Application Delivery Methods in a Virtual Desktop Environment - The following application delivery methods are available in a virtual desktop environment:
- Locally installed application
- Online application
- Streamed applications
For options to deploy the applications to virtual desktops, you can:
- Install every application on a standard desktop image.
- Create multiple images, with different application sets based on different end user groups.
- Remove the applications from the desktop image and deliver with one of the application virtualization options.
Locally Installed Application - Applications can be installed locally on the virtual desktop image.
| Benefits |
Considerations |
- The applications use the resources of the virtual desktop for processing.
- Application compatibility with the desktop operating system can be better than running from a server-based computing model.
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- Applications that are not suitable to run on XenApp should be installed locally on the virtual desktop image: for example, an application that writes registry entries to the local machine hives or one that is not programmed to the Win32 standard.
- The resources configured for the virtual desktop must be sized appropriately to support the operating system and the applications running in it, the result of which will affect the virtual machine density on the host server.
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Online Application - Applications can be accessed by end users as an online application from the XenApp server by use of the Citrix Online plug-in.
| Benefits |
Considerations |
- Online applications are installed centrally, or streamed to XenApp servers, which can ease application maintenance.
- Online applications are processed on the XenApp servers, taking advantage of the resources available to the server operating system. This allows for scaling of application performance regardless of the end user device.
- Only virtual channel information is sent to the end user devices accessing the online applications, which minimizes bandwidth and increases security.
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Applications must be compatible with XenApp servers.
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Streamed Applications - Applications can be streamed from a file or web server to the virtual desktop. This application delivery method requires end users to have the streaming offline plug-in installed on their desktops.
| Benefits |
Considerations |
- Streamed applications do not have to be installed into the virtual desktop image.
- Streamed applications use the resources of the virtual desktop for processing.
- Multiple versions of the same application can be streamed and run at the same time on a virtual desktop.
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- Applications that are not compatible to run on XenApp servers might be better run as streamed applications.
- The resources configured for the virtual desktop must be sized appropriately to support the operating system and the offline applications running in it, which will affect the host density.
- Streamed applications with dependencies on other streamed applications must be planned out as linked profiles and configured as part of the application profiling process.
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For more information about application streaming, see Citrix article
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