7.1. What's New

7.1. What's New
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7.1.1. Installation and Configuration

Feature	Description
Simplified Installation	In this release, there is a single installer (the utsetup command) that installs the entire Sun Ray Software product on the Sun Ray server. Installation improvements include: Many of the previous Sun Ray Software components are now installed as part of the Sun Ray Software installation. These components include the Sun Ray Connector for Windows OS (SRWC), the Sun Ray Connector for VMWare View Manager (SRVC), and Smart Card authentication with PC/SC-lite. (These core features are now referred to as the Windows connector, VMware View connector, and smart card services, respectively.) The new utsetup command enables you to step through a Sun Ray Software installation and configuration process and save the setup details for cloning other Sun Ray servers.
Integrated Sun Ray Client Firmware	Previous to the Sun Ray Software 5.2 release, there were two versions of the Sun Ray Client firmware delivered. A non-GUI firmware and a GUI firmware. In this release, there is now one firmware, and the Configuration GUI must be specifically enabled for local configuration.

Feature

Description

Simplified Installation

In this release, there is a single installer (the utsetup command) that installs the entire Sun Ray Software product on the Sun Ray server. Installation improvements include:

Many of the previous Sun Ray Software components are now installed as part of the Sun Ray Software installation. These components include the Sun Ray Connector for Windows OS (SRWC), the Sun Ray Connector for VMWare View Manager (SRVC), and Smart Card authentication with PC/SC-lite. (These core features are now referred to as the Windows connector, VMware View connector, and smart card services, respectively.)
The new utsetup command enables you to step through a Sun Ray Software installation and configuration process and save the setup details for cloning other Sun Ray servers.

Integrated Sun Ray Client Firmware

Previous to the Sun Ray Software 5.2 release, there were two versions of the Sun Ray Client firmware delivered. A non-GUI firmware and a GUI firmware. In this release, there is now one firmware, and the Configuration GUI must be specifically enabled for local configuration.

7.1.2. Multimedia

Feature	Description
Improved performance for video and audio streams on Windows XP and Windows 2003	The multimedia redirection component for Windows XP and Windows 2003 now provides better performance and playback for MPEG-2 videos and MPEG, AAC, and WMA audio streams from a Windows session using Windows Media Player 10 or 11.
Audio Optimization	Previous to the Sun Ray Software 5.2 release, a Sun Ray client always used 48kHz stereo for audio input regardless of what the application requested. The 48kHz audio was sent from the client to the Sun Ray server and then the audio was converted down (if needed) based on what was requested by the application. In this release, a Sun Ray client uses only what the application needs, which can help reduce bandwidth and increase scalability. For example, if a VoIP application requests 8kHz mono, a Sun Ray client will require 92% less bandwidth for the audio input than before. In this example, the bandwidth is reduced from 192 KB/s (16-bit, 48kHz stereo) to 16 KB/s (16-bit, 8kHz mono), which is a 92% reduction.

Feature

Description

Improved performance for video and audio streams on Windows XP and Windows 2003

The multimedia redirection component for Windows XP and Windows 2003 now provides better performance and playback for MPEG-2 videos and MPEG, AAC, and WMA audio streams from a Windows session using Windows Media Player 10 or 11.

Audio Optimization

Previous to the Sun Ray Software 5.2 release, a Sun Ray client always used 48kHz stereo for audio input regardless of what the application requested. The 48kHz audio was sent from the client to the Sun Ray server and then the audio was converted down (if needed) based on what was requested by the application.

In this release, a Sun Ray client uses only what the application needs, which can help reduce bandwidth and increase scalability. For example, if a VoIP application requests 8kHz mono, a Sun Ray client will require 92% less bandwidth for the audio input than before. In this example, the bandwidth is reduced from 192 KB/s (16-bit, 48kHz stereo) to 16 KB/s (16-bit, 8kHz mono), which is a 92% reduction.

7.1.3. Peripherals

Feature	Description
USB Headsets	Users can now chat in real time using a USB headset on a Sun Ray 2 or Sun Ray 3 Series Client, with no special installation or USB redirection required. For the list of tested USB Headsets, see the Sun Ray Peripherals List.
Multi-Voltage Smart Card Support for Sun Ray 2 Series and Sun Ray 3 Series Clients	With the new Sun Ray Software 5.2 firmware installed, all Sun Ray 2 Series and Sun Ray 3 Series Clients will support smart cards that operate at all three of the ISO-7816 defined Vcc voltages of 1.8 Volts (Class C), 3 Volts (Class B), and 5 Volts (Class A). The client firmware will automatically choose the most appropriate voltage to operate the card. There are no administrator settings available or required to control this feature.
Better Multi-monitor Support for Sun Ray 3 Plus and Sun Ray 2FS Clients	Better multi-monitor support is now provided by the X Resize and Rotate (RandR) 1.2 extension. When using multiple monitors for a single desktop, this update eliminates size restrictions when hotdesking, enables dynamic configuration changes to a session, and reduces application window "straddling" across physical monitors.

Feature

Description

USB Headsets

Users can now chat in real time using a USB headset on a Sun Ray 2 or Sun Ray 3 Series Client, with no special installation or USB redirection required. For the list of tested USB Headsets, see the Sun Ray Peripherals List.

Multi-Voltage Smart Card Support for Sun Ray 2 Series and Sun Ray 3 Series Clients

With the new Sun Ray Software 5.2 firmware installed, all Sun Ray 2 Series and Sun Ray 3 Series Clients will support smart cards that operate at all three of the ISO-7816 defined Vcc voltages of 1.8 Volts (Class C), 3 Volts (Class B), and 5 Volts (Class A). The client firmware will automatically choose the most appropriate voltage to operate the card. There are no administrator settings available or required to control this feature.

Better Multi-monitor Support for Sun Ray 3 Plus and Sun Ray 2FS Clients

Better multi-monitor support is now provided by the X Resize and Rotate (RandR) 1.2 extension.

When using multiple monitors for a single desktop, this update eliminates size restrictions when hotdesking, enables dynamic configuration changes to a session, and reduces application window "straddling" across physical monitors.

7.1.4. Networking

Feature	Description
Cisco VPN with Hybrid Authentication and Other VPN Updates	Sun Ray Software now provides the ability to configure Cisco Hybrid authentication through the firmware GUI. Other updates include support for Cisco Profile Configuration File (`.pcf`) files, gateway setting for Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS), and HTTP transport.
VPN Gateway Password Configuration Now Used	If the VPN gateway is configured to disallow stored passwords, the client's firmware will ignore requests to save the password locally. Previously, the firmware saved the password regardless of the VPN gateway configuration.
IPMP Support	Sun Ray Software now supports arbitrary IP MultiPathing, or IPMP. IPMP is supported only on Sun Ray servers in a shared network configuration (LAN with fully-routed subnets) and running the Solaris operating system. See the Sun Ray Software 5.2 Installation and Configuration Guide for more information.

7.1.5. User Experience

Feature	Description
OSD Icons Now Hidden During Boot	With the new Sun Ray Software 5.2 firmware installed, a spinning wheel icon is displayed now by default on a Sun Ray Client when it boots, instead of showing the On-Screen Display (OSD) icons. To show the details of the boot process and to help identify problems, you can use the Stop-O key sequence (or Ctrl-Pause-O on non-Sun keyboards) to enable the On-Screen Display (OSD) icons to display.
Alternate Sun Ray Client Hot Key	The Ctrl-Shift-Alt-Meta key combination now can be used as an alternate to the Ctrl-Pause prefix. This new key combination can be customized through the Advanced menu of the firmware GUI (Enter Alternative STOP modifiers) or the `stopkeys` keyword in the `.parms` file. You can set it to any combination of the four keys, but at least two must be used. Throughout the Sun Ray Software documentation, the Ctrl-Pause prefix is still used for examples.

Feature

Description

OSD Icons Now Hidden During Boot

With the new Sun Ray Software 5.2 firmware installed, a spinning wheel icon is displayed now by default on a Sun Ray Client when it boots, instead of showing the On-Screen Display (OSD) icons. To show the details of the boot process and to help identify problems, you can use the Stop-O key sequence (or Ctrl-Pause-O on non-Sun keyboards) to enable the On-Screen Display (OSD) icons to display.

Alternate Sun Ray Client Hot Key

The Ctrl-Shift-Alt-Meta key combination now can be used as an alternate to the Ctrl-Pause prefix. This new key combination can be customized through the Advanced menu of the firmware GUI (Enter Alternative STOP modifiers) or the stopkeys keyword in the .parms file. You can set it to any combination of the four keys, but at least two must be used. Throughout the Sun Ray Software documentation, the Ctrl-Pause prefix is still used for examples.