Articles In Virtualization

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Microsoft unveiled the Windows 365 Link at its Ignite conference on November 19, 2024. This compact, fanless device is designed to provide seamless access to Windows 365 Cloud PCs, building upon the legacy of Windows CE, Microsoft's early thin client operating system. Key Benefits of Windows 365 Link: Accelerated Application Updates: With a Windows-based thin client, updates for applications like Microsoft Teams are managed centrally, ensuring users receive new features and improvements more rapidly tha... read more.

• December 06, 2024

By Josue Molina, Posted in Infrastructure, Support, Virtualization

I recently stumbled upon a Citrix Windows KMS license activation bug that I thought would be good to share along with a workaround. The bug appeared after I created machines from a Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Azure Edition virtual machine template using Citrix Machine Creation Services (MCS). The Windows Server 2022 Datacenter Azure Edition version was 21H2 (OS Build 20348.2322). The machines are created just fine, but when trying to log in to a virtual desktop, I noticed the “Activate Windows&rdq... read more.

• July 23, 2024

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Microsoft has released a public preview of a new optimization architecture for Microsoft Teams in Citrix Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Guided by extensive customer feedback, Microsoft re-architected Teams in Citrix VDI with a focus on modularity, decoupling, performance improvements, and streamlined support. It better aligns the experiences between physical and virtual desktops. Key Optimizations Advanced Features: The new SlimCore Media engine replaces WebRTC, enabling faster feature updates an... read more.

• July 18, 2024

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

In today's age of digital collaboration, using tools like Microsoft Teams in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments is more important than ever. We've recently had customers ask how well the new Teams client will work in VDI, especially with support for classic Teams ending on June 30th. The new Teams version has some great new features, but there's a catch: it isn’t fully supported on Windows Server 2019 and doesn't work on Windows Server 2016 at all. This can be tricky for businesses usi... read more.

• March 27, 2024

By Carlo Costanzo, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Recent developments from Broadcom regarding VMware's offerings have sparked significant discussions within our organization and our client base. As we dive deeper into these changes, I thought I would write this blog post to discuss two recent changes that I have been asked about and their potential impacts. The End of an Era: Discontinuation of ESXi Free With over a decade of availability, VMware has decided to discontinue the free version of its ESXi hypervisor (versions 7.x and 8.x), marking the end of... read more.

• February 16, 2024

By Carlo Costanzo, Posted in Security, Virtualization

During our internal tech brief, Tim Husar brought to everyone’s attention a new vulnerability announced by VMware. This critical issue involves an out of bounds write vulnerability in the implementation of the DCERPC protocol. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical Severity Range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8. The write vulnerability could allow a malicious actor to execute remote code. The issue affects most versions of vCenter in production and VMware has... read more.

• October 25, 2023

By Carlo Costanzo, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Content Libraries For those entrenched in virtualization, vSphere's Content Libraries are no stranger. Despite their glaring advantages, the adoption rate has been sluggishly low, primarily because of traditionalist tendencies. Yes, you guessed it right, I'm talking about those dedicated LUNs still holding ISOs like it's 2005. I get it, it's comfortable to stick with what you know, but hear me out: Content Libraries in vSphere aren't just a fancier vessel for your ISOs. They are the bedrock for a more robu... read more.

• September 20, 2023

By Carlo Costanzo, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Do you have any Raw Disk Mappings (RDMs) in your environment? If so, you might want to learn more about Clustered VMDKs. Clustered VMDKs vs RDMs Before Clustered VMDKs, clients would have to use RDMs to present a shared disk between VMs. RDMs were basically LUNs passed directly through the ESXi host to the Virtual Machines. The cluster software then handled writes and locking directly with the SAN. You could abstract the interactions a bit more by using Virtual Raw Disk Mappings (vRDMs), but the gist of t... read more.

• July 27, 2023

By Brian Wagner, Posted in Infrastructure, Virtualization

Gotham has been delivering secure applications to client machines for over 20 years. In the past, this was done primarily through local installs, published applications, and virtual desktops. However, the application landscape is changing, and applications are now being delivered from more sources to more destinations. This includes SaaS applications, applications delivered from multiple brokers, multiple operating systems, and policy-based variations of the above scenarios. One example of this change is t... read more.

• April 24, 2023

By Timothy Karl, Posted in Virtualization

On July 14, 2022, IGEL announced the general availability of Microsoft Teams optimizations in Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) using IEGL OS endpoints. IGEL OS is the first Linux-based OS to support Teams optimizations with AVD. Prior to this, the Teams optimizations were only available in the AVD clients for Windows 10/11 and macOS. The media optimizations for Teams allow for local offloading of audio and video for calls and meetings. This means that the audio and video traffic bypass the virtual desktop sessi... read more.

• September 13, 2022