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lilnovina
October 19th, 2007, 02:37 PM
Hi Everyone,

I am the senior Citrix Administrator to The Versus channel (formerly Outdoor Life Network), owned by Comcast Networks. I just wanted to share with the community what I have been able to accomplish using Ubuntu desktop in our environment. I originally started using Ubuntu with the hope of finding out if I could fully manage and administer a WIndows 2003 AD domain with a Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 server farm using nothing but a Ubuntu PC. I am using Gusty Gibbion 7.10. I had expected to have to work out various unforeseen issues with connectivity and or security in a 2003 native mode domain, but I have seen no issues at all. I am easily able to connect to any server I need to manage using the Citrix ICA client for Linux, which was much easier to install and configure than I expected. Also, the terminal services client built into Ubuntu works perfectly. I thought connecting to network printers might give me issues but it was as easy as pointing the printing config tool at the UNC of the printer I wanted and choosing the drivers. All the drivers I needed were built right into Ubuntu!!!! This is FAR from the idea of Linux I had in my head. I can create and modify network documentation easily using Open Office, and Evolution Mail was a cinch to get working with my Exchange account. All in all I am SUPER impressed with Ubuntu, and I plan to continue using my Ubuntu PC and Laptop to manage or environment. Compiz looks amazing and I have gotten serious geek points from my co-workers just from showing it off :) They are still of the mind that doing anything in Linux requires extensive command line knowledge. This is not the case in the least. Since all of my companies applications are published via Citrix, I am working with our desktop engineering group to setup a pilot program in which a small number of volunteer users will have their Vista systems replaced with a Ubuntu PC, with the Citrix ICA client pre-configured. The cost savings alone for just these 5 users will be in the range $5000 - $6000 in licensing. If we could get ALL our users onto Ubuntu, we could use those savings to pay for the licensing of our domain servers, thereby saving 100% of our server licensing budget! I will be presenting this information to our CTO after the pilot program succeeds. Once this little dream of mine is realized, I hope to present it as a case study to Comcast programming as a whole, in the hopes that other networks, and even possibly Comcast Networks as a whole my adopt this strategy. I am posting this in the hope that other fellow network admins may realize that Linux has come of age, and that 5-10+ years of Vista headaches may not be a mandatory punishment :)

simply put, Ubuntu ROCKS!

luvdemheels
October 19th, 2007, 02:41 PM
How did you go about installing the Citrix ICA client for Linux??

Very interesting post.

n3tfury
October 19th, 2007, 02:49 PM
i love VS and love hockey even more!!!! nice write up!

luvdemheels
October 19th, 2007, 06:17 PM
bttt , I want to know about the citrix client.