Citrix Systems has made new enhancements to XenApp 5 that add the ability to deliver on-demand applications from virtual machines (VMs) running desktop operating systems such as Windows 7, Vista and Windows XP. The company said that the new VM-based model complements delivery methods already included in XenApp, including the ability to host shared applications centrally via Windows Terminal Services or stream them to a PC or laptop to run locally.
In addition to VM hosted applications, XenApp 5 also features new capabilities for power and capacity management, and Citrix HDX Technology enhancements, such as HDX MediaStream for Flash.
XenApp 5 now provides policy-based power management capabilities to optimise server farm performance and reduce power consumption without disrupting user access to applications. By consolidating user sessions on fewer servers, capacity is managed to lessen uneven or low server utilisation and prevent session sprawl, the company said.
In addition, new enhancements to load testing capabilities enable customers to create testing scenarios to analyse server performance, determine the best ratio of physical and virtual servers for any environment and eliminate the need to over-provision server capacity.
The company claimed that HDX MediaStream for Flash is now built in to XenApp 5, ensuring a high-definition experience for users accessing Flash applications and video content. Now XenApp 5 also includes HDX Plug-n-Play to provide instantaneous user access to USB devices. Devices can be mapped in real-time before or during a session.
In addition, enhancements in HDX IntelliCache for MAPI protocol accelerate performance of Microsoft Exchange email for branch and mobile users by up to 50X while reducing bandwidth consumption. By eliminating protocol ‘chattiness’ and automatically compressing and de-duplicating email attachments, Outlook and Exchange response times are faster over high latency connections, claims Citrix.
Earlier this year Citrix and Microsoft also signed an agreement to integrate Citrix’s desktop and app virtualisation solutions with Microsoft’s desktop management infrastructure. As a result, enterprise IT organisations will be able to manage both distributed and centrally hosted applications using Citrix XenApp and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager.
Citrix XenApp will also embrace Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) and extend its capabilities by enabling self-service delivery of applications on any device using Citrix Receiver and Citrix Dazzle.
