Citrix Optimization Pack 1.3 for Microsoft Lync 2010

Written by Thomas Poppelgaard. Posted in Citrix, HDX, Lync, Microsoft, VDI-in-a-box, XenApp, XenDesktop

Citrix have released a new version of Optimization Pack 1.3 for Microsoft Lync 2010

Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack for Microsoft Lync version 2010 provides a highly scalable solution for delivering real-time audio-video conferencing and VoIP enterprise telephony through Microsoft Lync in XenDesktop, XenApp, and VDI-in-a-Box environments. HDX RealTime Optimization Pack leverages your existing Microsoft® Lync infrastructure and inter-operates with other Microsoft® Lync® endpoints running natively on devices.

HDX RealTime Optimization Pack consists of both client and server components:

  • The client component, called Citrix HDX RealTime Media Engine, is integrated with the Citrix Receiver on the endpoint device and performs all signaling and media processing directly on the user device itself, offloading the server for maximum scalability, minimizing network bandwidth consumption and ensuring optimal audio-video quality.
  • The server-side (and virtual desktop) component, Citrix HDX RealTime Connector, is a connector to the Microsoft® Lync® client that drives the RealTime Media Engine on the endpoint. The RealTime Connector runs in the virtual server environment alongside Microsoft® Lync® and communicates signaling information over a Citrix ICA virtual channel to the RealTime Media Engine running on the user device.

What’s new in Optimization Pack 1.3 for MS Lync 2010

  • We’ve added two authentication methods: TLS-DSK and Kerberos.
  • We’ve simplified logon so your users aren’t prompted for credentials as often.
  • We’ve added menu options to Microsoft Outlook and as Smart Tags in other Microsoft Office applications:
    • Start a Call
    • Start a Video Call
    • Select a Number

    For more information about Smart Tags in Office applications, see http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306422.

Fixed issues

  • You can now run the Citrix HDX RealTime Connector with Remote PC Access on a 64-bit machine. [#16345]
  • When you log on, the User Name field is now blank and you no longer see the SIP Address of Record (AOR) populated in that field. [#16219]
  • During logon, you are not prompted for credentials by the Citrix HDX RealTime Connector because Single Sign-On (SSO) is implemented in most cases. [#16198]
  • During logon, the Citrix HDX RealTime Connector implements Single Sign-on when you use the domain-name\user-name format for User Name in Lync and select Save Password. [#16054]
  • We’ve optimized LyncMonitor.exe in Citrix HDX RealTime Connector to use less CPU, so you can be more flexible with your XenApp deployments. [#15966]
  • When the Citrix RealTime Media Engine is accessing devices on a terminal configured for the Norwegian language, the RealTime Media Engine can now use the devices. [#15751]
  • The Save password functionality has been fixed. [#15712, #150]
  • You can now see the entire People Options button in the Group Conversation) window. [#15658, #15313, #132]
  • For the Citrix RealTime Media Engine, the Citrix Merchandising Server and StoreFront MetaData file is now called CitrixHDXRealTimeMediaEngineMetadata.xml. [#15348]
  • For the Simplified Chinese version of the Citrix HDX RealTime Connector, you can now access the correct Help page. [#15312, #132]
  • For the Citrix HDX RealTime Connector, you can now restart the video with the Start My Video button when the video is stopped during an ad-hoc conference call. [#15308]
  • For the Citrix HDX RealTime Connector, you can add an additional user to the call with the Add User button. This button was previously occasionally unavailable. [#15268, #136]
  • For the RealTime Connector and the RealTime Media Engine, the Media Engine successfully registers when set to automatic configuration. The registration also succeeds when the domain of the user’s SIP Address of Record is different from the primary domain served by the Citrix HDX RealTime Connector. [#14986, #124]
  • For the RealTime Connector and the RealTime Media Engine, the Media Engine successfully logs on if NTLM in Lync is disabled because the TLS-DSK and Kerberos authentication methods are now available. [#14298]

Source

Download Citrix Optimization Pack 1.3 for Microsoft Lync here (Require MyCitrix ID)

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Experts 2 Experts virtualization conference in Copenhagen 31th May – 2th June 2013

Written by Thomas Poppelgaard. Posted in Citrix, E2EVC, HDX, HDX 3D, HDX 3D, HDX 3D Pro, Hyper-V, Microsoft, NVIDIA, PubForum, Reciever, RemoteFX, VMware, vSphere, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012, XenApp, XenServer

Hi All

I am proud to announce that I am speaking again at E2EVC (experts to experts virtualization conference) in 31th May – 2th June 2013.
This time it will be held in the beautiful Copenhagen in Denmark, so this is a good chance too meet some of the super geeks that works with Citrix, Microsoft or Vmware technologies. Alot of CTP (citrix technology professional), MVP (Microsoft value professional) VCP (Vmware certified professional) will attend and share their knowledge with the croud.

You can meet famous people like Carl Webster (CTP, MVP),  dr. Benny Trisch (CTP, MVP) , Wilco Van Bragt (CTP) and many many more.

e2evc_logo

Join us for the independent E2EVC Virtualization Conference in Copenhagen May 31-June 2, 2013 in Scandic Sydhavnen Hotel Copenhagen. The conference, which had 18 successful past events all over Europe, is 3 days – from Friday to Sunday and cover multiple Citrix, VMware, Microsoft and virtualization products from other vendors. It is a great opportunity to meet with the peers from virtualization industry and to share know how in a nice, relaxing atmosphere. More than 20 break-out sessions and 3 Master Classes await your participation. To have a glimpse at the Agenda click here. We look forward to meet you all in Copenhagen!

My session Saturday 1th June 2013 at E2EVC in Copenhagen:

Session – Which 3D remoting technologies are available today from VMware, Citrix and Microsoft

Short description:

  • Protocol advantages disadvantages
  • Hypervisors, what’s available and how do you configure this + advantages / disadvantages
  • Use cases from real world examples.
  • People will learn how it’s possible to centralize the apps that requires GPU and how they can deliver this
  • Hands experience on worlds first GPU that can be virtualized, how does it work with Citrix, Microsoft, Vmware

Visit www.e2evc.com/home for the conference agenda and registration information (special 1st May offer till 2013-05-03 only; more here).

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Comparison – Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro vs Citrix XenApp HDX 3D on GRID K2 (user experience, bandwidth consumption)

Written by Thomas Poppelgaard. Posted in Citrix, HDX, HDX 3D, HDX 3D, HDX 3D Pro, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008R2, XenApp, XenDesktop, XenServer

This video is shows the user experience with NVIDIA GRID K2 and Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro and Citrix XenApp HDX 3D virtualized with Citrix XenServer.

The users can access their DirectX / OpenGL applications through a Citrix receiver on any device with low bandwidth. Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro have a deep compression codec, which Citrix XenApp HDX 3D dont have. This video shows the bandwidth consumption, and XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro is the leader in using less bandwidth on high latency connections.

About the solution:

1 physical server in this use case: Dell PowerEdge R720 with NVIDIA GRID K2.

1 virtual machine with Windows 7 64bit with Citrix XenDesktop 5.6FP1 HDX 3D Pro and a second virtual machine with Windows Server 2008R2 with Citrix XenApp 6.5 HDX 3D. Both machines are virtualized with Citrix XenServer 6.1 and each virtual machine have GPU attached with GPU-passthrough to the a NVIDIA GRID K2 card.

The Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro have a deep compression codec integrated that usages low bandwidth, its a 1-1 solution. Best on WAN, fastest framerate.

This Citrix XenApp HDX 3D can share 1 GPU to multiple users with applications that uses OpenGL & DirectX. Best ROI, user density

Citrix XenServer 6.x & Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro &  Citrix XenApp 6.5 is running on a Dell R720 with NVIDIA GRID K2

read more on my blog about Citrix XenApp HDX 3D and Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro

http://www.poppelgaard.com

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Tech Talk: Virtual Desktops for Designers and Engineers

Written by Thomas Poppelgaard. Posted in Best Practise, Citrix, HDX, HDX 3D, HDX 3D, HDX 3D Pro, Hyper-V, Microsoft, Netscaler, NVIDIA, Provisioning, RemoteFX, VMware, vSphere, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008R2, XenApp, XenDesktop, XenServer

Hi all

I have had some amazing days at NVIDIA GTC 2013 where i did my presentation on how business adapt remote graphics solutions from Citrix.

citri

The same week I did a Tech Talk webinar together with Yvonne Dresser, Sr Marketing Product Manager at Citrix HQ in Santa Clara. The topic we discussed Virtualizing 3D Professional Graphics Apps and. In this webinar you will learn how Citrix XenDesktop & XenApp can deliver remote graphics with 3D applications and how they can be virtualized in multiple layers from Servers to Desktops to Apps and how they can be delivered to any device from a PC to a tablet, phone or even a thin client.You will learn which graphic solutions from NVIDIA thats available and how the new NVIDIA GRID K1/K2 fits into these solutions from Citrix.

I covered the best practice part from the field i have experience in the years since 2008 and share this with the audience and we got 30 questions that we cover, so for me it was amazing having such a big audience attending and asking for very technical questions how to build these solutions and what the requirements are, whats available whats possible.

Source

Watch the recorded webinar here

Download the presentation here PDF format

Download the presentation here PPS format

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Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 1.2 for Microsoft Lync

Written by Thomas Poppelgaard. Posted in Citrix, HDX, Lync, Microsoft, VDI-in-a-box, XenApp, XenDesktop

I have been looking for this release for a while and couldn’t find the HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 1.2 for Microsoft Lync.

Its available now for download at Citrix, lets digg in, whats new in this release.

About HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 1.2

HDX RealTime Optimization Pack provides a highly scalable solution for delivering real-time audio-video conferencing and USB or VoIP enterprise telephony through Microsoft® Lync® in XenDesktop, XenApp, and VDI-in-a-Box environments. HDX RealTime Optimization Pack leverages your existing Lync infrastructure and inter-operates with other Lync endpoints running natively on devices.

HDX RealTime Optimization Pack consists of both client and server components:

  • The client component, called Citrix HDX RealTime Media Engine, is integrated with the Citrix Receiver on the endpoint device and performs all signaling and media processing directly on the user device itself, offloading the server for maximum scalability, minimizing network bandwidth consumption and ensuring optimal audio-video quality.
  • The server-side (and virtual desktop) component, Citrix HDX RealTime Connector, is a connector to the Microsoft Lync client that drives the RealTime Media Engine on the endpoint. Connector runs in the virtual server environment alongside Microsoft Lync and communicates signaling information over a Citrix ICA virtual channel to the RealTime Media Engine running on the user device.

What’s new in 1.2

  • MacOS support for HDX RealTime Media Engine
  • Windows 8 support

Fixed issues in 1.2

  • When using RealTime Media Engine for Mac, sometimes the video window displays as a white window for a user who left a Lync conference call after being in the call for 15-20 seconds. The workaround is to close the window. [#14619]
  • Sometimes the participant list displayed in multi-party calls can exclude newly added participants for some users in the conference call. [#14586, #14576]
  • In certain situations PIP displays a black square instead of the local video view when RealTime Media Engine is running on Ubuntu terminals. Toggle PIP. [#62]
  • If an administrator installs RealTime Connector for a user, the first time the user right-clicks, menu items are sometimes displayed in English instead of the local language. Instruct your users to exit and restart Lync. After restarting Lync, right-click menus appear in the local language.
  • RealTime Connector is loaded in Fallback mode the first time after installation. The workaround for this is to restart Lync and the software will then work in optimized mode.

License requirements:

“A good friend of mine asked for which licenses the Optimization Pack is available for XenApp & XenDesktop, so I want to share this with you all.”

Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack is a part of following XenDesktop license:

Citrix XenDesktop VDI, Enterprise, Platinum license.

http://www.citrix.com/products/xendesktop/features/editions.html
The features is called Unified communications  for XenDesktop

Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack is a part of following XenApp license:

Citrix XenApp Fundamentals, Advanced, Enterprise & Platinum license.

http://www.citrix.com/products/xenapp/features/editions.html
The feature is called HDX RealTime for XenApp

Source

Download Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 1.2 for Microsoft Lync here (Require MyCitrix ID)

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Blogs i read

Recent Comments

Dan

|

Hi Thomas,
Some features in your screenshots (eg create appointments and contacts) seem to be missing from the iOS version of @WorkMail that got released in April, do you know if these features are still coming in a future release? The Android client is far more functional by comparison.
Regards
Dan

Christian Eilskov

|

You can see the DHCP options here:

http://www.wyse.com/kb and search for 21501

You can transfer a image using Wyse Device Manager(WDM), the same goes for smaller updates like new ICA client and so.

Thomas Poppelgaard

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Thank you Barry =)
The deep compression codec for Citrix XenDesktop HDX 3D Pro will be intergrated for Citrix XenApp in Excalibur so there is a big difference with bandwidth consumption. This means that XenApp in Excalibur will be the best platform for user density and works great over WAN with high latency as HDX 3D Pro have been known to deliver for several years. Yes i know of cases with WAN optimization, I will gather these and share them.

Best regards
Thomas

Barry Schiffer

|

Hi Thomas,

Nice work! Awesome to see these results on XenApp! Is there any noticable difference between XA 6.5 and Excalibur that you are aware of? Do you have experience with WAN Optimization and how this helps to reduce bandwidth further?

Kind regards,

Barry

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