Upgrade Your XenServer Virtual Environment Now and Bring Out the Best in Citrix Application and Desktop Delivery
Hello everyone!
Did you make it to Citrix Synergy this year? If so, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! If not, no worries… you can still catch many of the sessions on Synergy TV.
During the event I had the privilege of speaking with many of our partners and customers, each sharing their optimism and excitement about the latest Citrix solutions that help organizations realize the numerous benefits the cloud has to offer. After speaking with these folks, the message I received was loud and clear — while many of our customers are planning or implementing their strategies for deploying IT services in the cloud, they continue to rely on our legacy products to maximize the efficiency of their on-premise IT operations.
With this in mind, we wanted to remind everyone who uses XenServer to host their Citrix Application and Desktop Delivery environments that older releases of XenServer (6.2 and 6.5) and XenApp/XenDesktop (7.0 – 7.13) are scheduled to EOL the end of June 2018. If you haven’t upgraded recently, now is the best time to upgrade your Citrix environment to the latest supported releases: XenServer (7.1 CU1 LTSR/7.5 CR) and XenApp/XenDesktop (7.15 LTSR/7.17 CR). In addition to retaining access to the highest quality support provided by our top-notch support organization, you’ll also be able to take advantage of the latest features that bring out the best in application and desktop delivery, including:
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- Hypervisor Introspection (HVI) and Hardware-enforced Isolation – two revolutionary approaches to protecting virtual environments against the most sophisticated IT attacks
- PVS-Accelerator – delivers step changes in server and desktop performance: up to 40% improvements in desktop boot times and 98% reduction in network bandwidth utilization
- vGPU-enabled VM XenMotion – enables virtual desktops that require advanced virtual graphics capabilities to move seamlessly between XenServer host machines
- Windows Continuum – offers Windows10 virtual desktop users the flexibility to transition between desktop and tablet mode for greater levels of productivity
- Live-patching of XenServer hosts – allows administrators to patch running host systems without rebooting
- HCI support – enables customers with hyper-converged infrastructure to run the Citrix stack (XA/XD/XS) on top of appliances such as Dell XC line, Flexxible IT’s range, and Nutanix servers
- And much more!
The features listed above, which are merely a subset of what’s available in the latest releases of XenServer, are already in widespread use by many of our customers. We’d like to see you realize the benefits provided by each of these new features too.
As a reminder, starting with XenServer 7.1, you have two release models to choose from: Long-Term Service Release (LTSR) and Current Release (CR), both of which are aligned with XenApp/XenDesktop LTSR and CR, respectively. The LTSR model, which allows customers to enjoy up to 10 years of support, is ideal for organizations whose IT requirements are met by the LTSR release both now and for the foreseeable future. The CR model is a great fit for customers looking to access new features on a more frequent basis (approximately every 3-6 months) through updates rather than upgrades, thus requiring less effort.
In sum, no matter which release model you choose to follow, the sooner you upgrade, the sooner you’ll start using the latest features of XenServer to bring out the best in Citrix Application and Desktop Delivery.
Until next time,
Andy
