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These are a few of my favorite things: Podcasts

Posted on March 6, 2015 3:05 pm by Phillip Jones Comment
I drive… a lot and one of my favorite things to do when driving is listen to training and podcasts. There are a lot of good podcasts out there and I decided to post some of them that I listen to and ask what podcasts you listen to…

I am only going to list the ones that are technology related for me, mostly focused on VMware, Citrix and end user computing (EUC). I have broken them up into groups below. I also encourage you to join live when you can, sometimes the best moments are after the recordings stop 🙂

IT – Lots of topics covered
- The Current Status
- Geek Whisperers
- Size Matters
Virtualization
- vBrownBag- Not really a podcast but worth listening and watching
- VMware Communities Roundtable – Long running podcast with over 300 episodes
- Virtualization Security Roundtable
Other
- Ted Talks – Lots of great things to listen to – not specifically a Tech related but a wealth of great topics to listen to
EUC – End User Computing
- EUC Podcast
- Frontline Chatter Podcast
- Ask Eric by +xenappblog
There are others I listen to and the EUC ones are fairly new and I am looking forward to seeing how those develop.

This isn’t all of them that I listen to but now my question to you is what podcasts or things do you listen to?
Citrix EUC Podcasts Technology VMware
Login VSI 4.0 Released

Posted on May 2, 2013 2:31 pm by Phillip Jones Comment

Login VSI is one of the leaders in testing EUC solutions such as Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View. Many of the industries standard benchmarks and whitepapers use Login VSI as the standard in testing. Login VSI announced version 4 (v4) as the latest release marking new features in the product.

Amsterdam, May 2, 2013 – Login VSI B.V. announces version 4 (v4), a major new release of its flagship product Login VSI, the industry standard performance and scalability testing tool for Virtual Desktop Infrastructures and Server Based Computing environments.

The design of this new version has been driven by extensive customer feedback programs, and production testing projects executed at multiple customer and vendor sites, including the tests done for the acclaimed independent research project Virtual Reality Check. Login VSI v4 makes testing of VDI and SBC environments easier and more realistic than ever before.

Citrix also announced recently the End of Life for EdgeSight for Load Testing at the end of 2013 as well as guidance of using tools such as Login VSI for proper testing. Please note that EdgeSight is not currently being discontinued, just the load testing component.

EdgeSight for Load Testing is maintained and supported as follows:

Code level maintenance of this component is typically delivered in the form of minor versions or hotfixes. When an updated version is released, it will supersede the previous versions unless otherwise noted by Citrix. Citrix will typically support one version back (the current version and the previous version) but maintenance will only occur on the most recent version. Often to resolve specific issues, Citrix may require upgrading to the latest version. Functionality in previous product versions will not be modified, enhanced or altered once an updated version is available.

Upgrade path: The upgrade path is relatively straightforward. For example, the components may be upgraded from the previous version to the next version by running the installation program for the next version.

Forward looking guidance: The load testing component is being discontinued and will not be included in XenApp and XenDesktop releases in 2013 and beyond. Citrix will be recommending the use of other commercially available load testing tools like Login VSI. EOM and EOL dates are as follows:

EOM: 30-Jun-2013
EOL: 31-Dec-2013

New Features:

The design of this new version has been driven by extensive customer feedback programs, and production testing projects executed at multiple customer and vendor sites, including the tests done for the acclaimed independent research project Virtual Reality Check. Login VSI v4 makes testing of VDI and SBC environments easier and more realistic than ever before.

Improved ease of installation

The test image footprint of Login VSI has been reduced by almost 90%. This makes the tool not only easier to install, but also easier to integrate and deploy. Centralization of management, updates and logging makes the use of Login VSI more efficient than ever. Direct Desktop Launch (DDL) mode enables large-scale testing with minimal infrastructure.

Improved ease of test creation

The new intuitive and workflow oriented user interface of Login VSI v4 offers step-by-step test creation and wizard based test configuration for all important brokers and languages. The new workload editor introduces a new meta language which makes the customization of workloads very transparent and efficient. The new benchmarking mode enforces strict testing standards, providing industry standard results that are objective, comparable and repeatable.

Improved test realism

The duration of the standard workloads has been increased from 14 to 48 minutes loops. Also the way in which segments and applications start has been improved to better reflect real world user behaviour. The datasets used in the workloads now offer 1000 different documents per type, more and larger websites, and a video library in every format, all to ensure a real world variety in data usage. The execution of the workloads is improved through the introduction of phasing, allowing for real world production user scenarios.

Improved test insight

The new dashboard offers real-time test feedback, including progress, launched and active sessions, elapsed time and time left of the test in progress. The industry standard index VSImax has been further refined, enriching scalability results (max number of users), with objective baseline performance results (independent of tested load). Automated reporting with out of the box report ready graphs for all used settings, response times, and other data enhances the level, and choice, of information generated by the Login VSI analyzer.

Login VSI Pro v4 is now available for all customers on active support and maintenance. Version 4 of the free Login VSI Express can be downloaded at www.loginvsi.com/download. More information about Login VSI and related services can be found at www.loginvsi.com.

About Login VSI

Login Virtual Session Indexer (Login VSI) is a vendor independent benchmarking tool to objectively test and measure the performance and scalability of Virtual Desktop Infrastructures and Server Based Computing environments by simulating unique user workloads. Leading IT-analysts recognize and recommend Login VSI as the de-facto industry standard benchmarking tool for VDI and SBC. Login VSI can be used to test VMware Horizon View, Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp, Microsoft Remote Desktop Services or any other Windows based hosted desktop solution. Login VSI is the standard tool used in all tests that are executed in the internationally acclaimed Project Virtual Reality Check. For more information visit www.loginvsi.com.

Citrix EUC Horizon Load Testing Login VSI v4 View VMware XenDesktop
Winds of Change, now with Varrow

Posted on August 3, 2012 1:50 am by Phillip Jones Comment

Lately my blogging activity has been a little slacking. I am going to let you in on a probably not so secret secret. Sometimes opportunity knocks softly and sometimes it hits you with a hammer on the head and you have to recognize and seize that opportunity.

The winds of change have taken me to Varrow focusing on delivering End User Computing solutions. Varrow has developed a reputation for hiring great talent. I don’t know how I got hired but I hope I can do this company justice. Varrow has three speakers at VMworld this year and now has 5 vExperts on their staff.

Read Jason Nash’s blog here and go to their sessions, you will not be disappointed.
VMworld 2012 San Francisco Varrow delivered sessions

Also make sure you mark your calendar for Varrow Madness 2013 #VM13
Varrow Madness 2013 will be in Raleigh, NC on March 21st!

Expect the same variety but mainly with a focus on the user and how these products and tools can help a customer succeed with their goals. I expect to continue my blogging around Citrix, VMware and other exciting technologies in the End User Computing arena.

Citrix XenDesktop End User Computing EUC VMware View

These are a few of my favorite things: Podcasts

Login VSI 4.0 Released

Winds of Change, now with Varrow