April - Xen Client-side virtualization - How to take VDI offline

Our topic for April is: "XenClient: Client-side virtualization, and how to take Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) offline" presented by Dr. Melanie Rieback and Daniel Ferstay of Citrix Vancouver.

After a brief introduction to virtualization/cloud computing/Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), they will present the XenClient client-side hypervisor and Synchronizer image management tool. XenClient (XC) is a high-performance bare-metal hypervisor that runs directly on client device hardware, dividing up the resources of a machine and enabling multiple operating systems to run side by side in complete isolation.

The Synchronizer enables IT administrators to centrally manage virtual desktops, backing up user data when a network connection is available, defining security policies on a per-VM basis, disabling lost or stolen laptops, and transferring a user's virtual desktop to any compatible device.

After some high-level discussion of use-cases and applications, they will dive into an in-depth technical exploration of the XC/Synchronizer internals, architecture, and APIs.

Melanie and Daniel will then conclude with their vision for the future.

Speaker Bios:

Dr. Melanie Rieback is in charge of Citrix Vancouver, leading the engineering and technology strategy for XenClient Synchronizer. Before moving to Citrix, Melanie was a faculty member at the Free University of Amsterdam (in the group of Prof. Andrew Tanenbaum), where her RFID security/privacy research attracted worldwide media attention, appearing in the New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, UPI, Computerworld, CNN, BBC, MSNBC, and many other print, broadcast, and online news outlets. Melanie has received many awards for her work (Best Paper: IEEE PerCom, Best Paper: USENIX Lisa, NWO I/O Prize, VU Mediakomeet, ISOC Award finalist, Viva 400, 'Women in ICT' finalist: ICT Professional of the Year 2010), and has served as an invited technology expert for the American and Dutch governments. In a past life, Melanie also worked on the Human Genome Project at the Whitehead Institute / MIT Center for Genome Research, where she contributed to the 2001 'Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome' paper in Nature.

Daniel Ferstay is a principal software engineer at Citrix Vancouver with his fingers in the architecture, design, and implementation of XenClient. Before joining Citrix, Daniel was a software engineer in the research group at Business Objects Vancouver where he hacked on a mixture of skunkworks and real product. Daniel holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of British Columbia where his thesis research explored virtualizing the ARM platform.

Please do RSVP "Yes" if you plan to attend this most interesting VanLUG Technical Meeting at SFU Harbour Centre.

N.B., SFU, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, is one block south of the Waterfront SkyTrain Station. Elevator to the 7th floor is down the hallway off to the right of the main entrance lobby.