of these same basic precautions. If the home has small children, spend some time beforehand playing with your pet and the kids. This will give them both a chance to learn how to properly interact with each other. You can bring your pet's bedding, bowls, and toys along as well (and maybe a well-worn T-shirt that smells like you). You will also need to make sure that any existing pets in the home get along well with your pet.
If
you are hiring a pet sitter, get references and interview the candidate beforehand. A pet
sitter is a great option for pets that are elderly, need special care, or are timid. If you
are going to be gone during the holidays, be sure to make reservations with your pet sitter
early, as these are traditionally very busy times of the year. Leave clear instructions
regarding the care of your pet, along with emergency contact information, and a way to
contact you. You should have the pet sitter come over for an hour or two before your planned
trip to get acquainted with your home, the location of pet supplies, and to spend some time
getting to know your pet.Also, unless you’re paying the sitter to be there 100% of the time you’re gone, give some thought to what will happen when the pet sitter is not there. Is your animal OK when left alone in the house? (This tends to be more of an issue with dogs than with cats.)
Sometimes inappropriate behavior (like chewing up the coffee table) can be prevented by having a pet crate—but, again, make sure you gradually accustom the dog to the crate. Don’t put him in a crate and expect him to stay in it for eight hours straight the first time!
Whichever option you choose, by planning ahead and giving your pet a chance to get used to the change in daily routine, you should be able to have an enjoyable and guilt-free trip.
A Parrot's Thanksgiving
Shortly before Thanksgiving, a man was given a gift of a parrot for his birthday. While he
liked the parrot, it did have a foul mouth and a bad attitude. The man tried everything to
try to clean up the parrot's language, but nothing seemed to work.
Finally, one day, he couldn't take it anymore. In desperation, he grabbed the parrot, shoved him into the freezer, and shut the door. The bird squawked for a few minutes, but then grew very quiet. The man, afraid he had hurt the parrot, quickly opened the door.
The parrot stepped onto his arm and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am sincerely sorry and will correct my unforgivable behavior."
The man was surprised, but very pleased. He was about to ask the bird what caused this change in attitude, when the parrot continued, “and may I ask what the turkey did?"
Finally, one day, he couldn't take it anymore. In desperation, he grabbed the parrot, shoved him into the freezer, and shut the door. The bird squawked for a few minutes, but then grew very quiet. The man, afraid he had hurt the parrot, quickly opened the door.
The parrot stepped onto his arm and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am sincerely sorry and will correct my unforgivable behavior."
The man was surprised, but very pleased. He was about to ask the bird what caused this change in attitude, when the parrot continued, “and may I ask what the turkey did?"
