VM hosted apps will be a new way of virtualizing applications that will be available in the next Feature Pack for XenApp. Harry Labana blogged about it yesterday. Bring yourself up to speed and then register for the TechTalk scheduled for September 23rd.

You can also stay updated on XenApp 5 Feature Pack 2 by tuning in to our twitter account (@xenappjunkie) and by keeping an eye on our blog feed. This month, you can expect a XenApp Expert Series video with one of the developers on the project (Modesto Tabares). Stacy Scott, one of our resident experts has also let me know that she'll be entering the blog foray on this topic so stay tuned for her (WARNING: She's super sharp so be prepared for some serious stuff). I'll be announcing everything on our blog feed and on Twitter.

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You may have seen an earlier blog post on application virtualization with VM hosted apps from Harry Labana, CTO of XenApp (@harrylabana) titled "Seamless applications beyond Terminal Services, does it help?". You probably have some questions on this technology as well. Well, let me be the first to give you a bit more background on this feature. Your comments and feedback are always appreciated.

Why VM hosted apps for application virtualization?

Today, you use XenApp to deliver virtual applications in 2 ways - hosted or offline. With offline delivery, you use application streaming technology to place the app in an isolated container running on the users PC. With hosted delivery, you stream or install an application onto XenApp servers and users connect to these servers to access the application via a highly optimized protocol (e.g. Citrix ICA powered by HDX technology). Each user gets their own memory space but they all share the same instance of the operating system - that being Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008. Now, with VM hosted delivery, you stream or install an application into an image or virtual machine and users connect to their own instance of the virtual machine in order to access the application (pooled VM's are the best way to do this). Applications virtualized with VM hosted apps are run in a dedicated environment for each user with dedicated memory AND their own instance of the operating system such as Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7.

Why is this important? Well, as the folks who invented application virtualization and who have been doing it the longest, we've learned throughout the years that not every application can run in a server-hosted or Terminal Services environment. There are some apps that users needed to take offline with them and others that simply wouldn't run well in a multi-user environment for a number of reasons. This is why we added application streaming technology to XenApp a few years ago. Still, there were some applications that customers wanted to host in the data center but which didn't run well in Terminal Services. An example could be a custom application that had proprietary data in it and putting the app on the desktop would put the data at risk. Another example could be an application that is unsupported by the ISV in a Terminal Services environment. And yet another example might be a health care application that is certified to run on the desktop and putting it in a multi-user environment would lead to a breach of HIPAA compliance. Whatever the reason, VM hosted applications provides another alternative.

Application management with VM hosted apps

With VM hosted apps, you'll create a virtual machine or desktop image (vDisk) into which you install the given application and any helper apps needed. This image can be running Windows XP, Vista or Win7. There are some configuration steps you need to go through to set up the image properly but they are minor (e.g. placing a shortcut to the app in a special folder, installing a software agent, etc.). Once the image is created, you'll use our management tools to publish the application. Basically, what you are doing is publishing a desktop pool, assigning it the icon of the application you want to make available, giving it a friendly name, and defining the users and conditions that the application will run in. You can configure the application to run as a VM, on a blade PC or even a PC running in the datacenter. The only reason I see for running it on a blade or a PC is for applications that require a GPU or have specific hardware requirements that can't be virtualized at this time. You'll get better ROI if you can virtualize.

One thing to note is that this is being done in an independent console snap-in for this release so you'll want to use the MMC to bring everything together. In addition, the control mechanism for VM hosted apps requires and independent farm. Not to worry though... this is all hidden from the user because it all comes together via XenApp Web and XenApp Services or what our old-timers know as Web Interface and PNAgent sites. You simply add the VM hosted apps farm to your Web Interface or PNAgent site and when a user logs in to Citrix Receiver or to Web Interface they'll see all of their apps in a single list - VM hosted, server hosted or streamed. When users open an application, it will appear in seamless mode with no components of the remote desktop showing - just like other server-hosted applications delivered with XenApp. In this release, users can access a single published application within a virtual machine instance but we are investigating ways to improve on the flexibility here for future releases.

From a licensing perspective, the plan is to make this feature available to XenApp Enterprise or Platinum customers. On the Microsoft side, you'll need a Microsoft VECD license to stay in compliance with hosting Windows virtual desktops. It's important to note that VM hosted apps DOES NOT allow you to run a full virtualized desktop session such as what you would have with XenDesktop. It wasn't built for such a purpose and it doesn't work technically. You can, however, leverage the same infrastructure for VM hosted apps to deliver virtual desktops if you purchase XenDesktop licenses and you can use same VH hosted apps console to manage the delivery of those desktops to users. One of the best things about this is that if you choose to extend your XenApp deployment with VM hosted apps you're essentially putting yourself in the position to easily adopt Essentials for Xen and Hyper-V as well as XenDesktop in the future.

If you're trying to figure out if VM hosted apps is for you, it'll become pretty obvious very quickly that there is a decision tree involved here that has variables associated with it like application compatibility, criticality, overall cost and ROI among the many. We'll reveal the elements of this decision tree in future posts but one thing your should certainly take away is that server hosting (XenApp on Terminal Services) is still your best bet for the lowest cost application delivery. In fact, you'll probably find yourself using this is a stop-gap for some of your apps that you'll need to deliver quickly to give you some time to do proper validation and testing for hosting on XenApp servers. In any case, stay tuned for more information on this topic as I'm sure it will be sought after.

Availability of VM hosted apps

We're planning to release the VM hosted apps feature in the next Feature Pack for XenApp which is planned for Q3 2009. In the meantime, you can learn more about it by staying tuned to our twitter account (@xenappjunkie) and by keeping an eye on our blog feed. This month, you can expect a XenApp Expert Series video with one of the developers on the project (Modesto Tabares) and Cris Lau will be doing a TechTalk scheduled for September 23rd so reserve your seat today. Stacy Scott, one of our resident experts has also let me know that she'll be entering the blog foray on this topic so stay tuned for her (WARNING: She's super sharp so be prepared for some serious stuff). I'll be announcing everything on our blog feed and on Twitter.

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UPDATED July 31, 2009 - Clarified that pooled VM's are supported, separate farms are used not separate IMA database, consoles come together via MMC.

We recently had a very successful VDI Expert Series Webinar on July 16 with both analyst firm EMA and storage provider Netapp titled "Storage Best Practices for High Def VDI." Not only did the live event draw close to 400 attendees, over 3/4 of you stayed on through the end of the webinar.  For those of you who might have missed the webinar, do not despair.   You can watch the archived webinar On Demand Here.  As promised, we have listed the FAQs as well as the unanswered questions from the webinar below: 
 
FAQ:  We are interested in implementing VDI but are concerned about the upfront Capital Expenditure.  How can I roll this out cost effectively, given a limited budget?
Answer:  While a complete cutover from distributed desktops to hosted VDI entails significant capital expenditure, it is possible to implement VDI using a phased approach.  You can use your older legacy (> 3 years old) desktops with hosted virtual desktops, thereby extending your desktop refresh cycle.  For desktops which are already up for refresh, consider using your desktop refresh budget to replace your desktops and laptops with thin clients in a complete hosted VDI approach.  Then when your older legacy desktops must be replaced, you can subsequently replace them with thin clients and/or laptops.   
 
FAQ: Is there any kind of guideline (CPU, memory, etc.) for deciding between productivity, knowledge, and power worker/user? Miscategorizing someone could be a painful mistake.
Answer:  This is certainly a "your mileage may vary" area, but we have published some discussions about designing desktops for a variety of use cases in a design paper on our website.  Typically pilots start with similar allocations of CPU and RAM as the physical device they are currently using.  The nice thing is that in a VM you certainly have the ability to adjust the virtual resources without a screwdriver
 
FAQ:   What differentiates the Citrix + Netapp VDI solution from the one from VMware?
Answer:  As outlined in the detailed competitive comparison on our website,  the Citrix + Netapp VDI solution differs from the one from VMware in four key areas: 
1.       User Experience:  Citrix's HDX Technologies optimizes the user experience by leveraging integrated client/endpoint-, server-, or network side technologies to allow users an optimal high definition user experience to a broad range of applications - streaming media, Flash, audio, 3D graphics, etc - over both the Local Area Network and the Wide Area Network.  This is in stark contrast to VMware View, which will work for LAN use cases, but not for the WAN.
2.       Application Management:  The Citrix + Netapp VDI solution includes integrated XenApp, Citrix's proven application virtualization solution, which works with 1000's of Windows applications, in either a Hosted or Streamed mode.  VMware View integrates with VMware's ThinApp application virtualization technology.  However,  the VMware View solution requires bundling all delivered applications into the VM, which makes application delivery much more cumbersome and difficult to manage.
3.       Flexibility:  The Citrix + Netapp VDI solution offers IT organizations the flexibility to use a variety of VM Infrastructure - Microsoft's Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer, or VMware ESX.  By contrast, VMware View ties an IT organization to only VMware ESX.  This gives the customers the flexibility to choose the most powerful cost-effective best-of-breed VDI solution.
4.       Policy-based access control:  The Citrix + Netapp VDI solution leverages a familiar Microsoft and/or Citrix management user interface for managing granular -  by user groups or individuals - access to data and applications. 

Question:  When backing up and restoring a user's virtual desktop, is it possible to only backup/restore a user's MyDocuments or data folders?
Answer:  Yes, it is possible to use Netapp technology to back up entire VM's or just specific sets of user data.
 
Question:  Today we obtain OEM licenses for Windows OS via the HW vendor. If we use VDI - do we have to buy expensive Microsoft OS licenses? Doesn't that increase our costs?
Answer:  While VDI requires purchasing Microsoft Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop OS licenses, the net costs can be approximately equivalent to what one pays today for local desktop OS licenses.  You need one Microsoft Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) license per device, which allows the licensed device to access up to four virtual desktops  concurrently. More desktop instances could be centrally stored, but not accessed at the same time by the same device, without purchasing an additional VECD license. 
 
Question:  What kind of servers (RAM, CPU) would i need to host let's say about 200 PC's, for basic Microsoft Word, Outlook and printing?
Answer:  You may find this Citrix VDI design paper useful, because it provides technical guidelines for many different scenarios.
 
Question:  What about  support for USB devices? Special keyboard (like Bloomberg), video cameras, multi-button mice, etc...
Answer:  Citrix XenDesktop supports many USB devices via its HDX Technologies.  Many USB devices such as SmartPhones, mice, keyboard, scanners, printers, smart cards, graphics tablets work right out of the gate.  There are a couple keys on the Bloomberg keyboard that require some more devleopment work to claim complete support.  Support for isochronous devices - like webcams - is under development and planned for an upcoming release.  Please see the following support article for details. 
 
Question:  Is there a subscription model of VDI services that a SMB market segment can subscribe to?
Answer:  The SMB market segment may possibly leverage a subscription or hosted model of VDI.  Citrix partners are working on making this available.  Please visit http://www.citrix.com/xendesktop for updates.
 
Question:  What is the best way to handle Outlook OST files inside a Thin Provisioned virtual machine? We have a client that must have cached mode on in Outlook, and using Standard Image Mode, we would have to flex that giant file with the user's profile.
Answer:  Yes, a best practice for handling Outlook OST files is to store the OST files on a network-shared and accessible drive so the user Outlook data follows the users, wherever he or she may be.  It is therefore necessary to store the user OST files with the user's profile accordingly. 
 
For more detailed storage and image management best practices, please take a look at the Optimizing Storage and Image Management blog posts part 1 and part 2.  For more detailed information about Citrix XenDesktop, please visit the XenDesktop product page.   

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Citrix Engineer and Graphics Guru Juan Rivera (@juancitrix) on the HDX MediaStream for Flash and graphics remoting. How it works, why is it important and general technical musings are prevalent in this information packed episode. Episode 4, Season 1.

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XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Citrix Engineer and Graphics Guru Juan Rivera (@juancitrix) on the HDX MediaStream for Flash and graphics remoting. How it works, why is it important and general technical musings are prevalent in this information packed episode. Episode 4, Season 1.

Listen to this episode

• Listen to archived episodes:
  • Episode 3: An Overview of HDX with Derek Thorslund
  • Episode 2: Profile Management with David Wagner
  • Episode 1: Power Management with Sridhar Mullapudi

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Learn more about Citrix HDX

I am glad to share with you all the news about our Citrix Branch Repeater 5.5. Building on our momentum with XenApp optimization (via the ICA acceleration feature) released earlier this year, we announced today the availability of our newest Citrix Branch Repeater 5.5. Among the many benefits this release delivers, check out the following key highlights:

•  Microsoft Exchange (MAPI) optimization accelerates Exchange email for branch and mobile users by up to 50X while reducing bandwidth consumption. You also get these benefits if you are streaming Microsoft Outlook with XenApp or Microsoft App-V because streamed Outlook application behaves just like a native application from a network perspective - a streamed Outlook will talk MAPI to the Exchange server in the datacenter.  Here is a sneak peek of email acceleration benefits from an upcoming performance whitepaper (available soon): 
   
  
  
   
• Branch Repeater with Windows Server 2008  enables consolidation of essential branch services with Microsoft's most advanced server operating system - Windows Server 2008. Customers now have a choice of deploying Branch Repeater appliances built on either Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008. As before, we continue to offer the non-Windows version of Branch Repeater as well.

• • Of the many powerful capabilities in the Windows Server 2008 operating system, the Read-Only Domain Controller (RODC) feature is one I would like to highlight.  RODC allows you to securely deploy Domain Controller in a branch office for faster Windows authentication and login times. This also helps improve the security posture of IT infrastructure in branch offices.
• With the availability of Repeater Plug-in for Citrix Receiver Branch Repeater now provides WAN acceleration benefits for the already easy-to-use Receiver software client. Receiver provides a consistent and intuitive user experience, and simplifies client distribution and updates. For instance, if you want a single client that provides secure access, SSL VPN client and WAN optimization benefits, then Citrix Receiver is a great way to simplify the client distribution and improve the user experience. This now truly provides simple, fast and secure access to applications from anywhere, whether you are working remotely or in a branch office. I encourage you to try it out and share your experiences with us. 
  

Stay tuned for a series of blog posts that explore some of the features in detail.

I encourage you to check out the newest Branch Repeater 5.5 and share your experiences with me at sai.allavarpu@citrix.com.

Sai

In case you missed it, here's a very short video by Michel Buis that showcases the performance of the trial release of HDX MediaStream for Flash in delivering a Flash animation.

I was recently chatting with one of my contacts in the GIS space about 3D graphics delivery from XenApp and XenDesktop, and he passed on an intriguing observation from a mutual customer. Apparently, on the same hardware, OpenGL applications perform much better under 64-bit Windows Server than they do under the 32-bit OS.

ESRI ArcScene, for example, is a 32-bit OpenGL application with 3D graphics. Running on XenApp, the graphics rendering is done in software -- that is, by the CPU -- since Windows Terminal Services does not provide GPU acceleration for OpenGL (you'll need our Prism technology for that). The rendered graphics can then be delivered over a WAN/Internet connection using HDX 3D Progressive Display. On 32-bit Windows Server, the performance of the 3D rendering was disappointing, but on the 64-bit OS it is very usable. I'm not sure why; we have a hunch that it might be thanks to the 64-bit OS being able to leverage the SSE4 registers on the CPU.

If you have any insights on this, or any experience running OpenGL apps on XenApp under Windows Server 64-bit, please share your comments!

Derek Thorslund
HDX Product Strategist

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Strategist Derek Thorslund (@derektcitrix) to help everyone understand the HDX Technology stack. This is part one of multiple videos that will dig deeper into HDX technologies. Episode 3, Season 1.

Listen to this episode

• Listen to archived episodes:
  • Episode 2: Profile Management with David Wagner
  • Episode 1: Power Management with Sridhar Mullapudi

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Download XenApp technology previews

Learn more about Citrix HDX

XenApp Expert Series - Informational, News, Interviews (2009) The show where we interview the experts to get you the latest research and technology news on XenApp application virtualization. Host Vinny Sosa (@vinnysosa) interviews Product Strategist Derek Thorslund (@derektcitrix) to help everyone understand the HDX Technology stack. This is part one of multiple videos that will dig deeper into HDX technologies. Episode 3, Season 1.

View this Episode and Subscribe to the XenApp Expert Series

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Download XenApp technology previews

Learn more about Citrix HDX

I posted a high-level training video (webinar style) about the trial release of HDX MediaStream for Flash on Citrix TV (the Underground channel) a few weeks ago. Meant to blog about it sooner, but now you know!  

Derek

P.S. If you've had a chance to evaluate the trial release, please complete our brief survey.

Check out the newest Branch Repeater customer case study posted on citrix.com at http://citrix.com/English/aboutCitrix/caseStudies/caseStudy.asp?storyID=1855157
 Lately I have been discussing with partners and customers about how enterprises pursuing M&A strategy or with distributed branch offices often face the kind of challenges that Consolidated Graphics faced. Enterprises with far flung offices and locations are now looking at ways to reduce the cost of delivering applications to branch offices while improving user experience and productivity. Check out the case study to see how Consolidated Graphics:

• • Enabled datacenter consolidation for cost savings
  • Simplified IT administration
  • Doubled throughput on existing T1 lines, avoiding need for network upgrades
  • Improved the user experience at branches

Happy reading!

Sai
Twitter:@SaiAllavarpu

Citrix Branch Repeater: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/product.asp?contentID=1350184

This is a tech talk that will be taking place on July 9, 2009. One of our propeller heads will be geeking out on how Citrix ICA (a key feature of Citrix HDX Broadcast) and the CGP protocol function. The discussion, from what I hear, is also going to dissect ICA packets and include best practices for ICA acceleration that will make your overall network traffic more efficient. One of the things I'm particularly interested in hearing about is why single session bandwidth testing isn't accurate.

~snip

In this TechTalk, you'll learn about:

*ICA protocol overview

*ICA bandwidth requirements and testing recommendations

*How Common Gateway Protocol (CGP) relates to ICA

*ICA Performance across the WAN with and without Citrix Repeater

Registration Info

Date: Thursday, July 9, 2009
Time: 1:00pm Eastern/10:00am Pacific
Register for "Decoding the Mysteries of ICA" 

Other Information

XenApp on Twitter | XenApp TV-Radio | XenApp Tech Previews

Multi-tab Browser Support

One of the limitations in the trial release of HDX MediaStream for Flash is that only one tab per browser process can be accelerated. This is a bigger issue in Internet Explorer 7 where all tabs run in the same process. In Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) some tabs run in different process.

But there is a way to force IE8 to run all tabs in separate processes. Follow this link to learn more about how to configure IE8 in such mode.

In the final release of HDX MediaStream for Flash, multiple tabs will be supported in both IE7 and IE8 out of the box.

Is HDX MediaStream for Flash running?

HDX MediaStream for Flash is so seamless that you may not even know it's running. Of course, that's by design. There are, however, a number of ways to know if it is running. My personal favorite is looking at a cyan block of color where the Flash player is shown. The cyan color shows for a little bit before the Flash player shows up.

We also created a diagnostic tool for HDX MediaStream for Flash. This tool can tell you if it is running correctly and if not, it can tell you what could be wrong. The information it collects can be easily sent to our support email alias to help our engineers assist you with your questions.

This tool is open source and can be downloaded here.

It's easy to see how HDX MediaStream for Flash makes it easier for IT to choose XenApp and XenDesktop for application management and desktop delivery while preserving the experience that users are accustomed to. Stay tuned for more in my "Did you know" series on HDX MediaStream for Flash.

More of my blog posts on HDX MediaStream for Flash:

HDX MediaStream for Flash Tech Preview
Window-less Mode support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Volume Synchronization in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Windows Scaling Support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Multiple Tab Support and Diagnostics with HDX MediaStream for Flash

Join me and my friends on twitter - Juan Rivera, Derek Thorslund, XenApp Team, XenDesktop Team

The Citrix Receiver desktop plug-in or Desktop Receiver (both used with XenDesktop) allow scaling the remote desktop to any viewable size. HDX MediaStream for Flash supports this scaled mode as well. The Flash content can be scaled to the appropriate size with minimal impact on performance. It even allows you to play videos in scaled mode without affecting the frames per second. Check this feature in action below:

It's easy to see how HDX MediaStream for Flash makes it easier for IT to choose XenApp and XenDesktop for application management and desktop delivery while preserving the experience that users are accustomed to. Stay tuned for more in my "Did you know" series on HDX MediaStream for Flash.

More of my blog posts on HDX MediaStream for Flash:

HDX MediaStream for Flash Tech Preview
Window-less Mode support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Volume Synchronization in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Windows Scaling Support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Multiple Tab Support and Diagnostics with HDX MediaStream for Flash

Join me and my friends on twitter - Juan Rivera, Derek Thorslund, XenApp Team, XenDesktop Team

With HDX MediaStream for Flash, the flash content is rendered on the client device while the player is rendered on the server side. This makes application management easy for administrators but poses some challenges for our engineers when it comes to preserving the "like-local" user experience. One such challenges is what happens when the user changes their volume locally.

We found a way to synchronize the volume of the Flash player on the client with the volume settings on the server. When the desktop is muted, the Flash player running on the client will be muted as well. HDX MediaStream for Flash even allows granular volume control by synchronizing the individual volume setting for each browser window with the Flash player instances on that particular browser. That means you can have a different volume setting for each browser running on the server and have the Flash players on the client respect each browser's volume setting.

It's easy to see how HDX MediaStream for Flash makes it easier for IT to choose XenApp and XenDesktop for application management and desktop delivery while preserving the experience that users are accustomed to. Stay tuned for more in my "Did you know" series on HDX MediaStream for Flash.

More of my blog posts on HDX MediaStream for Flash:

HDX MediaStream for Flash Tech Preview
Window-less Mode support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Volume Synchronization in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Windows Scaling Support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Multiple Tab Support and Diagnostics with HDX MediaStream for Flash

Join me and my friends on twitter - Juan Rivera, Derek Thorslund, XenApp Team, XenDesktop Team

Are you using Wyse V class thin clients? Then I think you'll be interested in this new Tech Preview release from Wyse.

TCX Flash Redirection is a complementary solution to HDX MediaStream for Flash that enables users of Wyse thin clients to experience improved Flash performance. How does it compare with HDX MediaStream for Flash? Whereas HDX MediaStream for Flash is currently just for Windows-based PCs and thin clients, TCX Flash Redirection supports Wyse Thin OS (WTOS) 6.3.0.

TCX Flash Redirection doesn't actually redirect the native Flash media stream to the client; the Flash Player still runs server-side. So I wouldn't expect any substantial improvement in server scalability. But the resulting images are "redirected" over a separate virtual channel, allowing for greater control of frame rate and compression, thereby delivering an improved user experience. Also, TCX Flash Redirection works together with TCX Rich Sound to provide high quality audio.

You can see TCX Flash Redirection in action on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4rPs84-FgY.

The solution works both with XenDesktop (Windows XP Pro and Vista VMs) and with XenApp (Windows Server 2003).

Here's some early feedback from a customer in Australia: "I am using [Wyse] V10L 6.3.0 on Citrix [XenApp] PS 4.5 and the Flash stuff is GREAT!"

Param Desai, Director of Product Management at Wyse, informs me that the Tech Preview is publicly available for customers via Wyse systems engineers and sales managers. So try it out and let us know what you think!

Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

It has been a few weeks since we released the trial for HDX MediaStream for Flash and I would like to share a few tips about this feature as well as highlight some of the capabilities in the trial release. First on the list is Window-less Mode.

Windowless mode allows web pages to overlay HTML content over the Flash player. This is important in certain scenarios like navigation menus that show on top of the flash player. Without windowless support, those sites would not be very usable. Here is an example of MSNBC.com with and without windowless support:

Flash content in windowed mode	Flash content in windowless mode

Notice how the Flash ad on the left side covers part of the navigation menu while the one in the right does not. Flash in windowless mode allows the browser to do this. HDX MediaStream for Flash supports this mode even though the Flash player is rendered on the client while the browser is rendered on the server. Logic would dictate that since Citrix HDX renders the flash on the client device, any flash would always show up on top of any content in the browser. But not so. Here at Citrix, we've figured out how to retain this functionality so that users get a seamless experience.

It's easy to see how HDX MediaStream for Flash makes it easier for IT to choose XenApp and XenDesktop for application management and desktop delivery while preserving the experience that users are accustomed to. Stay tuned for more in my "Did you know" series on HDX MediaStream for Flash.

More of my blog posts on HDX MediaStream for Flash:

HDX MediaStream for Flash Tech Preview
Window-less Mode support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Volume Synchronization in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Windows Scaling Support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Multiple Tab Support and Diagnostics with HDX MediaStream for Flash

Follow me and my friends on twitter - Juan Rivera, Derek Thorslund, XenApp Team, XenDesktop Team

In case you missed it, there's a brief video up on Citrix TV in which Thomas Nikl of our Advanced Solutions Group shows the latest iteration of project Prism (which you may remember as the 3D Accelerated Bitmap Remoting subproject of Apollo/HDX). Prism is an enhancement to HDX 3D for XenDesktop focused on delivering high-end professional graphics applications (e.g. CAD, CAM, GIS) to remote users. Prism leverages GPU hardware on the host (typically a blade or rack mount workstation) to render the OpenGL or DirectX graphics, then uses advanced compression technology to deliver the resulting images over a standard DSL or equivalent Internet connection. Look closely and you'll notice that this recent build supports Windows XP virtual desktops (whereas my previous post on this topic showed a Vista desktop).

 
Derek Thorslund
Product Strategist, HDX Multimedia Virtualization

A key component of Citrix XenApp and Citrix XenDesktop, HDX MediaStream technology ensures that users receive a smooth, seamless experience with multimedia content as part of their virtual desktop (VDI) or virtual applications. To accomplish this, HDX MediaStream determines when it is best to leverage the processing power of the endpoint device to render the multimedia content.
Flash is one of the most pervasive technologies on the web. It is used for interactive content, video streaming and rich internet applications. But delivering Flash-based applications and media via a virtual desktop or virtualized web browser leads to lower user density in the data center, higher bandwidth usage when compared to native flash streams and, in most cases, a degraded user experience.

That's why Citrix has developed HDX MediaStream for Flash. The goal of this technology is to address the density, bandwidth and user experience challenges associated with virtualizing Flash media and Flash-based applications. With HDX MediaStream for Flash, Citrix has solved this problem by moving the execution of Flash content to the client whenever possible. While the browser remains in the data center, Flash content is redirected to the client and executed using the resources at the users end point device. The server is no longer responsible for decoding and compressing HD videos, executing animations or fetching the media content from the web servers. All of which require processing power and distort media in some way.

Moving the Flash execution to the client also enables Flash applications to access local resources like webcams and audio devices to provide a local-like user experience for rich internet applications like web-based collaboration solutions. Even with this local execution, however, HDX MediaStream for Flash lets administrators centrally manage delivery while taking advantage of available processing power on the users device. Check out the demo of HDX MediaStream for Flash below.

How can you get the Trial Release?

To use the HDX MediaStream for Flash trial release with XenApp you'll need XenApp 5.0 for Windows 2003, XenApp 5.0 for Windows 2008 or Citrix Presentation Server 4.5 for Windows 2003 (You might want to consider using the XenApp Evaluation Virtual Appliance if you don't have a test environment of your own). To use HDX MediaStream for Flash trial release with XenDesktop, you'll need Citrix XenDesktop 3 running on Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (may include XenDesktop 3 Feature Pack 1). Both with XenApp and XenDesktop, Internet Explorer 7 or 8 and the Flash 10 plug-in for Internet Explorer are also required. The trial requires the 32-bit versions of the software but support for the 64-bit platform is planned for the version 1.0 release.

On the client side, HDX MediaStream for Flash trial requires the Citrix Receiver 1.0 for Windows and the Flash 10 plug-in for Internet Explorer.

Download the trial release today and let us know what you think. Need to learn more, check out the release notes. Still need more information? Check out the support forum or comment below for a response from me or my team. Stay tuned for another post within a week or two where I'll be asking for your feedback via a quick poll.

More of my blog posts on HDX MediaStream for Flash:

HDX MediaStream for Flash Tech Preview
Window-less Mode support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Volume Synchronization in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Windows Scaling Support in HDX MediaStream for Flash
Multiple Tab Support and Diagnostics with HDX MediaStream for Flash

Juan
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