"It looks real," he said. "You can't build Windows, however. It's just a bunch of chunks of the operating system."
From the article..
The 203MB file contains the code that appears to be from Microsoft's enterprise operating system, but the code is not complete, said Dragos Ruiu, a security consultant and the organizer of the CanSecWest security conference, who has examined the file listing.
In the above mentioned link, the following "observation" is made:
"With the open source community, there are a large percentage of tinkers and 'ankle biters' who are trying their hand at hacking. Some are even communicating with each other. So it only takes one or two of these groups sharing information to be able to pull something off. When you have this type of passion, it's hard to fight because these people are like virtual suicide car bombers."
I've been working with Citrix almost non-stop for the last two years and we've done some recent implementations (up to 1000 users) in the education sector.
First, Citrix is a great product, but the costs don't justify unless you're using it fully. Citrix's new server product called MetaFrame XP comes in three different flavors: XPs, for a single server implementation, XPa, for a load balanced environment, and XPe, the load balanced environment with all the bells and whistles.
Costs that are required are as such:
1. You're going to have to have Windows 2000 Client Access Licenses for everyone that will hit the Windows 2000 server[s] running Terminal Services.
2. You're going to have to have Windows 2000 Terminal Server Client Access Licneses for every box that will hit the Windows 2000 server[s] running Terminal Services. Keep in mind, though, that a Windows 2000 Professional PC comes with a TS CAL. So, no need to purchase a TS CAL for any Windows 2000 Professional PC that will connect.
3. You're going to have to buy Connection Licenses for each/concurrent/ connection for Citrix. Meaning, if you're going to have 500 users in your Citrix environment, but only 40 connected at any given time, you only need to purchase 40 Citrix Connection Licenses.
4. If you purchase your Citrix Licenses with Subscription Advantage, which allows you free Feature Release upgrades, there's an additional cost per license.
Euducation environments get price breaks on their licenses, so, its not as bad as it could be.
If you're looking for a locked-down environment, with some manageability, look at Windows 2000 with Terminal Services instead of adding Citrix. With Windows 2000 Group Policy's you can lock down virtual desktop sessions really well and provide that secure, load balanced thin-client solution. You can find some thin-client linux based devices for under $300. Check out the following for a nice device with RDP built in: http://www.neoware.com/products/capio/5xx.html
Power consumption is another factor not looked at by many. Gartner did a study that found, on average, thin clients to consume up to 7x less power per PC. This comes at quite a savings if you factor in all the PCs in your environment during the year.
One last thing to help you figure out cost savings. Citrix has a tool you can use to get some rough numbers to view projected savings. Check out the following link to the ACE Cost Analyzer: http://acecostanalyzer.com/
Citrix products are used in 99% of the Fortune 100 and 90% of the Fortune 500. The product works, and works well, when someone knowledgeable can help out with the solution. Im not saying that the product is perfect, but many problems (such as printing, etc) can be avoided or minimized with help.
Slashdot Mirror
This hack in the box article quotes a security expert as saying:
"It looks real," he said. "You can't build Windows, however. It's just a bunch of chunks of the operating system."
From the article..
The 203MB file contains the code that appears to be from Microsoft's enterprise operating system, but the code is not complete, said Dragos Ruiu, a security consultant and the organizer of the CanSecWest security conference, who has examined the file listing.
In the above mentioned link, the following "observation" is made:
"With the open source community, there are a large percentage of tinkers and 'ankle biters' who are trying their hand at hacking. Some are even communicating with each other. So it only takes one or two of these groups sharing information to be able to pull something off. When you have this type of passion, it's hard to fight because these people are like virtual suicide car bombers."
Interesting choice of comparisons, if you ask me.
I've been working with Citrix almost non-stop for the last two years and we've done some recent implementations (up to 1000 users) in the education sector.
/concurrent/ connection for Citrix. Meaning, if you're going to have 500 users in your Citrix environment, but only 40 connected at any given time, you only need to purchase 40 Citrix Connection Licenses.
First, Citrix is a great product, but the costs don't justify unless you're using it fully. Citrix's new server product called MetaFrame XP comes in three different flavors: XPs, for a single server implementation, XPa, for a load balanced environment, and XPe, the load balanced environment with all the bells and whistles.
Costs that are required are as such:
1. You're going to have to have Windows 2000 Client Access Licenses for everyone that will hit the Windows 2000 server[s] running Terminal Services.
2. You're going to have to have Windows 2000 Terminal Server Client Access Licneses for every box that will hit the Windows 2000 server[s] running Terminal Services. Keep in mind, though, that a Windows 2000 Professional PC comes with a TS CAL. So, no need to purchase a TS CAL for any Windows 2000 Professional PC that will connect.
3. You're going to have to buy Connection Licenses for each
4. If you purchase your Citrix Licenses with Subscription Advantage, which allows you free Feature Release upgrades, there's an additional cost per license.
Euducation environments get price breaks on their licenses, so, its not as bad as it could be.
If you're looking for a locked-down environment, with some manageability, look at Windows 2000 with Terminal Services instead of adding Citrix. With Windows 2000 Group Policy's you can lock down virtual desktop sessions really well and provide that secure, load balanced thin-client solution. You can find some thin-client linux based devices for under $300. Check out the following for a nice device with RDP built in: http://www.neoware.com/products/capio/5xx.html
Power consumption is another factor not looked at by many. Gartner did a study that found, on average, thin clients to consume up to 7x less power per PC. This comes at quite a savings if you factor in all the PCs in your environment during the year.
One last thing to help you figure out cost savings. Citrix has a tool you can use to get some rough numbers to view projected savings. Check out the following link to the ACE Cost Analyzer: http://acecostanalyzer.com/
Citrix products are used in 99% of the Fortune 100 and 90% of the Fortune 500. The product works, and works well, when someone knowledgeable can help out with the solution. Im not saying that the product is perfect, but many problems (such as printing, etc) can be avoided or minimized with help.
Good luck,
pini0n