Citrix adds on-demand provisioning of virtual servers

Based on the innovative OS-streaming technology acquired in its January purchase of Ardence, Inc., Provisioning Server enables IT organizations to dynamically stream datacenter and desktop operating systems and workloads to both virtual and physical machines from a central location. The new solution enables more agile and cost-effective delivery of applications and desktops, and provides an ideal complement to the company's recently announced acquisition of virtual infrastructure vendor XenSource.

Enterprise IT managers are under increasing pressure to cut their data center operating costs and improve IT effectiveness by reducing server count, cutting utility expenses and increasing productivity. Provisioning Server will enable organizations to stream a server OS and workload from network storage to bare-metal or virtual servers in the datacenter, and a desktop OS and workload to virtual desktops and LAN-connected diskless PCs on-demand. By streaming a server OS and workload on-demand - rather than physically loading them on each server - Provisioning Server increases IT flexibility, reduces the need for backup servers, cuts energy costs and streamlines IT management.

"Adding OS and workload streaming functionality to our existing array of datacenter, desktop and application delivery options further demonstrates Citrix's leadership in delivering the applications our customers need, when they need them, wherever they are located," said Lou Shipley, group vice president and general manager, management systems group, Citrix. "By streamlining both datacenter and desktop delivery, Citrix Provisioning Server will provide significant economic and productivity benefits for enterprises. The simplified management and increased flexibility will deliver long-term benefits."

"In the Middle East, enterprises are actively trying to leverage the latest technology to optimize performance and functionality, while reducing investment levels and operating costs. Data centers are a core component of any organization's IT infrastructure, and the Citrix Provisioning Server will empower firms with the ability to manage the number of servers required within their IT setup. Through streaming desktop and server workloads, Citrix Provisioning Server will also add on employee efficiency through creating a flexible, dynamic and unbounded work environment."

added Antoine Aguado, Regional Manager, Citrix Middle East.

As adoption of virtualization technologies accelerates, demand is growing for an integrated end-to-end virtual infrastructure solution that includes reliable and secure delivery mechanisms as well as automated desktop and datacenter provisioning processes. Citrix offers this range of technologies, giving organizations a comprehensive virtualization infrastructure that creates a computing environment far more flexible, dynamic and responsive to business change.

Provisioning Server will be sold through the Citrix worldwide channel organization offering multiple benefits to existing Citrix application delivery infrastructure customers.
• Customers using Citrix Presentation Server™ to deliver Windows applications will be able to stream operating systems and application workloads from a single image. This makes it easy to manage OS or server upgrades, conduct compatibility tests and repurpose servers, all while reducing the number of total backup servers required.
• Customers using Citrix® NetScaler® to deliver Web applications will be able to stream any OS and application workload on-demand to back-end Web and application servers, eliminating the need to deploy, patch and upgrade a static OS and workload on each server.
• Customers using server and desktop virtualization solutions from the upcoming XenSource acquisition will be able to provision virtual servers and desktops across the datacenter.
• Customers in a multi-user lab or high-security environment will be able to stream a full desktop image to diskless PCs on the network.