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VMware View Security Server Limits

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The VMware View architecture with regard to Security Server has some confusing info. The documentation states that “Only one Connection Broker can be paired with a Security Server. Multiple Security Servers can be paired with one Connection Broker.” The confusion surrounds how many does “Multiple” mean.

I was initially asked this by an online acquaintance who has a unique View design challenge. They have an environment where there are providing virtual desktops to their users who work at various locations where they do not own the networks. This means multiple subnets accessing the View environment through NATs and Firewalls. Each subnet is then assigned a Connection Server, this design limits the number of connections per connection servers. Because of the configuration Security Servers are not necessarily required for connectivity they were deployed for security. Load-balancers are used to help route some of these connections and provide fail-over.  So it all comes down numbers for this specific question, how many Security servers can front a Connection server?

The answer came from Andre Leibovici via twitter, “as long you don’t channel connections via the CS there should not be a hard limit.”

So there you have it, the use cases for this are going to be few and far between, but other than the twitter exchange between Andre and I, I could not find any other mention of this on the interwebs. I hope this helps!

New Job and New Challenges

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 I have been with Tec-Pros aka Technician Professionals for the last 3 years, and it has been a wonderful experience. The friends I have made in the industry; vendors, co-workers, partners and customers have been amazing. But as all good things shall come to an end so to has my time here. I will be starting with EMC on Nov 4th as the newest edition to the vSpecialist team.

 I have worked for several types of companies throughout my career but never for a vendor. I am excited by this opportunity and can’t wait to see the new challenges that it will bring.  There have been a ton of smart and awesome people who have been vSpecialists before me and I can only hope to live up to the title. Whatever this next challenge brings my experiences at Tec-Pros have prepared me to face them.

 No doubt there are probably going to be questions I should be answering about where I am going and why, but the reality is it’s a great opportunity to do something that I love to do. I get to work as a strategic adviser for virtualization, talk about the technology and help customers make smart decisions about their IT road-maps. It’s what I do and what I am passionate about and as the saying goes if you do what you love for work it never seems like work. While I am sure there will be some cultural shifts going from a small professional services company shifting to a VAR to a massive vendor corporation, I will continue to talk about how the future of technology will help shape the enterprise. Plus I get the added benefit of some more time home with my family.

As I am very fond of saying the IT industry is a small community so no doubt our paths will cross again at some point and I will be just as willing to have a beer than and joke about whatever craziness is going on at the time. Until then I will see you on twitter.

2013 Predictions

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2013 The Year of ….

One of my many jobs is to look at technologies and evaluate them for inclusion in my companies portfolio. Do we add this solution or that solution, what direction is the cloud going to take us, what is the next big application to virtualize? I figured since I am doing this for work anyway I may as well post some predictions for this year here as well. Hope you enjoy, what are your 2013 Tech predictions?

Converged Infrastructure Lowers TCO on VDI making it a viable option

It is no small secret that I believe in Converged Infrastructure (CI) in fact I believe that as we see the per-desktop price drop for VDI solutions we will see the number of businesses moving towards it increase. It’s basic supply and demand, the current issue is cost while the software vendors have realized this and bundled server and concurrent desktop usage licenses together.  

Virtual Communications Suites show CAPEX returns

Mitel and now Avaya have virtual instances of their telephony solution, as budgets continue to shrink savings will be sought throughout any organization. The ability to utilize SIP and “future-proof” business critical voice services through software based solutions rather than physical hardware will show huge dividends in ROI. Forresters reported that Mitel has a 84% ROI in just 7.8 months that is a system that pays for itself. 

Citrix and Microsoft become One

I am not sure this will actually happen, but it makes a lot of sense. While Microsoft strengthens it’s virtual infrastructure footprint it will pressure Citrix into completely dissolving all hopes of XenServer (this is already done). Once Hyper-V is the sole host provider for Citrix XenDesktop (XenApp is already been killed off by Citrix) they will look to consume the remainder of the solution because Microsoft virtual desktop has issues with scaling which is why they need Citrix now. In true Microsoft fashion I see them buying the solution to their problem rather than fixing it and Citrix is the logical choice. Now what to do with the Netscaler?

Microsoft further shuns OEMs

It’s already started with the Surface, Microsoft is moving towards an Apple-esque model of Hardware & Software manufacturer. Making a move on the Enterprise side of the business will be tougher, but if they do acquire Citrix than the Netscaler can be one of their first big transition show pieces. Other products are sure to follow in years to come but I think this year we will see the start of more Microsoft Hardware offerings.

Hybrid Cloud Adoption becomes the new standard

The cost of owning and managing a fully redundant private cloud is to high to not look at what public cloud offers. The initial moves will be non-business critical applications, but as the cloud application development cycle starts producing more and more winners larger moves will take place. Last year saw a huge jump in the number of apps being developed in the cloud that would indicate that this year should be the year that these apps come to market. The cloud is coming there is no doubt about it but security concerns will keep the most used model hybrid until those get resolved or the cost savings offset the risks.

3D Television and movies die off … again

This is really more of a personal wish than anything that I would predict, wishful thinking and all that.