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The Support Forum for our HDX MediaStream for Flash trial release recently included a post that raises some interesting concerns about how client-side rendering fits with the server-based computing model. To paraphrase the post:
"Citrix has always been the server-based computing company that wanted everything moved into the datacenter. That includes all code execution. Now, with HDX, some of the code is executed on the endpoint, which means it's not SBC all the way anymore. Moving execution code to the endpoint means you will create application dependencies at some point. It's not only KVM that's sent to the endpoint anymore. My opinion is that SBC should always be client platform independent."
A great impetus for me to shed some light on Citrix's strategy for HDX and multimedia virtualization...
Although the term "server-based computing" is no longer in vogue, there's no denying the tremendous benefits of centralizing the complicated stuff in the data center where it's easier to manage. And strategically, we view server-side rendering of multimedia content (including Flash) as a critical, core capability. This is the foundational technology that covers all the bases. Server-side rendering works whether the content is Flash or Silverlight or Windows Media or QuickTime or whatever. Server-side rendering works regardless of whether the user device (client) has the applicable media player (e.g. Adobe Flash Player) installed on it, or the applicable codec. And it works with all operating systems for which we offer our client or Citrix Receiver online app plug-in. Therefore, we've continued to invest in improving the delivery of server-rendered multimedia content with new codec technology and other technological advances.
But client-side rendering can be used opportunistically to great advantage when it fits. In those cases, offloading media processing to the endpoint reduces the load on the server and helps improve overall server scalability (number of concurrent users), sometimes by as much as an order of magnitude. Eliminating rendering and recompression on the server also generally results in less network bandwidth consumption since the native media format is already highly compressed.
My view is that there's a fine line here. Running a browser plug-in like the Adobe Flash Player on the endpoint may be about as far as many customers would want to go with client-side media processing. Why? As you go farther, you increase the complexity of managing the user device and could lose a key benefit of the virtual desktop model (although client-side virtualization technologies can certainly mitigate that).
So it all comes back to HDX Adaptive Orchestration, which is the key to our multimedia virtualization strategy. HDX Adaptive Orchestration includes SmartRendering, which intelligently and dynamically evaluates available resources (user device, network, server) and determines whether to stick with the foundational technology of server-side rendering or opportunistically leverage the endpoint device. Administrative policies factor in, too, especially when there are security and management considerations.
With upcoming improvements to frame rate (already 20 fps in XenDesktop 3 FP1) and audio quality (see my video on project Ulysses), server-based multimedia delivery keeps getting better. But even though it can deliver an excellent multimedia user experience, that will always come at the cost of server capacity and network bandwidth. So a multi-dimensional solution that can leverage client-side resources if they're available provides the best of both worlds.
Derek Thorslund
HDX Product Strategist & Sr. Manager, XenDesktop Product Management
Comments (5)
Aug 21
Anonymous says:
You mention "And it works with all client operating systems for which we offer t...You mention "And it works with all client operating systems for which we offer the Citrix Receiver." but the reality is that this means only Windows based clients and more specifically Win32 based clients. I guess you support the receiver on the iphone but still this is still very limited support and since it requires a full OS on the client still kills the TCO story.
Aug 21
Derek Thorslund says:
I meant to convey that server-side rendering works with all versions of the Citr...I meant to convey that server-side rendering works with all versions of the Citrix client or online app plug-in, so I've edited the sentence to make that clear. It's a key reason why quality delivery of server-rendered multimedia content is an important foundational capability. Thanks for your comment!
As an example, while client-side rendering of many Windows media formats is supported by our latest Linux client, client-side rendering of Flash content will initially be supported only by our Win32 client (since the Adobe Flash Player for Linux doesn't work with Internet Explorer). So anyone using a Linux or Mac device needs server-side Flash rendering. Server-side multimedia rendering remains the core approach that covers all media types and client operating systems, whereas client-side rendering provides an opportunistic optimization for a subset of use cases.
Derek
Aug 26
Anonymous says:
Citrix should buy one of the thin client vendors so you can control the end to e...Citrix should buy one of the thin client vendors so you can control the end to end experience..
this way you can just embed everything that is needed for client side rendering in the software or hardware of the thin client
Sep 18
Anonymous says:
I saw HDX need nvidia video card to work... If true, it is a huge limitation bec...I saw HDX need nvidia video card to work... If true, it is a huge limitation because it increase cost and impose specific desktops. So is it true?? Niche market ?
Thanks,
Sep 18
Derek Thorslund says:
Not quite . . . You need an NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPU on the host workstation (in ...Not quite . . . You need an NVIDIA CUDA-enabled GPU on the host workstation (in the data center) if you want to take advantage of GPU-based data compression, which provides the best results over challenging WAN connections, but you can use any GPU suitable for the applications you are running if you configure HDX 3D for Professional Graphics to use CPU-based compression. Organizations employing highly paid design engineers who need to work on drawings from remote locations will probably want to spend the extra money on CUDA-enabled NVIDIA GPUs but it is not a prerequisite to using the HDX 3D feature.
Derek
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