Post to Twitter |
Comments (10) |
Views (2082) |
We have had a great discussion going about user-installed applications and the need/risks associated with this type of solution. One of the comments I received in favor of allowing users to install applications was around Firefox. For those of you who don't use Firefox, there are thousands of add-ons a user can install to customize their browser experience. I personally have about five different add-ons configured with my Firefox implementation.
Now I've been advocating the need for IT to have a process in place that can handle the expansion of the application pool for the users as needed by:
- Taking user requests for new applications/tools
- Validating the need
- Delivering in a timely manner
This is all well and good until we get to the topic of these add-ons. I don't expect any IT organization to have a requirement to support the add-ons. There are thousands of them. Think about it, do you really expect your IT to be spending time messing with these add-ons? And what would it look like for the user? A Firefox application with thousands of add-ons? CRAZY (I do wonder at what point that app would crash. Maybe need a MythBuster episode on it)
All of the sudden, I had a very enlightening experience. I just got my new XenDesktop 4 environment built. I went in an started to personalize my environment, including my 5 Firefox add-ons (remember I'm using pooled desktops from a single base image with roaming profiles). The next day, when I logged onto my virtual desktop, my Firefox starts up and BAM all of my add-ons are still there?!?!
I did some investigation into this. Well, this is an example of an intelligent application design. The add-ons are located within the user's profile (the roaming portion). User's are able to customize the Firefox application without any special tools/utilities. The discussion about Firefox and the add-ons is now a non-issue as the application manages this for us.
So, 1 application down, only 999,999 to go 
The point is you need to test before deciding if something will or will not work.
Daniel - Lead Architect - Worldwide Consulting Solutions
- Twitter: @djfeller
- Ask the Architect - Next-Generation site
- Questions - Then Ask The Architect
Comments (10)
Oct 26
Robert Sneeden says:
It occurs to me that "user-installed apps" in XenDesktop, should the application...It occurs to me that "user-installed apps" in XenDesktop, should the application be "intelligently designed" may be similar in nature to having a USB flash drive with U3-enabled apps for portability.
Hmmm...
-Stacy
Oct 26
Jason Benway says:
I disagree with you about the need for user installed applications, but that's n...I disagree with you about the need for user installed applications, but that's not why I wanted to comment on your post.
My question is about roaming profiles. From my testing to get roaming profiles working in VDI you have to use the profile path on the profile tab of ADUC not the terminal services profile. Which makes testing with users that bounce between a VDI session and non-VDI session very difficult.
Oct 26
Shawn Bass says:
Jason, You can (and should) define the roaming profile via GPO which would let ...Jason,
You can (and should) define the roaming profile via GPO which would let you define multiple roaming profiles depending on whether the user was logging into a regular desktop, a VDI session or a TS session. You can define as many as you want and link them to specific OUs.
Shawn
Oct 27
Daniel Feller says:
Jason Shawn's post is correct. If you want to separate your virtual desktop pro...Jason
Shawn's post is correct. If you want to separate your virtual desktop profile with your physical desktop profile, you will need to setup a GPO to allow users to have multiple profiles.
Daniel
Oct 26
Shawn Bass says:
Daniel, I assume this means that you're either using roaming profiles or AppDat...Daniel,
I assume this means that you're either using roaming profiles or AppData folder redirection. If you're using AppData folder redirection AND you have a file server or network performance problem, FireFox can literally come to a crawl. So intelligent design from a portable personality perspective, but user experience hell in the event of any type of file server / networking issue...and I have videos to prove it (1 second FF launch during no problems and 11 second launch during problems). Willing to share if you'd like to see it.
Shawn
Oct 27
Daniel Feller says:
Shawn correct, roaming profiles and folder redirection are enabled, which is fa...Shawn
correct, roaming profiles and folder redirection are enabled, which is fairly typical. As for network performance, this is somewhat easier for a hosted desktop solution like VDI. Everything is in the data center. For physical desktops, the profile server is not going to be on the same network as the desktop, which would slow down the application performance as you said.
Daniel
Oct 27
Shawn Bass says:
Daniel, I completely understand what you're saying and generically I agree. Ho...Daniel,
I completely understand what you're saying and generically I agree. However, practical experience has shown me time and time again that between the network team and the server team at any given company there's going to be unexplained performance issues with file server I/O. When that happens, you bring any hosted desktops leveraging AppData redirection to a crawl. I've seen this way too many times. But I can't speak on behalf of how stable/reliable Citrix internal file services are. I just know that I've seen substantial issues with AppData redirection and I'm actively trying to move customers away from using it.
My .02.
Shawn
Oct 27
Daniel Feller says:
I totally agree with you that if the teams aren't working together, you end up i...I totally agree with you that if the teams aren't working together, you end up in a world of hurt, but isn't this one of the major issues with IT in general? The different teams don't talk to each other. Its the same thing when you buy a solution from 3 different vendors, you get the finger pointing at the other guy. I remember back in the MetaFrame days. Because we relied upon a low-latency network, we found issues in the network that the network team was unaware of! We had to prove to the network team that the problem was not a MetaFrame problem and that it was a network issue. The same thing is going to happen with any new solution put into place. This is why we have to get all teams involved int he desktop virtualization design, and not just the desktop team. (stepping off my soapbox now, but it is frustrating)
Back to your point, I'd assume that you have no issues with redirection of MyDocs, Favs or other folders that really do not impact the applications. If you used a roaming profile and didn't redirect AppData, I would think your concerns would be alleviated. Right? With that config, the AppData will still persist the app settings but they will be local for appliation usage by way of a roaming profile (of course this might slow down logon, but that is a different challenge)
Oct 27
Shawn Bass says:
Yes, My Docs isn't much of a challenge. AppData is a big challenge even in...Yes, My Docs isn't much of a challenge. AppData is a big challenge even in the event of a well performing network. Roaming AppData isn't a good solution because of the time it takes to pull it down (sometimes the folder can contain hundreds if not thousands of files). Folder redirection isn't a good solution due to server/network performance causing desktop/app UI locking). The best possible solution is one involving centralized storage for roaming purposes, but with localized data serving (aka folder redirection with GOOD client side caching or profile streaming/virtualization (aka RTO Virtual Profiles, AppSense or even an AppVirt solution.
Ok I've said enough about this topic now.
Shawn
Oct 26
mark ma says:
IE add-on is in XenDesktop is one of the hardest application we need to configur...IE add-on is in XenDesktop is one of the hardest application we need to configure.
Since some B2B web site open Adobe within brower some of them open in Adobe itself. It's tricky to see how add-on is calling the applications.
For one of the internet trading site, it does not require user name and password, but it requires certificate on user basis. (It's quite fun to play with profiles to get it done)
We let user uses IE from XenDesktop XP and all other application is from XenApp use hosted client. It's lots of work and testing to have application paly with each other in XenDesktop and XenApp.
And our user told me:" why it's taking this long to get the website to work. It works with my PC without any issues..."
Add Comment