Recently, two events got me thinking more and more about AWS WorkSpaces. What is AWS Workspaces? Basically it's VDI on AWS, but here's the official AWS definition/description: Amazon WorkSpaces enables you to provision virtual, cloud-based Microsoft Windows or Amazon Linux desktops for your users, known as WorkSpaces. Amazon WorkSpaces eliminates the need to procure and deploy … Continue reading Thinking about AWS WorkSpaces….
Author: David Ball
Can’t deploy Citrix Receiver with the CLI when using NetScalers?!?!
As I begin typing this post, I'm not sure if this post will end up being informational, a plea, a rant, or some combination of all three. Maybe it's just me, and I'm fully aware and able to accept that in all likelihood it probably is, but my biggest pain point when deploying new Citrix … Continue reading Can’t deploy Citrix Receiver with the CLI when using NetScalers?!?!
EMC Unity Datastore “not available in the VMware Hypervisor”
Recently, when creating the first VMFS datastore on an EMC storage array, I received and error stating that “the specified disk is not available in the VMware hypervisor”. Though the VMFS datastore was successfully created on the array, the error occurred when trying to assign permissions to the vSphere hosts themselves. In this particular circumstance, … Continue reading EMC Unity Datastore “not available in the VMware Hypervisor”
2018 AWS Public Sector Notes – Cost Optimization on AWS
As promised through Twitter, here are my notes from my second Thursday morning session from last week’s AWS Public Sector Summit in Washington, DC. This session, on AWS Cost Optimization led by Matt Johnson, was packed! Honestly, I was a little surprised by that initially though I’m not sure why….I mean, I have my AWS … Continue reading 2018 AWS Public Sector Notes – Cost Optimization on AWS
2018 AWS Public Summit Notes – Culture Shock: How a Legacy, Siloed Organization Can Move to the Cloud
In this session, which was filled to overflowing, Sherry Stevens of NAIC and Jeffrey Olson of The College Board discussed their organizations journey to the AWS cloud. I found it interesting to hear their thoughts and appreciated that both organizations were in different stages of their cloud journey. NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) is … Continue reading 2018 AWS Public Summit Notes – Culture Shock: How a Legacy, Siloed Organization Can Move to the Cloud
2018 AWS Public Sector Summit – Day 1 Summary
Hello all! I'm writing to you from Washington D.C. I'm here attending the AWS Public Sector Summit and as you might imagine, a day full of sessions leaves one feeling as if they have been "drinking from a fire hose". Nonetheless, it's been great and you could also say its far from over as the … Continue reading 2018 AWS Public Sector Summit – Day 1 Summary
Baselining Performance using Liquidware Stratusphere UX
This afternoon I was on an interesting and informative webinar hosted by Liquidware in which they discussed using SpotCheck Inspection of an environment as a means to provide visibility into the user experience. NOTE: Let me make this clear, in this post I'm focus on VDI in regards to a SpotCheck inspection, but Stratusphere's scope is … Continue reading Baselining Performance using Liquidware Stratusphere UX
VDI – Adding Notes to Horizon VMs to ID Citrix App Layering Image Templates
I had a Citrix App Layering (formerly Unidesk) customer ask me recently if there was an easy way to display or determine the OS layer version of a given virtual desktop from within vCenter. Prior versions of CAL/Unidesk 2.x “built” the virtual desktops itself, meaning it did not rely on Horizon tools like Composer to … Continue reading VDI – Adding Notes to Horizon VMs to ID Citrix App Layering Image Templates
Veeam backups fail due to login problems
Have you ever experienced the joy associated with overcoming a trying (or annoying) IT issue and the feeling of peace that comes with running a successful test before you leave for the night....knowing full well that this particular problem is behind you, that you can cross this one of the fix list. Later in the … Continue reading Veeam backups fail due to login problems
Building AWS CloudFormation templates using CloudFormer
I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm somewhat of a newbie when it comes build AWS CloudFormation templates, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to learn how to harness the power they provide. Thus, last week I spent some time trying to build a CloudFormation template to deploy a Cisco ASAv. At this point, … Continue reading Building AWS CloudFormation templates using CloudFormer