Let’s just cut to the chase …
If you haven’t already done it, you need to download Microsoft’s latest Tech Preview of Windows Server 2016, as well as the Citrix XenApp 7.9 Tech Preview for Windows Server 2016 and really start digging in to the potentials of this powerful combination.
They can be found at the following links:
Citrix Technology Preview for Windows Server 2016
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview at TechNet
This is the first post in a new “Getting Ready for Citrix on Windows Server 2016” blog series that will document my explorations of Windows Server 2016 (WS2016) and the various foundational capabilities that Citrix is either extending already, or may consider extending as our roadmaps evolve over the next few years.
There are many areas of interest to discuss, starting with the basics of Remote Desktop Services in WS2016 and XenApp and XenDesktop 7.x, then expanding into Hyper-V, System Center and Azure integration capabilities and considerations. Needless to say there is plenty to play with here. “Play” is exactly what I will be doing in this series – best practices guidance will follow in complementary posts by me and others – but this specific series is meant as a mid-level “investigative” view (including video demos) of these solutions.
The best place to start is with an overview of the breakout session that Scott Manchester (Group Program Manager, Remote Desktop Services, Microsoft) and I presented at Synergy 2016 a few weeks back.
In that breakout session—SYN149: Microsoft Remote Desktop Services—Scott covered an overview of Microsoft enhancements in Windows Server 2016 specific to RDS: areas such as graphics and other performance enhancements, and optimizations for Azure Cloud. I covered the current Citrix extensions to the Microsoft platform, new areas of potential innovation and Citrix Cloud. We were both excited to provide initial details about our new agreement to work to together to bring the first Windows 10 VDI cloud Azure hosted service to market in late 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcbOAj1Q438
You can also watch the presentation on our Citrix Synergy 2016 playlist:
As a reminder and primer for some of the topics we will be covering over the following weeks I encourage you to spend some time watching these other videos from Synergy 2016.
Bill Burley and Brad Anderson talked about the evolving partnership between Microsoft and Citrix during the Synergy 2016 Keynote.
Daniel Feller’s SYN323: XenApp and XenDesktop Tech Update is always popular at Synergy and this year was no different.
Next up in the “Getting Ready for Citrix on Windows Server 2016” series:
“Get up and Running with XenDesktop 7.9 Apps and Desktops in a SNAP!.”
