South Florida Technology Network

South Florida Technology Network
09 April 09, Citrix World Hq

This event was sponsored by Katie Lochrie, Citrix, who gave a really high-powered talk on the Citris' Zen Server. Below is Scott's e-mail to the group covering the event.

SFTN Members & Friends:

Here are a few notes and highlights from the April 2009 Meeting last
night (4/9/09) at Citrix, our 48th actual meeting as a group, of the
South Florida Technology Network. We had the pleasure of having a
presentation by Katie Lochrie of the Xen Server Channel program at
Citrix. Katie is also the sponsor of our group and secures the meeting
room for us each month. Please Thank Katie for that the next time you
see her.

The meeting started at about 7:15 PM to allow people to get through the
"New" LobbyGuard computer at Citrix. Please note that if you do scan
your license it will make you type in your complete name...arrgh!!

We had about 18 people in attendance. Thank you to those who got in
touch before the meeting letting me know you could not make it...I
appreciate your consideration. We had more than enough Pizza and drinks
for everyone there which was provided by Citrix this month.

Katie spoke to us of the "New" Xen Server program that Citrix and
Microsoft launched about a month ago that went into effect this past
Monday, April 6th 2009. If I missed anything and you were there tonight,
please feel free to add or correct my comments.

Here are the features of the program...plus where to go to find out
more.

* Xen Server is now FREE to download. Go to www.citrix.com
<http://www.citrix.com/> to get it or click on link below.
* This is an unlimited version in regards to processors, virtual
machines and amount of memory you can throw at it.
* It comes with a version of Xen Motion which is a tool for
rapidly moving and recovering virtual machines should there be a problem
with underlying host OS.
* Includes Xen Center - which is a centralized multi-node
management interface.

Find out more about this program and additional features offered at
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1686939

There is also in Citrix and Microsoft tradition the last few years the
ability to add additional value with a product called Citrix Xen Server
Essentials which provides advanced features for both Xen Server and also
Hyper-V not available for Free. Good old capitalism at work here and
very competitively priced for what they offer too. Find out more about
that program here
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1686940

It is my opinion, that more than ever we now have the ability to provide
Virtualization to our clients. Even though it is Free for what most of
us need, it allows us to provide additional Services that need to be
monitored and maintained, which is what we get paid to do.

Other highlights of the meeting included:

* Richard Battin shared a utility with us from Gibson Research
called Securable (which will give you info on your computer and whether
it is capable of running a Virtual Server program like Xen Server) Get
that here - http://www.grc.com/securable.htm
* Dave Lord took his usual amount of pictures - Proof that we were
All there. - Thanks Dave!
* We had a discussion about how Xen Server can now be used by many
of us in our space to Virtualize and provide services to our clients.
* We also discussed the economy and how most of us are doing out
there. Most are holding their own and we agreed that there are some real
growth opportunities out there besides Bankruptcy and Foreclosure
verticals like Medical related fields and for some the Public Sector. I
believe there is a whole bunch of opportunity out there just waiting for
us to find it.

* If you are interested in a Citrix Training Voucher for Xen
Server - please get in touch with me to find out how to get one.
* We had a giveaway of books from Microsoft and Culminis on Vista
Security...also had a few shirts to giveaway too which were caught by
different people.
* We raffled off 3 items...of Windows Vista Ultimate won by a new
member Nolan Fleishman, a Geek Coffee mug won by Dave Lord and a silver
Coffee/Drink tumbler won by Eric Pittman.

Our next meeting in May on Thursday, May 14th, will be sponsored by
StorageCraft which many of us know and use. They want to come back down
after not being here for more than a year and share with us "What's New
and upcoming in the future" for Shadow Protect their flagship product.

Meeting adjourned about 8:35 PM with many members going over to the Frog
& Toad on Powerline Rd. less than a mile away for our " Meeting after
the Meeting" which is coordinated by Greg Kirkpatrick each month. He has
gotten them to offer us Happy hour pricing on all Beverages and also
Free munchies and Free Wi-Fi should you need it after the meeting too. -
Thanks Greg for doing this every month.

That's all folks...I look forward to seeing everyone of May 14th back at
Citrix in Fort Lauderdale. If you have any questions or need any
additional information...please get in touch with me at my contact info
below.

Thanks again...

Scott Cayouette
IPW Networks
Microsoft Small Business Specialist
South Florida Technology Network Group Leader
US Microsoft SBSC Advisory Group Member
954-818-2694
sc...@ipwnetworks.net
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