Citrix Synergy Roundup

So Equanet has been busy this week; exhibiting and presenting at IPExpo and attending Citrix Synergy. Both of which were great uses of our time. In this blog we identify some of the key messages from Synergy.

The highlight for many administrators surely has to be Excalibur, which combines management and backend for XenApp and XenDesktop.

Excalibur

Excalibur is Phase 1 of Project Avalon and it finally combines XenApp and XenDesktop into one management console and a single architecture–XenDesktop's FMA (Flexcast Management Architecture).

Also included as part of Excalibur is Profile Manager, Storefront and Edgesight. All of these will be deployed via one install.

One thing to note is that Excalibur does not have support for 32-bit terminal server environments.

FMA has some major differences from IMA. FMA doesn't have the concept of zones, which for XenApp servers are important for spreading around intra-server communication, configurations, and scalability.

CloudGateway / Mobility

Citrix clearly sees CloudGateway as a strategic play for their future.

In simple terms, aggregation of cloud services into a single store front presented to the end user.

ShareFile StorageZones Connector

There is a Tech Preview of the StorageZones Connector, which is an on-premise solution that integrates into your existing file shares, making them available via ShareFile clients (HybridZones).

It is clear that mobility has become the focal point again for Citrix. I say again as they have always had the anywhere, any device and any connection approach to technology. And with the advent of 4G and consumerisation this is the next big wave for Citrix to ride.