The Top Four Technical Issues

with XenApp Solved with Horizon

Anthony Davis, VMware

Bruce Perram, VMware

EUC5227

#VSVC5227

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Issue 1- User Experience on Shared Server Sessions

Some natively installed applications will not live together on the same Xenapp/TS server

Opening applications that exist on different Xenapp/TS Servers initiates an additional logon process

File associations that trigger applications installed on a different Xenapp/TS server may not work properly or will force another logon process

Profile corruption can occur when multiple sessions are logged on

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Windows

Operating System

Physical

Registry

Physical

File System

Windows

Operating System

Physical

Registry

Physical

File System

Windows

Operating System

Physical

Registry

Physical

File System

Solution - Removing Application Conflict

ThinApp

Compressed Container (EXE)

Virtual OS (VOS)

Application

Registry Access

File Access

Virtual

Registry

Virtual

File System

Sandbox

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ThinApp on TS/Citrix XenApp

VMware ThinApp works on

Terminal Servers!

Conflicting Apps can run on same Terminal

Server.

No more server “Silos” for incompatible or high-

maintenance apps.

Having all applications virtualised with Thinapp

and available from every server in the farm

means that applications will launch immediately

within the same shared session.

File extension association will be consistent

across the server farm resulting in a better user

experience

Clipboard mapping, atl tabbing, printing etc will

all work better in a single session

Less chance of a corrupt roaming profile from a

single server session.

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Issue 2- Operational Management on Shared Server Sessions

Too much complexity in having different applications published from siloed server farms

A single Xenapp/TS image to deploy

Support more users through efficient spread of users and Thinapp memory sharing

Deployment capabilities like PVS are most optimized when the server images are identical

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Leverage Virtualization for Better-than-Physical Security

Issues

“AV storms” can cause 100%

saturation in shared compute (CPU)

and SAN/NAS (storage I/O)

environments

Traditional agents are resource

intensive - not optimized for high

utilization, efficient clouds

Opportunities

Leverage hypervisor to offload AV

functions from agents into a

dedicated security VM

Deploy security in a more agile,

service-driven manner to both

private and public cloud

environments

VMware vSphere

Introspection

SVM

OS Hardened

AV

VM

APP

OS Kernel

BIOS

VM

APP

OS Kernel

BIOS

VM

APP

OS Kernel

BIOS

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Support More Users with VMware ThinApp Memory Sharing

Memory Sharing

• Memory pages from one instance of an application are shared with other

instances of the same application

• Application packages must be run from the same

location

• Applies to shared, multiuser environments

such as Terminal Server

• Shared even when users are logged into

different sessions

• Example: Microsoft Office loads common DLLs

into different applications

• One copy of MSO.dll loaded for all Office apps

App

Instance

#2

App

Instance

#1

Shared Memory Page

Unique

Page Unique

Page

Unique

Page

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Demo

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Issue 3 Endpoint (client) Management – Horizon Mirage

Fully control and manage clients

Repurpose PC’s

In or out of Active Directory

Control patching and security

OS upgrades with no downtime

Peripheral driver management

Anti Virus management

Local application delivery

• Browser, media player,

• CODEC’s, etc

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XenApp Client Delivery – Horizon Mirage and ThinApp

Avoid errors and conflicts

Isolate and deploy

receiver/ICA Client software

Manage multiple client

versions on devices

Different configurations for

different farms

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Deploy Receiver and Local Applications to PC’s with ThinApp

Local apps

Isolated local apps

Remote apps

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DEMO

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Issue 4 – Change in Application Landscape and User Interaction

Application are moving to an OS neutral architecture

Commodity applications are being hosted in the cloud (SaaS)

Users want an applications on demand

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3

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Change in Application Landscape

1996 2020

100%

0%

50%

25%

75%

OS Neutral

Windows

2011

Installed base of enterprise applications

CROSSOVER

POINT Source: Gartner, 2011

300B app downloads

by 2016

of LOB apps

are SaaS 80%

Sources: IDC 2012, Morgan Stanley 2011, Gartner 2012, Forrester 2012, Pew 2011

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OS Neutral Applications Are Becoming the Majority

Installed base of enterprise applications

Source: Gartner

Windows

OS

Neutral

A New Approach

Is Required

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SaaS Applications

Virtual Desktops

App Management

App Publishing

User Data Mgmt

Collaborative Workspace

Cross-Platform Portal

Mobility and Offline

Enterprise App Store

End User Workspace

Directory Federation AD

License Tracking

Access Management

Admin Console

Easy Access to Applications with Horizon Workspace

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Demo

THANK YOU

The Top Four Technical Issues

with XenApp Solved with Horizon

Anthony Davis, VMware

Bruce Perram, VMware

EUC5227

#VSVC5227