Win2000Mag Thin-Client UPDATE March 1, 2000 [2/3]
Konstantin Gusev
SCO will ship the 64-bit-enabled tarantella in the second half of
2000, when servers and workstations based on the chip are due to go
into production.
* CITRIX ACQUIRES INNOVEX GROUP
Citrix announced on February 16 that it has acquired Innovex Group, a
privately held e-business consulting services organization in Miami
Lakes, Florida, that specializes in designing, developing, and
implementing Web-based solutions and systems integration. Innovex will
become part of the Citrix Worldwide Customer Services organization,
offering consulting services through the recently announced Citrix
Services Portfolio. Its primary focus will be to help Citrix channel
partners apply best practices in delivering implementation services and
systems integration solutions to customers. Randall Bast, the co-
founder and CEO of Innovex, will become the vice president of Citrix
Consulting Services.
"Our customers have told us they want Citrix and our channel
partners to help them better understand how to fully implement
applications using Citrix products,'' said Mark Templeton, Citrix
president and CEO. "With this acquisition, we are gaining the
professionals and best practice expertise we need to deliver consulting
services in response to this customer request."
3.========== ANNOUNCEMENTS ==========
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new approaches to managing and storing data, the enterprise's lifeblood
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advances, and important products in the Windows 2000 (Win2K) and
Windows NT storage market. Subscribe now at
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4.========== KEEPING UP WITH TERMINAL SERVICES ==========
(contributed by Christa Anderson, thinc...@win2000mag.com)
* GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Microsoft doesn't come out and call this one a bug, but it sounds like
a bug to me. If you shut down a Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server
Edition (TSE) server running Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later, it might
restart 15 minutes later because the dialog box where you can choose
the time before the screen saver kicks in forwards to the Shutdown
dialog box. When the timeout period ends, the machine restarts.
Microsoft Support Online article Q248730
(http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q248/7/30.asp)
describes Registry edits you can use to avoid this behavior.
* DELAYED GRATIFICATION
When users with local printers log on to the TSE server and their
printers map to their terminal sessions, clients on the server might
find that their keyboard input lags and their programs temporarily fail
to respond. The problem is that the process of mapping a client's
printer to a terminal session writes quite a bit of information to the
Registry, and that information must then flush from there to disk. Any
program that needs to use the Registry during this process will have to
wait until the process completes, which can take several seconds. If
you're having this problem, you can get the fix from Microsoft Support.
Microsoft Support Online article Q250042
(http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q250/0/42.asp) says
that SP6 will include the fix.
* NOW YOU SEE IT ... NOW YOU STILL SEE IT
You might wonder why client-side printers mapped to a TSE session
appear in the Printers window for all TSE clients when you first add
them but disappear when you refresh the window. According to Microsoft
Support Online article Q253922
(http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q253/9/22.asp), this
behavior occurs because the printers appear before their permissions
change to Special Access, which then makes them accessible only to the
user whose session they're mapped to.
Incidentally, in Windows 2000 Server Terminal Services, which also
provides automatic client-side printer mapping, you might encounter a
different printer-sharing problem. When someone with an unshared
client-side printer logs on to a Terminal Services server from a Win2K
workstation, someone else logged on to the same server not only can see
that printer--which doesn't vanish when you refresh the Printer
screen--but can print to that printer. If you examine the security
settings for that printer, you'll notice that the printer isn't
restricted to the person whose computer it's attached to. In short,
check permissions on printers connected to terminal server clients.
5.========== NEW AND IMPROVED ==========
(contributed by Carolyn Mascarenas, prod...@win2000mag.com)
* REMOTELY WAKE UP WORKSTATIONS
Netier Technologies announced NetXpress XL1000 and XL2000, thin-client
workstations with wake-on-LAN and wake-on-ring-on-modem features that
let you remotely wake up any XL workstation. With the wake up
functions, you can load applications, allocate resources, and ensure
security from any location--even on powered-off workstations. The
NetXpress XL1000 is less than 10 inches high and 9 inches wide. The
NetXpress XL2000 is less than 2 inches high and contains a PCI/ISA
riser slot that accommodates optional expansion cards for a number of
devices, including modems, light pens, smart-card readers,
videoconferencing cards, and adapters.
NetXpress XL1000 and XL2000 support Citrix ICA and Microsoft RDP,
and run Windows NT Embedded. For pricing, contact Netier Technologies,
888-603-1763.
http://www.netier.com
* THIN-CLIENT SUPPORT FOR WINDOWS 2000
Boundless Technologies announced thin-client support for Windows 2000
Server (Win2K Server) for its Capio Windows-based terminals (WBTs).
Boundless thin clients combine Windows NT GUI and PC-like capabilities
for running Windows applications. The Capio WBTs are small and weigh
less than 5 pounds. You can use Capio horizontally or vertically to fit
in a variety of work environments. You can use the thin clients as a
direct replacement for text terminals with a broad range of terminal
emulations available through the optional Network Text Terminal
Emulation Software.
Microsoft Windows CE, with support for both Microsoft RDP and Citrix
ICA, powers Capio thin clients. Capio accesses Windows applications
through Citrix WinFrame or Citrix MetaFrame and Microsoft Windows NT
Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition (TSE). For pricing, contact
Boundless Technologies, 800-231-5445.
http://www.boundless.com
* NEW THIN CLIENT
Athena Networking announced Tube 2000, an Internet and Windows 2000
(Win2K)-compatible thin client. Athena Networking named its machine
Tube after the oldest and most reliable communication device ever
invented. Tube 2000 supports Citrix ICA and Microsoft RDP. The new thin
client includes Citrix Device Services (CDS). Tube 2000 features a 16-
bit sound device, a 3-D graphics accelerator, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, a
Cyrix Media GXM 233MHz MMX CPU, a video resolution maximum of
1280x1024, an integrated power supply, and Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP)
compatibility. For pricing, contact Athena Networking, info@athena-
networking.com.
http://www.athena-networking.com
6.========== GET THE SKINNY ==========
(contributed by David Carroll, dcar...@teleplace.com)
* INSTALLING AND WORKING WITH VIDEOFRAME
Q: Have you done much with the new Citrix ICA VideoFrame? I'm anxious
to see how it deploys. It has great potential for remote sales
presentations. How does it install into a Citrix WinFrame or Citrix
MetaFrame network, and what issues will I face?
A: VideoFrame runs on a separate Windows NT 4.0 server or workstation.
You should dedicate the server to serving videos because it's such an
I/O-intensive activity. And the server shouldn't be a PDC or BDC, an
Exchange server, or a MetaFrame or WinFrame server. However, the
VideoFrame server requires either MetaFrame or WinFrame version 1.8 for
authentication and redirection of the requested video or audio file.
The administrator publishes a .cvi file or offers it on the ICA
Desktop. The .cvi file is what MetaFrame or WinFrame uses to connect
the client to the VideoFrame server. The user authenticates against the
ICA server and receives the video on the client desktop.
To install VideoFrame,
1. Install the VideoFrame software, which serves .avi files encoded
with the Citrix Scalable Video Codec.
2. Install Citrix VideoFrame Encoder, a tool that encodes raw .avi
files. You can also package the raw files or install just the Codecs
and use third-party video-editing software to encode files.
3. The VideoFrame Encoder creates a Citrix Video Information (.cvi)
file, which can run from a full remote Citrix desktop or from the
Citrix server using Published Application Manager.
When a user selects a .cvi file, the client computer makes a
separate connection to the VideoFrame server using the Citrix ICA
Streaming Channels Protocol (ISC).
I have encountered a few issues:
- The ICA connection between the client computer and MetaFrame or
WinFrame server can be IPX, SPX, NetBIOS, or TCP/IP. The ISC connection
between the client and VideoFrame server must be TCP/IP.
- To browse the published .ica file, the client must be able to reach
the Citrix master browser through UDP port 1604.
- The client connects to TCP port 7000 on the VideoFrame server, which
streams the video on any available UDP port. During the video, the TCP
connection continues to send play and pause commands and detects and
adjusts available bandwidth between the client and server.
Citrix Server Administration communicates with the VideoFrame server
using TCP/IP port 8002, and the VideoFrame server communicates back
through TCP/IP port 8001. These ports must be open between the Citrix
servers, the ICA Clients, and the VideoFrame server.
- To remotely configure the VideoFrame server, you must be an
administrator of the domain the VideoFrame server is a member of.
- Citrix Metaframe 1.8 ships with ICA Win32 Client version 4.20.715.
VideoFrame works only with the ICA Win32 client version 4.20.733 or
above. A working version of the client ships on the VideoFrame CD-ROM,
and Citrix has version 4.21.779 posted on its Web site. If you use an