If you have a Direct3D based application that consumes a lot of CPU running on Windows Server 2003, consider hosting it on XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008. The reason? Under WS08, Direct3D apps can take advantage of graphics processing hardware on the server to do the graphics rendering. As a result, you'll likely find that you can provide better performance to your users and increase the number of concurrent users per server compared to using software rendering (see my earlier blog post). The one key limitation is that the apps must run in 16-bit (5-6-5) color mode ("High color") since the solution does not currently support 24-bit or 32-bit color. Also, running on a hypervisor is not yet possible, until the hypervisor and graphics vendors introduce GPU virtualization technology.

DirectX hardware acceleration can be used together with the Progressive Display feature of HDX 3D. One customer recently commented that the bandwidth requirement to deliver a particular Direct3D graphics application with good performance using these technologies was 1.5 Mbps for the first user plus 0.5 Mbps for each successive user. This has made XenApp a very attractive platform for delivering the application to their remote users.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

Southwest Florida Water Management District is one of many Citrix XenApp customers using SpeedScreen Progressive Display to give remote users an excellent user experience when accessing a highly graphical application. On August 28th, Marc Versley (Lead System Administrator) and Axel Griner (Senior GIS Analyst) of Southwest Florida Water Management District will share insights into how they have configured their XenApp PS 4.5 system to deliver ESRI ArcGIS, an integrated system for authoring, serving and using geographic information. I'm really looking forward to this webinar as Marc and Axel are planning to give us an in-depth demonstration from both an admin and end user perspective, and share some valuable tips and tricks. So if you're interested in graphical application virtualization, I encourage you to register for this webinar, scheduled for August 28th at 2pm Eastern / 11am Pacific, and learn about this topic straight from a customer who has this technology running in their production environment.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

SpeedScreen Progressive Display, introduced in XenApp PS 4.5 and also included in XenDesktop 2.0, has really "moved the needle" when it comes to remote delivery of 2D and lightweight 3D graphics. I just saw the results of a recent Citrix Customer Satisfaction Survey and was impressed to learn that 37% of our XenApp Platinum Edition customers are now using this technology! 

Compared to PS 4.0, SpeedScreen Progressive Display speeds up graphics performance by up to 15 times (see the Tolly Group's report). You've probably seen the demo on our web site which illustrates the user experience. And SpeedScreen Progressive Display lowers the cost of delivering graphics applications by dramatically reducing bandwidth consumption (up to 93%) and allowing access from low cost endpoints.   

If you're using this new graphics technology, please send me an email and let me know which applications you use with it and how big an impact you are seeing. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions for future enhancements. Based on customer input, we recently introduced an enhancement to allow users to control the compression level by means of a toolbar (see picture below); this is available as hotfix PSE450R02W2K3037 (32-bit) or PSE450R02W2K3X64012 (64-bit) for XenApp PS 4.5 HRP02. Now the Apollo multimedia virtualization team is looking at other potential enhancements to SpeedScreen Progressive Display as we integrate this feature into Apollo Accelerated Bitmap Remoting for 3D professional graphics, so we welcome your feedback and suggestions.

 
 
Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization

AutoCAD Map 3D, first introduced in the mid 1990s, has become the leading engineering platform for creating and managing geospatial information, bringing together the CAD and GIS worlds so that spatial data can easily be integrated with design drawings. The software is widely used by utilities, government agencies and industries dealing with natural resources.

Citrix and Autodesk have just completed extensive verification and field testing using XenApp Presentation Server 4.5 to provide on-demand access to AutoCAD Map 3D 2009, which has now been validated as Citrix Ready. This is a great example of how Citrix multimedia virtualization technologies such as SpeedScreen Progressive Display and SpeedScreen Image Acceleration optimize the ICA protocol to provide an excellent user experience with graphical applications while increasing security and dramatically reducing management and workstation costs.

To learn more about the Citrix and Autodesk partnership and this solution, check out today's press release and this new web site: http://www.citrixandautodesk.com/.

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, Multimedia Virtualization