We've just completed implementation and commissioning of a small Citrix XenApp environment for an SME customer.

We used two host servers running a free hypervisor and placed a XenApp VM and a Secure Gateway VM on each. XenApp takes care of load-balancing for application/desktop sessions and we've used Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB) to cluster the Secure Gateway VM's.

The result? - secure, high-performance remote desktops for 20 users at a branch office, on a fault-tolerant infrastructure with no shared storage, no unnecessary licenses and therefore at minimal cost.

It's a blend of old school Citrix infrastructure on a modern virtualisation platform that works especially well in this instance.

We've been doing plenty of work with iPads recently; many of our XenApp and VDI accounts are using them to securely access Windows corporate desktops and applications.

We've also deployed several Apple Lion Servers with Profile Manager to provide centralised and remote management of iPads and other iOS 5 devices, including iOS application deployment.

There will be plenty of updates over the coming months, but by way of some tasty tech teasers, these will include FlexPod, NetApp FAS, Cisco UCS, Cisco Nexus, Citrix Access Gateway, SQL DataWarehouse, NetApp MetroCluster, Citrix XenServer, Citrix XenApp, Active Directory Security, Data Migration, Storage System Upgrades, DataCenter Relocation, Service Consolidation, VMware vSphere, VMware View, Server-Based Computing, VDI, Network Security, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Active Directory Upgrades, and more.......

Whilst we're using a Citrix Access Gateway as the connection endpoint, PinSafe introduces an additional, tokenless authentication factor to the mix, thus enhancing security beyond that offered by native logon options.

This has included both Windows XP and Windows 7 virtual desktops, all using View Composer for automated (stateless) desktop pools. Applications have been virtualised and deployed using the rather excellent ThinApp, and we have client connections coming in from iPads, Windows desktops and laptops, Linux thin clients and Apple OS X laptops.

Watching user sessions be disconnected at a PC, resumed and worked on using an iPad, disconnected again and then resumed at a Mac before finally being accessed at a Linux thin terminal is a great demonstration of the possibilities of a true "follow-me" desktop session.

Server-based computing is living up to the promise these days, and the potential is huge :-)

We've just implemented a Citrix XenApp Farm behind a Citrix Access Gateway for secure remote and mobile working. We've also got iPads on this solution, so mobile workers can securely access a full, corporate Windows desktop from their devices.

Users are loving the way that sessions are maintained so they can disconnect from a PC and then log in from an iPad and access all their running apps.......

As part of our drive to grow our business and expand our client base, we're very excited to announce that we've opened a new office in Sussex. This will position illumit to better serve clients in London and the South East of England.

With a growing resume of customers and leading-edge IT infrastructure projects, we look forward to extending our portfolio in the South East. Please do contact us with any queries.

Recently setup some new Cisco 3750 switches and associated VLAN configuration, on a LAN and WAN infrastructure implemented by another party. This involved some detailed investigation to understand a fairly complex and un-documented configuration.

The review and setup was completed in a day.

We've also recently successfully audited a landscape of mixed Windows clients (XP, Vista and Windows 7) using a tool deployed via Group Policy. This was carried out without invoking client-side administrative privileges and auto-saved client audit results to a server as .csv files.


We've recently upgraded a number of Apple laptops and desktops to OS X 10.7 Lion.

Issues so far have been with apps including Drobo Dashboard and JungleDisk, and a change in hostname behaviour has also introduced a few minor challenges. However, we've found it a quick and smooth upgrade for most systems overall.