Teradici updates comprehensive suite of PCoIP zero client security features to include latest government SIPRNet mandates for user identification and authentication

Teradici extends the PCoIP zero client firmware to support news security features.

Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/teradicir-provides-high-security-desktop-authentication-with-support-for-siprnet-hardware-tokens-in-pcoipr-zero-clients-for-vmware-viewtm-2012-04-17

Interesting read over at CRN regarding VMware’s End User Computing products and upcoming release dates. It sounds that they’ve some insights but unfortunately only rumors.

The updates, outlined in an internal company document viewed by CRN, will be announced on May 2. They include View 5.1, the latest version of VMware’s desktop virtualization software; an on premise version of Horizon Application Manager, a VMware-hosted identity management service; and Zimbra 7.2, an update to the company’s open source email and collaboration software.

Link: http://www.crn.com/news/data-center/232900246/vmware-memo-outlines-view-5-1-project-octopus-launch-plans.htm;jsessionid=ycKi-V8blxLzC2lkhUN-+Q**.ecappj02?cid=nl_alert

Chuck Hirstius has released a public version of his cool tool PCoIP Log Viewer.

Source: http://myvirtualcloud.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/image6.png

Features:

• Parsing and graphical display of PCoIP performance metrics from PCoIP server log files (View 4.x, 5.0)
• Real-time display of PCoIP WMI counters (View 5.0)
• Ability to store WMI sessions for later review
• WMI-Rewind™  for DVR-like capability to move forward and back through time while viewing (or reviewing) a WMI session
• Tabbed interface to display multiple concurrent WMI sessions and/or log files
• Drag-and-Drop display of multiple (parsed) log files for easy/rapid opening when troubleshooting
• Export of saved WMI sessions to XLSX format for custom analysis and graphing

Link: http://mindfluxinc.net/?p=195

Via: MyVirtualCloud

We’ve been waiting for it a long time but now it’s here: The VMware View Client for Mac which includes support for PCoIP. Last night VMware published the tech preview version on the community forums. For downloading you’ll need a vmware.com account: http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/crt_macosx_tp_dec2011/dCV0YnRAd3BidGVkdA==

Features In the VMware View Client for Mac OS X

-       Support for Intel-based Macs

-       PCoIP protocol optimized for VMware View 5

-       Full screen support for Mac OS X Lion users

-       Copy and Paste plain text between View 4.x virtual machines and Mac

-       Copy and Paste text, formatted text, and graphics between View 5.x virtual machines and Mac

-       Support optional RSA authentication

-       Enhanced certificate checking

-       Add up to 4 VMware View server shortcuts in VMware View Client

Here’re some notes from the Read Me file:

VMware View Client for Mac OS X
Tech Preview – December 2011

Introduction

The VMware View Client for Mac OS X Tech Preview is designed to connect to VMware View server based desktops using the high performance PCoIP protocol from the Mac.

 

We Want Your Feedback

Please post your feedback on the View Client Tech Preview in the VMware Mac View Client Community at:

 

http://www.vmware.com/go/macviewclient

Features In the VMware View Client for Mac OS X

 

-       Support for Intel-based Macs

-       PCoIP protocol optimized for VMware View 5

-       Standard drag and drop install for Mac apps

-       Full screen support for Mac OS X Lion users

-       Copy and Paste plain text between View 4.x virtual machines and Mac

-       Copy and Paste text, formatted text, and graphics between View 5.x virtual machines and Mac

-       Support optional RSA authentication

-       Enhanced certificate checking

-       Add up to 4 VMware View server shortcuts in VMware View Client

 

System Requirements

-       A VMware View desktop that supports the PCoIP protocol

-       An Intel-based Mac

-       2 GB of RAM

-       Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 and Mac OS X Lion 10.7.0 or later

 

Installation

 

-       Double click on the VMware View Client disk image to mount it in the Finder

-       Drag the VMware View Client icon to the alias of the Applications folder and you are done

 

Adding Your View Desktop to VMware View Client

 

-       Launch VMware View from the Applications folder

-       Click on Add Server on the VMware View Client home screen

-       Type in the View Server address and click Continue

-       If prompted, enter your user name and RSA passcode and click Continue

-       Enter your desktop user name and password and click Continue

-       Select your preferred desktop and click Connect () or double click on it to connect

 

Connecting to Your VMware View Desktop

 

-       Double click on your View Server on the home screen

-       If prompted, enter your name and RSA passcode and click Continue

-       Enter your desktop user name and password and click Continue

-       Select your preferred desktop and click Connect () or double click on it to connect

Disconnecting From Your VMware View Desktop

 

To disconnect and choose a desktop on the same View Server

-       Click the Disconnect button () in the toolbar

 

To disconnect and choose a desktop on a different View Server

-       Click the Choose Another Server button () in the toolbar

 

To disconnect and quit the VMware View Client

-       Choose Quit from the File menu or type Command Q

 

Adding The VMware View Client To Your Dock

 

-       Launch the VMware View client

-       Click on the VMware View client in the Dock

-       Select Keep in Dock from the Options submenu

-       When you quit, the VMware View client will still be in your Dock

 

Known Issues

 

-       Unable to connect to Windows 7 based virtual machines using the RDP protocol. Workaround: Access your Windows 7 desktop with the higher performance PCoIP protocol or use the older VMware View 4.6 client with Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection to access Windows 7 based desktops with RDP.

 

Items Under Consideration for Future Major Client Releases Include:

 

-       Use of Multiple displays/monitors

-       Printing to locally attached printers

-       Full screen support for Mac OS X Snow Leopard

-       SmartCard authentication

-       USB device connectivity

 

Again, We Want Your Feedback

Please post your feedback on the View Client Tech Preview in the VMware Mac View Client Community at:

 

http://www.vmware.com/go/macviewclient

Teradici has released a new firmware on Monday. One of the main features is USB support in a VMware View session. Here are the other features.

PCoIP Firmware Release 3.5.0 Key Features

Now available for download at http://techsupport.teradici.com, PCoIP Firmware Release 3.5.0 delivers improved performance, flexibility, security and access through the following new features:

• USB 2.0 Support with VMware View Sessions: With this new release, PCoIP zero client users can expect to see up to 3x improvement in transfer speed for bulk transfers (read and write) when compared to earlier PCoIP zero client firmware releases. The new firmware release also delivers greater flexibility by supporting a larger number of DVD drives.
• Imprivata OneSign® No Click Access™: Teradici and Imprivata have developed a joint PCoIP strong authentication solution by combining PCoIP zero clients with Imprivata OneSign Virtual Desktop Access with VMware View™. Compatible with a broad range of access cards and ID badges, this solution provides PCoIP zero client users with fast and secure access to their roaming desktops from any location with a simple tap of their badge.
• 802.1X Network Authentication: PCoIP zero client devices can now be deployed with the highest degree of 802.1X security using EAP-TLS certificate-based authentication.

Additional PCoIP Firmware Release 3.5.0 features:

• IPv6 support: PCoIP zero clients updated to support ongoing mandates for IPv6 adherence.
• “Help Desk” mode: Administrators can enable a login screen link which allows users to log into a particular VM of the administrator’s choice. This VM may be configured by the administrator to provide specific support directions for users.
• Support for up to 25 View Connection Server addresses: Adds additional flexibility and scalability for large enterprises.
• 100BASE-FX: Support for fast Ethernet over optical fibre for enhanced security over long distances.

In conjunction with PCoIP Zero Client Firmware Release 3.5.0, Teradici is releasing PCoIP Management Console 1.7 now available for download from the Teradici Support Site at http://techsupport.teradici.com.

Check this website for more information: http://www.teradici.com/pcoip/news-and-events/press-releases/2011-12-05.php

Thanks to Jörg who brought up that Teradici just released a new firmware, version 3.4.1. These are the changes:

Release Details:

• Support for pre-session user authentication using Gemalto .NET smartcards
• Enhancements to VMware View client login dialog
  • Support for resetting a virtual machine (VM) before logging in
  • Moved the cursor to the password field by default when the user name is pre-populated.

Resolved Issues:

• Fixed problem that prevented zero clients from establishing View brokered connections in systems that include the “&” and “’” characters in the domain name.
• Fixed problem where two parameters in the DHCP request were in the wrong order. In some deployments this resulted in devices using gateway address 0.0.0.0.
• Fixed problem where some keys were incorrectly mapped on the Czech keyboard.
• Fixed memory leak problem introduced in FW release 3.4.0 that caused the device network interface to become non-responsive. When this happens the device does not support sessions and cannot be managed via the network interface.
• Fixed DVI VSYNC timing problem that caused interoperability issues with some displays and HDTVs.
• Fixed problem that prevented in-session authentication from working when using SIPR smart cards. Note: pre-session authentication is not yet supported for SIPR cards.
• Enable DNS SRV discovery on devices that have disabled DHCP.
• Fixed problem where the OSD may display incorrect certificate data when a smart card contains more than one certificate.
• Fixed problem where the Seac Banche® SB 1600 scanner does not work.
• Fixed problem introduced in FW release 3.4.0 that caused poor imaging performance. The problem affected host cards with 64 MB of RAM. It also affected host cards with 128 MB of RAM running sessions with large display resolutions (dual 2560×1600).
• Fixed problem introduced in FW release 3.3.0 where desktop icons become fuzzy while playing video. The problem occurs while network impairments are present.
• Fixed problem introduced in FW release 3.4.0 where visual artifacts appear on the zero client secondary display while the host OS boots.

A few weeks ago Teradici  announced the details for the APEX 2800 PCoIP Server Offload Card. With that add-on card you can increase VDI consolidation ratios by reducing the hosts CPU utilization by up 50%. Brian Madden just posted a new article on his blog explaining why he and Gabe chose Teradici as a winner in the desktop category. Check it out, I think he’s completely right.

Via: http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/brianmadden/archive/2011/09/07/why-we-chose-nutanix-teradici-and-virtual-computer-for-the-quot-best-of-vmworld-2011-quot-winners-in-the-desktop-category.aspx

During VMworld in Las Vegas, Teradici announced a new partner program to enable network optimization for PCoIP traffic. The first company to joint the Network Solution partner program is Riverbed. Please see the press announcement attached.

If you’re going to VMworld in Las Vegas and you’re interested in VMware View & PCoIP you shouldn’t miss two cool session.

EUC1987: VMware View PC-over-IP Performance and Best Practices
Tuesday, August 30th 12:00 
Wednesday, August 31st 1:00

EUC3163: VMware View Performance and Best Practices
Tuesday, August 30th – 4:30 
Wednesday, August 31st – 4:00

Link: VMware