Technical Breakout Sessions

BriForum 2008 Chicago had 60, 75-minute breakout sessions. They're broken into four categories, based on use cases:

Terminal Server-based SBC (Citrix Presentation Server, etc.)

Single user SBC (VDI)

App streaming & isolation (SoftGrid, Thinstall, etc.)

Hardware virtualization, OS virtualization

Please note that one session may apply to use cases (or even to all four). Here's the list in random order:

Welcome to BriForum 2008 Chicago!

Can you believe that this is our SIXTH BriForum? This is our biggest yet, with about 10% more people than last year, twenty-two sponsors, 60 breakout sessions, geek out, retro IT shirts, a cool party, 25 speakers, and a huge venue. Get ready for a wild week!...

Hardware versus OS Virtualization

Many organizations today are interested in deploying a machine virtualization solution and are looking for a primer on the basic technology options that are available and their relative benefits and limitations. The most common approach today is Hardware Virtualization and is best represented in the commercial product VMWare ESX Server. Somewhat less widely known, but critical to a complete und...

A Word on Terminal Server Scalability and Benchmarking

Scalability is frequently used as an indicator that something is badly designed or even broken. As scalability demands increase for virtualization and for multi-user environments, the limitation of the 32-bit Windows architecture becomes more and more prominent, thus driving the movement towards 64-bit Windows. This session starts with a brief introduction of terminal servers based on x64 Windo...

Terminal Server 2008 Licensing

Licensing is always an often-misunderstood topic. This session will dive into the intricacies of Terminal Services licensing, including the types of CALs necessary, CAL allocation process, the license server discovery process and tools and techniques for troubleshooting licensing-related issues. This session will provide an update to my BriForum 2006 presentation and focus on the chang...

Provisioning Server in the Real World

Sure... everyone has read about Ardence/Provisioning Server (PVS)... what exactly is this operating system streaming and how can it benefit your organization? How can you upgrade from Windows 2003 32-bit to 64-bit in mere seconds regardless of the number of servers? When the "business" asks for more, when security updates come out monthly, when applications change on the fly… how do you keep u...

Techie on the Cheap: Building your own WAN Lab

Starting with the Techie on the Cheap series, this session will teach you how to build a lab environment to test different WAN conditions for you Terminal Services or Citrix connections. It will clearly help you understand the impact that latency, bandwidth, jitter, etc have on the user session and ultimately on the perceived performance (user experience)....

XenApp Application Streaming Unleashed

XenApp Application Streaming certainly deserves a little bit more attention then it currently gets. Application streaming simplifies application deployment on virtualization platforms and is proven to increase the agility of delivery infrastructures in every organization. In this technical presentation you will discover how you can do more with XenApp Application Streaming and increase your c...

The fast track to a production-class app delivery system (sponsored by visionapp)

In this 75-minute interactive/demonstration session, Rick Dehlinger will show attendees how to use visionapp to build an app delivery system based on the latest Citrix and Microsoft technologies.Dehlinger will show you how to build a change-friendly application delivery system that allows you to leverage your existing investments in deployment technologies. Regardless of whether you’re u...

VDI Product Smackdown and Discussion

There are several VDI products on the market now, including Citrix XenDesktop, VMware VDI / VMD2, Qumranet Solid ICE, and Quest's Virtual Access Suite. In this session, Brian Madden will compare the various solutions and look at what's real and what's not. This will be one of our interactive workshop sessions where we'll look for feedback and discussion from the audience about what people are l...

Quest Software, Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite - Help, my connection broker is on steroids! (sponsored by Quest Software)

This session will provide an overview of who Quest Software is, and why it matters. An overview will be provided on the current state of Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite, and what’s on the current road map for the next 12 months. Additionally the session will include a live demo of the product and of new features like Multimedia Redirection and Local Text Echo for VDI and Terminal Service...

Terminal Services 2008 Load Balancing in-depth Architecture and Security Walkthrough

Starting with Windows Server 2008, terminalservices load balancing has become an integral part of platform functionality. Although the concept looks fairly simple, there are some important things you need to consider for being effective. This session outlines the architecture beyond RDP load balancing in-depth in a multi-server and multi-farm scenario. After attending this session you k...

The Data Problem - And a Solution

The current trend in computing is to sell a dizzying array of virtualization products that abstract and compartmentalize parts of the computing process. While each "solution" brings in many important benefits in its own right, the environments we are creating are fundamentally flawed. Down the road we will have a huge problem to solve if we don't get started on it now. Tim Mangan calls this ...

What's New in XenApp 5?

The "Delaware" version of Citrix XenApp (a.k.a. version 5), has several new features. In this session, meant for those who have not had a chance to look at XenApp 5, Brian will demonstrate the various new features and discuss how they work, as well as talk about which features are really cool and which ones are simply "ho-hum."...

Technical review of Citrix XenApp Web 5.0

Citrix will soon release XenApp 5.0 (Presentation Server) which will include the new XenApp Web (Web Interface) 5.0. This session will explain the main new features and show the XenApp Web 5.0 in action....

Performance Monitoring 101

Is it possible to have a 100% CPU usage yet still maintain a responsive system?Ever wondered that all the memory values in task manager actually mean?What exactly is VM memory size versus Memory Usage?How do I know when my processor, disk, or RAM is bottleneck? Mysterious application hangs and performance complaints? Many attendees face these and ma...

Enterprise Terminal Server 2008 Farms

This session looks at designing an enterprise-class Terminal Server farm with only Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services and other complimenting Microsoft Products, without the need of investing in add-on products like Citrix and Provision Networks. By leveraging the new features of Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, such as the Session Broker and Session Load Balancing, terminal se...

VDI versus Terminal Server: A Debate

Brian Madden and Benny Tritsch will discuss the merits of VDI versus Terminal Server, which is sure to lead into an extensive and informative discussion with the audience. We're doing this "high school debate team" style, so it should be a lot of fun! Can you guess which side Brian will take, and which side Benny will take?...

The Excruciating Detail of the XenApp Logon Process (2008 Version)

This session documents the steps of a logon to a Citrix XenApp Server from a successful credentials negotiation to the displaying of a published application. Each step of the process will be described in detail, including how virtual channels, user profiles, and user sessions are initialized. This is the session from past BriForums that produced the "Logon Chart," and we'll be releasing an updated...

My Application Won't Work!

This session will be a discussion of tools that are available to find out what applications are doing. Rick will show some examples on the use of the tools to solve problems running specific applications, either as a non-privileged user or on terminal services. The examples will include AutoCAD 2008. A few words about who this session is for - This session is for IT professionals responsible ...

Honest Opinions: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services

Now that Windows Server 2008 has been out for a couple months, administrators had a chance to play with the new Terminal Services features. In this Honest Opinions session we will give you an unbiased opinion on what we think is good on 2008 TS and what could have been greatly improved....

Why VDI?

If you strip away the marketing fluff and took a look at VDI from a business and technical requirements perspective you’ll find there are many cases in which a VDI solution makes more sense than a traditional SBC solution. Application Integration is getting more difficult, talk about 15 year trends and challengesDeveloped many application compatibility tricks and technolog...

Microsoft Hyper-V Unleashed

This presentation gives a detailed overview of the upcoming Microsoft Hyper-V solution. Topics covered include: Microsoft VirtualizationVirtualization within WS08Advantages and disadvantages of Hyper-VManagement of Hyper-V AND VMware ESX hosts with SCVMM 2008What about Citrix, VMware, Oracle, SUN, Virtual Iron..?!...

UserEnv Logging - A Comprehensive Analysis

In this session Brian and Kevin detail everything you wanted to know about UserEnv Logging but didn't know where to look. After this session the attendee will be able to troubleshoot slow logons, profile issues, and determine why certain GPOs don't apply. Included, will be a discussion on how environment logging has changed for Server 2008. As a special treat available only to Briforum attendees,...

XenDesktop: Getting Started

While they've been a bit late to the VDI game with a real product, Citrix's XenDesktop product promises to one-up the other players in the market and set a new standard for VDI sophistication. In this comprehensive two session series, Rick Dehlinger will pull back the layers of this intriguing new product and seek to answer the one burning question on people's minds--is XenDesktop for real?...

Customizing Citrix XenApp Web 5.0

Many people like to customize XenApp Web (Web Interface) 5.0. But how do you customize the layout or available functions? How do you configure multiple XenApp Web sites on one Web server with different layouts and/or URLs? This session will explain basic customizations of XenApp Web 5.0...

The Future of Client Computing

Everyone here at BriForum knows a huge amount about client computing. In this session, rather than considering individual technologies, let’s think about how we want VDI/SBC/PC’s to play out... Which technologies where? What's missing, what else do we need? Let's have an open conversation about where all this is going. Will what we're doing now even matter in two years? How about fiv...

Virtual Disks in a Mechanical World – Made fast, indestructible and versatile through software (sponsored by DataCore)

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Benchmarking VDI / TS Desktop performance with the free Login VSI utility

How many times have you seen performance benchmarks published? Wouldn't it be nice if you could also replicate those results in your own environment? (Like if you wanted to compare the performance of VDI versus TS.) In this session we will introduce Login VSI, a free and easy to use benchmarking methodology from Login Consultants. This is a toolset that allows you to easily compare scal...

Citrix Configuration Logging: Deep Dive

One of the features introduced in Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 was administrative configuration logging. The Configuration Logging feature allows you to keep track of administrative changes made to your server farm environment. By generating reports, you can determine what changes were made to your server farm, when they were made and which administrators made them. This is especially useful ...

Designing VMware Environments for the Enterprise (Interactive), Part 1

This session will go through the steps needed to design enterprise class server farms using VMware’s ESX server. Topics covered will include Cluster design, Storage configurations, Networking, monitoring and optimal configurations for an enterprise class VM infrastructure. Ron Oglesby an expert in enterprise VMware deployments will lead this interactive session that will use audience in...

Protocol Smackdown: ICA, RDP, Spice, Net2Display, PC-over-IP, and more...

It's the million-dollar question: Is ICA really better than RDP? If so, by how much? And under what conditions? When do you need ICA and when is RDP good enough? And what about the other protocols that are out or coming out soon? Wyse TCX. HP RGS. Qumranet Spice. Net2Display. Teradici's PC-over-IP... In this session, Brian Madden answer these questions and talk about all the prot...

Terminal Services 2008 Combined with Network Access Protection

Network Access Protection (NAP) is one of the most discussed new features introduced by Microsoft in their Windows Server 2008 platform and respective client updates. That technology maybe has a chance of becoming a certain endpoint analysis standard for access control and of course there already exists an interface for utilizing NAP in RDP scenarios. This session shows how to configure...

PowerShelling Terminal Services and Citrix Revisited

Windows PowerShell is a new command line shell and admin-focused scripting language with more than 130 standard command line tools. This session will focus on using the built-in PowerShell commands to administer Terminal Services and Citrix environments as well as building your own custom PowerShell cmdlets to fit your needs. Following is a rough outline of the session topics: <ul...

Qumranet's Solid ICE: Desktop virtualization done right! (sponsored by Qumranet)

Qumranet will discuss and demonstrate Solid ICE - A hosted desktop virtualization product that allows a user experience that is indistinguishable from that of a physical PC (including video, VoIP, videoconferencing, multiple monitors, USB etc). At the same time we will demonstrate the IT side of Solid ICE that allows simple and scalable management of thousands of virtual desktops. In addition, ...

Designing VMware Environments for the Enterprise (Interactive), Part 2

Top 10 Challenges with SoftGrid

Application Virtualization technologies like Microsoft SoftGrid have excellent benefits that enable an organization to dynamically manage their application deployment and reduce the amount of time required to regression test their applications. There are challenges with application virtualization though and you should understand them in order to create effective workarounds. In the se...

What Terminal Server admins need to know about the people developing your applications

Sometime soon, somebody is going to tell you (or your boss) that Terminal Servers are passé. That new developments are going to render the Terminal Server obsolete. These "folks" will be wrong, of course, but don't you think you should be armed with an understanding to say why? In this session, Tim will show some simple examples of development tools and code styles using older and new...

XenDesktop: Technical Deep Dive

Journey to the Center of the Windows Server 2008 Virtualization Platforms: TS and Hyper-V

As an IT professional responsible for virtualization platforms based on Windows Server 2008, you need to dig beneath the surface if you really want to understand how the technology works. This session introduces you to the core Terminal Services and Hyper-V concepts. Get in-depth information on installing, managing and using these important Windows Server 2008 roles. Discover how to modify related...

Unifying Presentation Virtualization, VDI & Teradici PCoIP with Ericom (Sponsored by Ericom)

Learn more about Ericom’s Presentation Virtualization (SBC) and Desktop Virtualization (VDI) solution, PowerTerm WebConnect. As a unified solution, supporting both Terminal Services and Virtual Desktops – PowerTerm enables organizations to leverage the benefits of a blended solution. During this session, we’ll discuss the challenges of traditional desktop computing and how these are addressed ...

Panel Discussion: Virtualizing a Citrix server: Yes or No?

It's the age-old question now, and one of the questions that is most asked in the forums: Should you virtualize your Citrix Presentation Servers? We'll discuss the pros and cons, as well as have an interactive conversation with people who have tried it and liked it, and who have tried it and failed....

Bring us your hardest printing problems (Workshop)

We've been talking about printing at BriForum for years. In this session, instead of focusing on how printing works, we're going to have an interactive conversation about the real printing problems that people have. We'll talk about registry permissions, printer auto-creation and deletions, problems with PPD and GPD driver compiling, which drivers work best, and how you can cope and support pri...

The Data Puzzle - Putting the Pieces Together

It is of utmost importance to know all you can about your data center environment. Unfortunately, data has a lot of hiding places. In a typical data center environment there is information in event logs, databases, WMI providers, Active Directory, third party applications, etc. In this session we will show you how to use Service Oriented Architecture principles to aggregate all this i...

Xen vs VMware

In this session, Ron will share his results of running Xen and VMware ESX head-to-head on the same hardware. He tested guests running Citrix Presentation Server as well as non-Citrix servers....

Multithreaded Logons (How I got a 5-7 second logon time)

As more users rely on VDI/Citrix/Terminal Services for application delivery, extremely fast login times have become more of a necessity. Not only does it enhance the user experience, it also creates less resistance for porting applications. Until now, the Windows logon experience has been sequential: load profile, roam settings/data, redirect folders, map drives, run logon scripts, etc. It is ...

Creating an Unlimited Virtual Storage Environment

Business requirements for storage are increasing daily. Gigabytes are feeling more and more like megabytes. How do you manage this large-scale volume of data? In this section attendees will learn how to create an “unlimited” storage environment. Attendees will learn: Basic principles for storage poolsMigrate files to offline storage seamlessly to the end-user.<li...

Panel Discussion: Hardware's Role in Virtualization (Sponsored by Intel)

Virtualization takes on many forms, from application virtualization to OS virtualization to hardware virtualization. As you look at the industry trends, everyone is building a portfolio that encompasses many of these options. Do hardware features have a role amongst these solutions? Would application or OS virtualization operate better if there were features on the computer for it? Is there a c...

Microsoft Graphics Remoting: Now, Next and Beyond

This presentation will cover the basic approaches to graphics remoting and how they are currently leveraged in Microsoft’s current product set. (i.e. RDP) Nelly will also discuss some of Microsoft’s thinking on the future of graphics remoting....

Implementing a Successful VDI Pilot (Sponsored by RTO Software)

In this session RTO Software takes you through the steps necessary to have a successful VDI pilot project. Using RTO Software products Goodman and McAllister take you through the steps necessary to avoid pitfalls when piloting VDI....

Monitoring in Virtual Environments (sponsored by eG Innovations)

Based on our customer experiences, in this session eG will outline the fundamental monitoring needs of a typical Virtual environment. How is this different from monitoring a non-virtual infrastructure? And discuss key Methodologies and best practices to effectively monitor the virtual environment including, inside view of hosts and guests, problem demarcation by layer, total visibility into yo...

Hypervisor-based VDI versus blade PCs: What's the real performance and cost difference?

When it comes to VDI, or "server-based computing connecting to single-instance Windows hosts," you can run your back end Windows XP or Vista hosts as virtual machines on a huge server, or as individual blade PCs. Obviously blades potentially have more individual power, but VM proponents say that's not needed. At the end of the day, VMware is pushing VM-based solutions, and hp is pushing blade-b...

Optimizing and understanding Citrix over WAN connections

WAN Acceleration has become more popular over the past few years. Companies like Expand have been doing it for awhile, and Citrix recently got into the game by buying Orbital Data and creating the WANscaler product line. But traditionally, ICA has been an encrypted and highly compressed protocol. Can you really optimize it for the WAN? Or are you just stuck using SpeedScreen and hoping for the ...

Capacity Planning in Virtualized Environments

This session will go into the detail of doing proper capacity planning for virtual server environments, show the audience the basics of how they should model their environment, then dive into the details. A product review will conclude the session comparing existing tools in the market place....

Streaming Smackdown (2008 edition)

More and more customers see the benefits of Application Virtualization. There are several players in this market space, and from a marketing perspective these solutions have a lot in common. Ruben's presentation is based on field experience, and will cover the basics of application virtualization, customer demands, technical differences between the products, and how to choose the right ...

A first look at Microsoft's Softgrid v4.5 Sequencer (was Birds of a Feather)

Microsoft released version 4.5 of their Softgrid / VAS sequencer last night. In this Birds of a Feather session, Tim Mangan will run through it for the first time (his first time and yours!) and give some initial impressions....

Windows Profiles (Workshop)

In this white board-based workshop session, we'll discuss the real problems that you have in your environment with user profiles. So bring us your hard problems and get ready for an interactive discussion....

Creating a scriptable virtual channel

In this session, Kevin Goodman and Michael Thomason provide an in depth exploration of Citrix Virtual Channels. Included is a comprehensive analysis of the often misunderstood wfshell.exe. As a bonus, the authors will present a fully working virtual channel that can be controlled entirely though scripting. After this session, attendees will be able to write scripts that: run when ...

Closing Keynote

In this epic session, Brian will summarize everything that was discussed over the past three days at BriForum... JUST KIDDING! Of course the only purpose for this session is the prize drawing. This year we have: iPod Touch Nintendo DS Lite with Brain Age, New Super Mario Bros, and Mario Kart DS Garmin Nuvi auto navigation system Bluetooth he...

Video Podcast: AEP Networks

At BriForum 2008 in Chicago, we created our very first series of video podcasts. Recorded live during the conference, these interviews convey the buzz and feel of the DEMO Lab, using an informal "listening in on the conversation" style. Here Brian Madden meets with vendors to find out what they're showing off at BriForum. In this video, Brian speaks to Mike Hjorleifsson of AEP Networks....

Video Podcast: AppSense

Video Podcast: eG Innovations

Video Podcast: Datacore

At BriForum 2008 in Chicago, we created our very first series of video podcasts. Recorded live during the conference, these interviews convey the buzz and feel of the DEMO Lab, using an informal "listening in on the conversation" style. Here Brian Madden meets with vendors to find out what they're showing off at BriForum. In this video, we watch Keith Wallace give Datacore's "Pimp My St...

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