XENAPP SNEAK PEEK - HDX MediaStream for Flash Tech Preview » ocb

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20 May 2009 11:58 AM EDT

XENAPP SNEAK PEEK - HDX MediaStream for Flash Tech Preview

[ Tags: flash , tech preview , mediastream , cache , xenapp , xendesktop , hdx , xa5fp2 ]

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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