A product's evolution, its roadmap, and its performance in the respective industry play an important role for businesses while adopting a product for a technology. We will begin by learning the XenDesktop evolution and looking at its core strengths, which will pave the path for the journey of mastering XenDesktop.
The following is an overview of the topics that we'll be learning in this chapter:
The evolution of XenDesktop
XenDesktop releases and improvements across
All major versions
All feature packs
The core strengths of XenDesktop
As part of its evolution, you'll learn about the company that owns the XenDesktop technology, the company's vision that led to the XenDesktop development, and it's early relationship with Microsoft, where the company worked on Windows technologies. You'll also learn about the roadmap of XenDesktop, which is part of Project Avalon. A great place containing resources and showcasing a consolidated list of the XenDesktop features and capabilities that were uncovered in each release, alongside with a detailed timeline. This will help you find out more about the releases when XenDesktop implemented a new feature or a few new capabilities.
The core strengths will explain the benefits that the business can reap from XenDesktop technology's unique features. It will enable you to build a deeper understanding of all the core strengths of the XenDesktop technology. This will help you to understand the positioning and the roles of certain components discussed in the next chapter, which will cover the detailed architecture of XenDesktop. Readers with this knowledge will be able to easily assess the XenDesktop architecture across different versions of XenDesktop, and possibly, even the future versions.
Knowing about the evolution of XenDesktop is not only about knowing when XenDesktop started, but about knowing everything that has come together to make this product. I've covered the technologies that have been bought over and built into the XenDesktop product. You'll also come across the feature packs of the XenDesktop versions that have uncovered major capabilities. As you read more, you will come across a summarized table, which shows the healthy and active development of the XenDesktop technology and provides a detailed timeline diagram as an easy reference to XenDesktop releases.
XenDesktop is a desktop virtualization product from Citrix Systems, and it plays a vital role in its vision. Citrix Systems Inc. is publicly listed as CTXS and is an American multinational company founded on April 17, 1989, and it is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It has over 10,000 partners across 100 countries. All of the Global Fortune 100 companies use Citrix solutions.
Citrix's vision is to empower people to work better and live better by making IT simpler and enhancing the productivity of people. In its vision statement, Citrix aims at building mobile workspace solutions that give people new ways of working better, providing secure and seamless access to apps, desktops, files, and services that they need on any device at any time.
Citrix developed its first product and brought multi-user access to the IBM OS/2 platform. This product included the OS/2 source code, which was licensed by Microsoft alone, thereby bypassing IBM. However, this product failed to find a market when Microsoft removed their support to OS/2 in 1991.
Later, Citrix worked with Microsoft and obtained the license to Microsoft's Windows NT source code and then released its first product called Citrix Multiuser v 2.0 for the Windows platform in 1993. In 1997, under the Cross-Licensing and Development agreement, Microsoft and Citrix agreed to cooperate in the development of multi-user base capabilities for Windows, where each would develop, and then market, the additional components that would be built upon these base services.
This early and strong relationship with Microsoft shows a key capability of Citrix's ability to deliver a new class of multi-user and virtualization solutions for Windows technologies.
Citrix expanded its application delivery (XenApp) capabilities to include the virtualized Windows desktops, which were delivered securely from the data centre. Citrix started its initial desktop virtualization product called Citrix Desktop Server 1.0. Citrix later entered the data center and desktop virtualization markets with its acquisition of XenSource, a leader in the enterprise-grade virtual infrastructure solutions. Citrix announced the XenDesktop 2.0 for desktop virtualization in October 2007. Since its inception, Citrix has been actively enhancing the XenDesktop product. Citrix has made the XenDesktop solution robust and efficient by adding more capabilities to every major release. On average, a new version of XenDesktop has been released every 6 months. This indicates Citrix's dedication and active priorities, when it comes to developing the product.
The following is Citrix XenDesktop's major, sub-version, and feature packs release track:
|
Sr. No |
Released Version |
Release Date (mm-yyyy) |
Difference (in Months) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Citrix Desktop Server 1.0 |
04-2007 |
0 |
|
2 |
XenDesktop 2.0 |
05-2008 |
13 |
|
3 |
XenDesktop 2.1 |
09-2008 |
4 |
|
4 |
XenDesktop 3.0 |
02-2009 |
5 |
|
5 |
XenDesktop 3.0 Feature Pack 1 |
05-2009 |
3 |
|
6 |
XenDesktop 4.0 |
11-2009 |
6 |
|
7 |
XenDesktop 4.0 Feature Pack 1 |
03-2010 |
4 |
|
8 |
XenDesktop 4.0 Feature Pack 2 |
09-2010 |
6 |
|
9 |
XenDesktop 5.0 |
12-2010 |
3 |
|
10 |
XenDesktop 5.5 |
08-2011 |
8 |
|
11 |
XenDesktop 5.6 |
03-2012 |
7 |
|
12 |
XenDesktop 5.6 Feature Pack 1 |
06-2012 |
3 |
|
13 |
XenDesktop 7.0 (Excalibur) |
06-2013 |
12 |
|
14 |
XenDesktop 7.1 |
10-2013 |
4 |
|
15 |
XenDesktop 7.5 |
03-2014 |
5 |
|
16 |
XenDesktop 7.6 |
09-2014 |
6 |
|
17 |
XenDesktop 7.6 Feature Pack 1 |
03-2015 |
6 |
|
Average (in Months) |
6 |
In May 2012, Citrix first announced Project Avalon during a Citrix Synergy conference. Project Avalon is a highly optimized and tuned integration of XenDesktop and CloudStack. CloudStack is an open-source Cloud computing software, which is used for implementing and managing the infrastructure of Cloud services. Project Avalon's objective is to empower businesses to rapidly deploy personalized Windows apps and desktops in a private Cloud across single or multiple sites, and to utilize the public Clouds in a "capacity on demand" fashion. It supports business initiatives, such as business continuity, integrating mergers and acquisitions, or offshoring projects.
At the October 2012 Synergy, Citrix laid out the path to the Project Avalon delivery in two major releases:
In June 2013, Citrix released the Project Avalon Excalibur with the XenDesktop 7 release. It was the first release of Project Avalon, and it integrated both XenApp and XenDesktop technologies into a unified FlexCast Management Architecture (FMA) for delivering Windows applications and desktops as Cloud services. Project Avalon makes and drives the XenDesktop roadmap along the way. The following screenshot taken from the Citrix website will give you an overview of Project Avalon:
Knowing the track record of how XenDesktop, its features, and its components have come about will help you to build a deeper understanding of the XenDesktop releases, and the ability to correlate them with the ultimate XenDesktop Project Avalon roadmap. You'll also be able to assess when a specific XenDesktop feature was released. However, this chapter doesn't include the details of the mentioned features or components.
Released in April 2007, Citrix Desktop Server 1.0 (CDS) was previously code-named Project Trinity. Citrix Desktop Server was the first purpose-built solution with the DynamicDelivery technology, which automatically selected the right type of virtual desktop, and thus enabling IT administrators to deliver the best desktop for each user according to their needs. It supported all three of the most popular ways of installing a desktop operating environment in a data centre. It included Windows Terminal Server (TS), the server-hosted virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and blade PCs-based assigned workstation desktops (blades). It featured two desktop delivery models:
The server desktops, which were based on the Terminal Server
The workstation desktops, which ran on VMware, Microsoft virtual server, the physical blade servers in a data centre, or any other end user PC
Workstation desktops can be pooled or assigned. The 32-bit Windows XP OS was supported for desktops. The product was priced starting at $75 per named user.
Released in May 2008, after the acquisition of Ardence and XenSource, Citrix announced the release of XenDesktop 2.0. Citrix combined the desktop virtualization capabilities of XenEnterprise v4 with its Citrix Desktop Server product line, thereby forming a new product called XenDesktop. XenDesktop 2.0 used to be shipped in five editions.
Express
Standard
Advanced
Enterprise
Platinum
It featured the Active Directory authentication, Desktop Delivery Controller, XenApp for Virtual Desktops, Provisioning Server, Desktop Receiver for Windows XP, and Windows Vista. It also supported the 32-bit Windows XP SP2 and the Windows Vista desktop operating systems. It supported hypervisor versions, such as Citrix XenServer 4.1, SCVMM 1.0, and VMware Infrastructure 3 (VMware ESX). The pricing model has been changed to concurrent user's mode, which begins at $75 per concurrent user.
Released in September 2008, XenDesktop 2.1, in addition to enhanced components, it featured a Software Development Kit (SDK) and a way of creating disabled desktop groups. It supported the 64-bit version of Windows XP SP2 and the Windows Vista desktop operating systems. The hypervisor support was extended to the Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and the respective SCVMM version.
Released in February 2009, XenDesktop 3.0 introduced the HDX technologies, including HDX MediaStream, HDX Plug-and-Play, and HDX Broadcast. At that time, the other new features were smart card support, profile management, local peripheral support, and user-driven desktop restart. It supported Windows XP SP3 and the Windows Vista 32-bit desktop operating systems. The hypervisor support remained the same. The pricing began at $75 per concurrent user.
Released in May 2009, in this feature pack, Citrix enhanced XenDesktop 3.0 smart card support, display performance with CGP, and audio functionalities. It introduced HDX RealTime, which delivers voice-over-IP to the on-premises users and HDX MediaStream for Flash, which is a trial version released for evaluation and not for production use.
Released in November 2009, XenDesktop 4.0 introduced the FlexCast technology for improving scalability across multiple virtual desktop delivery models and for enabling enterprises to deliver virtual desktops to more users at a far lower cost. XenDesktop 4 includes all the functionalities of XenApp as an integrated feature, and it makes delivering on-demand applications a seamless part of the overall desktop management strategy.
The new features, such as active directory multi-forest support, site roaming and site failover for disaster recovery, IPv6 support, password manager, branch repeater integration, and alternate protocols /RDP integration have been included in this version. Enhancements have also been made to EdgeSight and profile management components. The HDX enhancements, such as plug-n-play USB Support, plug-n-play multi-monitor support, IntelliCache, and HDX 3D Pro graphics have been included in this version. The desktop support is extended to operating systems, such as Windows 7 (non-Aero) 32-bit or 64-bit, and 64-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista. The hypervisors support included Citrix XenServer 5.5, VMware Infrastructure 3, and VMware vSphere 4/4.1, and SCVMM 2008 & SCVMM 2008 R2.
Citrix changed the licensing to the named user pricing model. The XenDesktop 4 pricing began at $75 per named user for the standard edition. The VDI edition was priced at $95 per named user or $195 per concurrent user. The enterprise and the platinum editions were tagged at $225 and $350 per named user respectively. Citrix also started trade-up to XenDesktop 4 program, through which XenApp customers can trade their existing XenApp concurrent user licenses for a better version of XenDesktop. For one XenApp license, the customers would receive two XenDesktop 4 user licenses. Moreover, the trade-up starts at $45 per user.
Released in March 2010, the Feature Pack 1 offered significant improvements to the Windows 7 image quality, the HDX plug and play audio for VoIP, and profile management. It has been built on the XenDesktop scalability enhancements, which allow the users to access the virtual desktop five times faster. It incorporated all the XenApp 6 features, including integration with Microsoft App-V and support for the Windows Server 2008 R2 for delivery controller.
Released in September 2010, it featured the addition of two new technologies: Citrix XenClient and Citrix XenVault. The new XenClient technology was a ground-breaking client-side hypervisor developed in close collaboration with Intel, and it was optimized for the Intel Core vPro technology. It supports Citrix XenClient 1.0 for the XenDesktop 4 Enterprise and Platinum versions. The new XenVault technology automatically and transparently saves any user data created by corporate apps into an encrypted folder. This is ideal for contractors and businesses based on the BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) model. XenVault automatically encrypts the data created by any corporate app that is delivered by Citrix XenApp or Microsoft App-V.
Released in December 2010, XenDesktop has been re-written and re-architected, bringing unprecedented levels of simplicity for both the users and IT professionals and developers. XenDesktop moved away from Independent Management Architecture (IMA) to a new architecture called FMA, which has been written almost completely in .NET. A remote desktop service (formally Terminal Services) is no longer required on Desktop Delivery Controllers (DDC) and it doesn't use the IMA data store.
For end users, an entirely redesigned virtual desktop viewer makes the workspace feel familiar and inviting. The powerful new HDX enhancements include the support for 32-bit color, dynamic color compression, HDX RealTime video conferencing, and large-file printing optimizations. These would dramatically improve the performance of the system even over low bandwidth connections. It has improved the smart card single sign-on from the non-domain-joined user devices. It also supports an entirely new generation of web and software-as-a-service (SaaS) apps. Citrix unveiled an extensive new initiative to help customers move from the wow of desktop virtualization to the how of successful implementation.
For IT, its role-based features have greatly simplified the management tasks and reduced the total number of management consoles. The new Desktop Studio console has been designed for administrators, and the new Desktop Director console has been designed for Helpdesk users. The new installer makes it faster and more powerful, so much so that you can complete a new installation in 10 minutes. It introduced a new technology for easily creating virtual desktops, called Machine Creation Services (MCS), and single image desktop management. Microsoft remote assistance is now used for shadowing user desktop sessions. It has simplified policy administration by integrating Active Directory group policies. It has extended the FlexCast technology for supporting the new XenClient hypervisor and it has also extended the hypervisor support to XenServer 6, VMware vSphere 5.0, and SCVMM & Hyper-V for Windows Server 8 and SCVMM 2012. In addition, it introduced a comprehensive new SDK, which enables customers and partners to integrate and automate solutions with third-party systems management tools. The virtual desktop supported 64-bit Windows XP, Vista SP2, and Windows 7 (non-Aero).
The pricing for the VDI-only edition starts at $95 per user or device. The whole desktop and application virtualization in Enterprise and Platinum editions cost $225 and $350 respectively.
Released in August 2011, it introduced the Personal vDisk technology, acquired from RingCube, which made the virtual desktops personal. XenDesktop 5.5 witnessed 150 new features, and these are the most significant enhancements ever to have been made to HDX technology, resulting in three times faster (HDX Broadcast) delivery of virtual desktops over the WAN to mobile and branch office workers. Printing and scanning became six times faster, and app launching became two times faster. There have been new Quality of Service (QoS) controls for ensuring superior user experience across any network conditions. It included significant multimedia, voice and video enhancements. It also comes with a new flash redirection technology, which delivers stunning video and audio experience even over WAN.
The HDX components included the following:
HDX MediaStream - Second generation flash redirection, server-rendered video, Windows media redirection, multi-stream ICA - including UDP for audio
HDX RichGraphics - Microsoft RemoteFX Support, Windows 7 Aero Redirection, and 3D Pro Enhancements
HDX Plug-n-Play Enhancements
HDX Monitor to monitor and analyze HDX performance
It supports faster application delivery with the inclusion of the new Citrix XenApp 6.5 as an integrated feature. The new instant app access feature reduced the application launch times by almost 50 percent. It unveiled unparalleled native user experience on smart phones and tablets. It has enhanced the support for Microsoft technologies, including Microsoft RemoteFX, which provides Aero-based Windows 7 desktops, and App-V management tools integration. Hypervisor support has remained almost the same. The virtual desktop support was extended to Windows 7 Aero 32-bit or 64-bit.
Released in March 2012, this new version has fully integrated personalization technology with the addition of two new types of catalogues. The new catalogue are "pooled with the help of personal vDisk" (for pooled-static virtual desktops), which you can manage with the help of Desktop Studio, and "streamed with personal vDisk", which you can manage with the help of provisioning services. It has fully integrated the support for Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (SCCM 2012) and for Microsoft System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM 2012). Citrix also announced the release of Citrix AppDNA 6 software, which enables the rapid assessment and migration of applications.
The virtual machines with personal vDisks are supported by Windows XP 32-bit with SP3 and Windows 7 (non-Aero). The supported virtual machines without personal vDisks include Windows XP, Windows Vista (non-Aero) with SP2, and Windows 7 (non-Aero).
Released in June 2012, this is installed only as an upgrade to a XenDesktop 5.5 or a XenDesktop 5.6 deployment. This release unveils new features, such as remote PC access, a universal print server, the Citrix mobility pack, and the XenDesktop Collector support tool. It introduces enhancements for HDX 3D Pro and leverages the GPU hardware acceleration for the 3D applications based on OpenGL and DirectX. It enables replacing complex and expensive workstations with much simpler user devices, moving graphics processing into the data centre for centralized management. The other HDX enhancements include the HDX RealTime optimization pack for Microsoft Lync and HDX RealTime webcam video compression support for Cisco WebEx.
Released in June 2013, XenDesktop 7 is the first product release of the Project Avalon. It is called the Excalibur release. Project Avalon is a multi-phased initiative by Citrix for delivering Windows apps and desktops as Cloud services. XenDesktop 7 integrates both XenApp and XenDesktop technologies into a new unified and Cloud-style FMA. It has enabled scalable, simple, efficient, and manageable solutions for delivering Windows applications and desktops.
Citrix released new and redesigned management and delivery components, which provide administrators with a unified management experience. It has made XenDesktop 7 available in app edition. It has devised a new, streamlined installer, which will guide you through the installation of all of core components, such as delivery controller, StoreFront, license server, studio, director, and Virtual Delivery Agents (VDAs).With EdgeSight integration, the web-based director user interface has been redesigned. StoreFront replaced the Web Interface component and featured enhancements including desktop appliance sites. MCS supported the creation of desktops and server OS VMs. For XenApp administrators, the entire XenDesktop FMA architecture brings a lot of new concepts, features, component mappings, and learnings.
XenDesktop 7 featured new HDX mobile technologies, which deliver an intuitive and mobile-friendly experience. The fully incorporated H.264 compression raised the WAN bandwidth efficiency, added innovative touch screen capabilities, and provided support for translating multi-touch gestures and finger swipes into smooth navigation and scrolling commands. New compression capabilities for supporting the dynamic optimization of the full HD video (webcam) bit rate has made HD videos viewable on 3G mobile networks. It included Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 support, desktop composition redirection, Windows media client-side content fetching, multicast support, real-time multimedia transcoding, User Datagram Protocol (UDP) audio for server OS machines, HDX 3D Pro, rich graphics and video rendering from the server side, and improved flash redirection.
XenDesktop 7 is built as an open platform, and it supports deployment on any hypervisor or Cloud management solution, including the Citrix Cloud platform (which is powered either by Apache CloudStack) or Amazon Web Services (AWS). It introduced the addition of new capabilities, such as the following:
Universal print server functionality included within the delivery controller
New machine catalog options, applications, and desktops
Local App Access
Microsoft app-V integration
IPv6 support
AppDNA
Improved profile management
Configuration logging
Delegated administration
VDAs auto-update delivery controller details
Client folder redirection
Improved VDA management settings
Enhanced and integrated error reporting
Support for group policies configured in the Citrix mobility pack
Personal vDisk enhancements
Support for Microsoft Key Management Services (KMS) activation with Machine Creation Services (MCS)
Remote PC access support for Windows 8
The Citrix Ready partners deliver XenDesktop 7 optimized solutions, such as:
CA technologies to support the new infrastructure management capabilities
Dell introduced DVS-Enterprise Integrated Storage
The NVidia Grid vGPU technology enabled enhancements, which made a new Citrix HDX 3D technology that supports an unmatched direct GPU access
The Host hypervisor support included:
XenServer 6.2
VMware vSphere 5.1 Update 1
SCVMM 2012 and 2012 SP1
The virtual desktops support the following:
Windows Desktop OS
Windows 7 SP1
Windows 8
Windows Server OS
Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
The minimum supported provisioning services version is 7.0, and the License Server is v11.11.
Citrix has discontinued most of the legacy features in this release, including:
Legacy printing
Direct SSL connections
Secure ICA encryption below 128-bit
Secure Gateway
Web interface
Shadowing users-to-users and supporting Microsoft remote assistance
Anonymous users
Session pre-launch
Power and capacity management
The initial Flash v1 redirection
Local text echo
Loopback support for virtual IP
Smart auditor
Single sign-on (SSO)
Health monitoring and recovery (HMR)
The management pack for System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007
CNAME function
The quick deploy wizard
Native device drivers on delivery controllers
Remote PC service configuration files and PowerShell script for automatic administration and Workflow Studio
The XenDesktop 7 editions were available in licensing modes, such as per-user, per-device, or on a concurrent basis. The new XenDesktop app edition was made available only for XenApp customers who were using the entire hosted-shared (RDS) app and published desktop workloads. The upgrade to the XenDesktop app edition was offered without any additional charge for XenApp Enterprise and Platinum customers with an active subscription.
Released in October 2013, Citrix termed XenDesktop 7.1 as a platform. The XenDesktop platform is based on the new architecture Simplified FlexCast Management, which is compatible with the latest Microsoft technologies. The new features include the Virtual Graphical Processing Unit (vGPU), which allows multiple VMs to access a single physical GPU, and provides full support to 3D graphics. The Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) capabilities redirect flash- graphics for OS, such as Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and 2012 R2. It supports virtual desktops and applications for the operating system Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2.
It supports the following hypervisor solutions:
XenServer 6.2
VMware vSphere 5.1 Update 1
SCVMM 2012, 2012 R2 and 2012 SP1
In March 2014, along with XenDesktop 7.5, Citrix released XenApp 7.5 as a separate product, which shared the unified FMA architecture and management. XenDesktop takes the enterprise desktop virtualization deployments to hybrid provisioning by allowing businesses to use public Clouds, such as AWS or any Citrix Cloud Platform that is powered by the Apache CloudStack Cloud. This improves their flexibility and leads to the growth or transformation of their virtual desktop infrastructure. While the hypervisor's support is extended to VMware vSphere 5.5, neither VMware vSphere 5.5 nor Hyper-V hypervisors are supported by the Citrix CloudPlatform. The Citrix CloudPlatform only supports XenServer 6.2. On the other hand, AWS doesn't offer the desktop operating system instances. So, you can provision the applications and desktops only on supported Windows server operating systems.
The remote PC access is enhanced such that it supports the Wake on the LAN for PCs that support Intel Active Management Technology (AMT), or PCs with the Wake on the LAN option enabled in the BIOS. Also included full AppDNA support for the automated analysis of Windows application suitability for application virtualization through XenApp, App-V, or XenDesktop. It also features StoreFront 2.5 and supports Web Interface 5.4 without providing support for any additional operating systems or enhancements. The virtual desktops operating system support remains the same.
Citrix announced two new Citrix Ready programs for driving the hybrid Cloud and low-cost initiatives. The new Citrix Ready Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Cloud for XenDesktop supports businesses by helping them find a Cloud operator whose infrastructure supports XenDesktop. Citrix Ready low-cost converged infrastructure verified solutions are tested for their scalability deployments, which range from a few hundred to a few thousand desktops. These provide performance and maintain a high availability of resources. Citrix also introduced a limited time XenMobile promotion, which included a free XenMobile MDM or 20 percent off the XenMobile enterprise for XenApp and XenDesktop platinum edition customers, which was valid until September 30, 2014.
Released in September 2014, XenDesktop is built on third-generation FMA, and it is designed to be deployed in the Cloud and in hybrid environments. It features instant access to virtual apps by retaining the application pre-launch, session linger, and anonymous logon features that were made popular by the earlier versions of XenApp. The new connection leasing feature enables high availability and provides resilience in withstanding the temporary loss of database. It delivers an unmatched user experience through improved graphics performance, which includes improved image sharpening, visually enhancing the lossless compression, and extending the DirectX/2D rendering capabilities. It is also USB 3.0 ready, and it provides the generic redirection of the latest USB 3.0 peripherals, such as webcams, headsets, and Lync phones. To enhance the user experience of Windows apps on the mobile devices, Citrix released a new update for the HDX Mobile SDK. The new enhancements in provisioning services employ commodity servers and the RAM so that the IOPS load on storage is dropped by 99 percent, which obliterates the cost barriers for delivering high-performance storage.
It's the only unified platform which is Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) compliant under the Common Criteria (CC) evaluation. It features the security enhancements that enable the granular policies over clipboard content filtering and directional control, so that potentially malicious data, perhaps embedded in the Rich Text Format, cannot be pasted to the secured environment. It supports the secure connections between users and VDAs. The Platinum edition includes the full power of the Citrix AppDNA application migration technology, which simplifies app migrations to the latest versions of Windows. In close partnership with Microsoft, Citrix developed the Citrix Connector 7.5 for System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), and it has released a new reference architecture for deploying XenApp and XenDesktop on Microsoft Azure, which materializes the Citrix Workspace Services vision on Azure. It integrates and enhances the existing XenApp 6.5 deployments, and it also streamlines the Cloud deployments with the verified IaaS providers.
Enhancements have been made to Citrix Studio and Citrix Director. The new features in Studio include enhanced reporting and application folders. The new features in Director include licensing alerts, the view hosted applications usage, monitoring hotfixes, an expanded filtering feature, and the Director has also been made compatible to XenApp 6.5. The enhanced connection throttling settings provide control and they improve host performance.
They support both the virtual IP and the virtual loopback for the applications published on machines running Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2. The Remote PC access enhancement limits a local user from disconnecting a remote session without the permission of a remote session user. It provides support for the HDX Real-Time Optimization Pack 1.5 for Microsoft Lync. It also provides support to the receiver for Chrome 1.4 and the Receiver for HTML5 1.4. These receivers include the ability to convert document files into PDF files from hosted applications or applications running on the virtual desktops, so that users can view and print them from their local device.
The new Citrix StoreFront 2.6 has the following features:
Simplified store configuration in the administration console
A receiver for the Web My Apps Folder View
Support for the pass-through authentication by XenApp 6.5 through the Kerberos constrained delegation
Support for smart card authentication by XenApp Services
Single Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) access
Receivers for mobile platforms, such as iOS and Android
The virtualization resource support has been extended to XenServer 6.2 SP1 with hotfixes. The virtual desktops operating system support remains the same. The Citrix CloudPlatform supports XenServer 6.2 SP1 with hotfixes, VMware vSphere 5.5, and it does not support the Hyper-V hypervisors.
The XenDesktop 7.6 feature pack 1 was released in March 2015, and it features the Session Recording capability, which lets admin users record the on-screen activity of any user's session. It is accompanied by a new Citrix Director, version 7.6.200, through which the session recording can be enabled or disabled. The Session Recording is based on Citrix's popular SmartAuditor technology. Using Session Recording, one can instantly record difficult to reproduce errors and provide faster resolutions for the users' issues. The feature pack includes the latest HDX Real-Time Optimization Pack 1.7, which has further enhanced the performance of Microsoft Lync in XenDesktop environment for the users of Linux and Windows devices. It also has a new version of Citrix Licensing 11.12.1, which is equipped with the Citrix Licensing Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP), and the Call Home capability.
A technology product's core strengths/capabilities make it stand out in the competitive industry market. XenDesktop comes with a set of core strengths that make it a preferred choice across various business verticals. The following are the core strengths of XenDesktop technology:
The following figure is a diagrammatic representation of the XenDesktop core strengths:
XenDesktop administrators, technologists, and architects know all of these very well. For mastering XenDesktop, it is important to understand how these core strengths matter for businesses. We'll discuss these core strengths in detail, and also get to know the other key strengths of XenDesktop that have significant business value.
Citrix XenDesktop uses the Citrix Receiver, which is a universal client built with a vision of supporting any device and any platform. It currently supports all mobile and desktop device platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, and Blackberry. It also supports Thin Client environments, which require a zero-install option and a clientless HTML5 Receiver, which is available for web-based access. It works natively on a broad range of physical devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smart phones. Citrix Receiver has been made available on many popular online application stores, which has made it simpler to install and use on BYOD or corporate devices. It has been designed to easily adopt the features of the native device, including scrolling the native menus, multi-touch, and pop-up controls, GPS, and cameras, specifically on touch based mobile devices.
XenDesktop users can access their desktops, corporate applications, web, SaaS, and their secure ShareFile integrated user data on any device, at anytime and from anywhere. This enables complete workplace flexibility, business continuity, and user mobility.
Citrix High Definition (HDX) user experience technologies have been built on top of the Citrix ICA protocol, which is renowned for the best-of-breed networking. It represents 25 years of innovation and excellence. The ICA protocol in itself is based on the basic TCP/IP and RTP/UDP protocols, and it has been uniquely designed for traversing the difficult network topologies that range from variable mobile networks to high latency low-bandwidth WANs. HDX is a unique strength of XenDesktop, and it makes the virtual desktop delivery experience extremely responsive and fast.
The Citrix ICA protocol was primarily used for streaming application and terminal session screen updates by XenApp. Citrix ported this ICA protocol for delivering a Windows desktop operating system, and they had initially named it PortICA. The underlying architecture of PortICA remained the same. It uses the virtual channels. PortICA was turned into the HDX technology in the later releases. HDX has been a part of Project Avalon Excalibur, and it has been enhanced by enormous capabilities.
The Citrix HDX technologies are the foundation of the Citrix application (XenApp) and desktop delivery (XenDesktop) platforms. They provide superior high-definition user experience on any device, over any network. It delivers an unparalleled experience, even while using real time audio and video collaboration, rich multimedia, the latest USB peripherals and 3D graphics. As Windows apps became optimized for mobile devices, they improved their support for touch gestures and other native device features. The integrated WAN optimization capabilities of HDX deliver a satisfying user experience, even over challenging low-bandwidth and high-latency networks. When using XenDesktop and the HDX technologies, IT departments can successfully extend the delivery of the virtual desktops beyond the corporate headquarter offices to remote, mobile, and branch office users.
Knowing the HDX internals involves understanding the three technical principles that it is made of. These are:
Intelligent redirection
Adaptive compression
Data de-duplication
At run time, these work towards delivering an optimized user experience, reduced bandwidth consumption, and improved scalability of the rendering server.
This involves examining user screen activity, application commands, and the user endpoint device, which connects the network and hosting server capabilities, so that they can dynamically determine how and where to render an application or a desktop activity. The redirection operation can occur on either the local client or the central VDA. Redirection at the client offloads all the processing from the server and places it on the client's device. The device and the peripheral redirection lets the peripherals, such as webcams, printers and scanners, to be terminated locally, so that users can interact with these devices at native USB speeds.
The following figure is a diagrammatic illustration of the steps that were used in the intelligent redirection process. It also indicates the various virtual channels, the network layers, and the protocols that were involved in the HDX technology.
Adaptive compression is a core intellectual property of the ICA protocol. It determines the intelligent usage of system resources, including CPUs and/or GPUs. It also configures the appropriate codecs that can be used, based on different network conditions.
This is implemented through multicasting and caching techniques. The HDX caching de-duplicates frequently accessed data, including files, bitmap graphics, print jobs, and streamed media. HDX supports the multicasting of multimedia streams, where the delivery of a single transmission from the source to many users creates one-to-many communications.
The Citrix HDX technology ensures the following:
The delivery of smooth audio, video, and multimedia performance.
HDX 3D Pro optimizes 2D and 3D professional graphics.
HDX mobile provides a native look and feel to the Windows applications on the mobile.
The HDX SoC embedded technology enhances the thin clients support.
Accelerated printing and scanning.
Highest quality of service and reliability.
As in the case of traditional physical desktops, it is not possible to meet every user's requirements with a single desktop type because different types of business users need different types of desktop setups. This has been the greatest limitation for businesses when it comes to adopting desktop virtualization technologies. In a business organization, some users will require simplicity and standardization, while other users will require a highly personalized and more performance equipped system. If a single desktop virtualization model is implemented across an entire organization, it will inevitably lead to reduced user productivity.
FlexCast is a delivery technology which enables IT to deliver every type of virtual desktop, such as hosted, local, physical, or virtual- each specifically tailored to meet the performance, security, personalization, mobility and flexibility requirements of each user. This approach is unique and it is dramatically different from the way in which most other vendors look at desktop virtualization. Six FlexCast models are available, and each one provides different capabilities, based on the unique user group requirements.
Hosted shared
Hosted VDI
Random/Non-persistent
Static/Non-persistent
Static persistent
Remote PC
Streamed VHD
Local VM
On-demand apps
It is very important to assess the business user requirements, and then choose the right FlexCast model for using resources efficiently and for providing the best end user experience.
A single server based operating system equipped with high end resources is provisioned by using machine creation services, or by provisioning services provided by XenDesktop. Multiple user desktops are delivered by a single server, which uses Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS). This is similar to the Published Server Desktop in XenApp environments. This model provides a low-cost, high-density solution. However, it can only support the applications that are compatible with a multi-user server operating system.
In this model, each user is provided with a true desktop operating system. This removes the limitation of the applications that requires them to be multi-user aware and binds them to support the server operating systems. Since the complete desktop instance is rendered, it is easier for administrators to define a granular level of control over desktop resources, including a number of virtual processors and memory assignments.
It offers the following sub categories. In all of the sub categories, the desktops are based on a single master image and they are provisioned by using machine creation services or provisioning services.
In this model, the user changes made to the desktop will be lost when it is rebooted. There will be a pool of desktop instances and users will be dynamically connected to one of them when they log on.
In this model, the user changes made to the desktop will be lost when it is rebooted. However, the users will always be connected to the virtual desktop instance that was allocated to them at the time of their first access.
In this model, the user changes made to the desktop will be stored in a personal vDisk and it will be retained in-between reboots. Also, the users will always be connected to the virtual desktop instance that was allocated to them at the time of their first access. However, the desktops with a personal vDisk cannot be shared among multiple users and each user will require their own desktop. It is recommended to host a personal vDisk on a shared storage for high availability requirements.
This model lets users connect to their already existing physical desktop, which is on the corporate network, is a recent addition to FlexCast. It has been done to facilitate a secured and a controlled access to corporate systems by users from remote locations. It assumes that the physical desktop management should be taken care of, either manually or by using third party tools.
This is a primary model, which employs the provisioning services for delivering desktops. In this model, virtual desktops are provisioned for being run locally on the user's desktop computer hardware. This is a great solution for businesses, and using this will let them leverage their investments on desktop systems with high resources. This solution requires a LAN connection to be in place between the desktop and Provisioning Servers. In this, changes made to the desktops will be lost upon rebooting.
The centrally managed virtual desktops image is delivered to VMs running locally within a hypervisor on the client computer, and this enables offline connectivity. This model uses Citrix XenClient for providing the Local VMs.
The on-demand apps FlexCast model centralizes the Windows applications in the data centre, and enables instant accessing through high-speed protocol (requires connection), or it can also be streamed (offline support) through Microsoft App-V. It does not provide users with virtual desktops, but provides them with Windows applications.
The following figure is a very informative comparison table, which covers the various FlexCast model supports that have been provided by XenDesktop version 7.x. Using this table, you can easily opt for a FlexCast model for a given user case requirement.
In today's businesses, IT prioritizes the centralization and simplification of desktop infrastructure for reducing the total cost of ownership. This leads to the move of desktop infrastructure to a Cloud that enables maximum benefits and capabilities for businesses. However, at present, businesses have made huge investments in various hypervisors, storage, and Microsoft infrastructures. Most of the businesses need a hybrid solution, which would leverage the existing infrastructure, as well as pave the path for migrating to Cloud solutions.
The XenDesktop architecture, FMA, adds the hybrid Cloud provisioning capability, which lets the customers use Cloud services, as well as the traditional virtual infrastructural deployments. The XenDesktop supports Cloud services with the help of a public AWS or Citrix CloudPlatform powered by Apache CloudStack Cloud for flexing, growing, or transforming virtual desktop infrastructures.
It also supports the existing hypervisors, storage, and Microsoft infrastructures, and this enables businesses to leverage their current investments, while providing the flexibility for adding or changing alternatives. Support includes all the major hypervisors, such as Citrix XenServer, Microsoft Hyper-V, and VMware ESX. It simplifies the management of networked storage by using Citrix StorageLink technology, which was leveraged and supported by XenServer. XenDesktop also closely integrates with Microsoft App-V and System Center for application management.
Citrix FMA is the XenDesktop architecture that plays a key role in Project Avalon Excalibur by converging XenApp with the XenDesktop solutions. Citrix, with XenDesktop 7.0, has converged the XenApp with XenDesktop. Now, both solutions share a common FMA architecture.
The other key benefits of the FMA architecture include:
It simplifies the installation and administration by having only two components, delivery controllers, and agents. The agents are the installed worker servers, while the controllers manage users, resources, configurations, and they store these in a central SQL server database.
Agents on the worker servers communicate with delivery controllers and they do not require a direct access to either the site's database or the license servers.
FMA is now the common underlying architecture for both XenApp and XenDesktop products. This makes it easier for XenApp customers to migrate to XenDesktop.
Management consoles have been consolidated and reduced to only two programs: the Studio and the Director. The Studio is for IT administrators so that they can administer and manage the XenDesktop infrastructures. The next generation Director is for Cloud-enabled management and operations of the Helpdesk support teams.
The following figure is a diagrammatic representation of the XenDesktop FMA architecture:
To reduce the desktop management cost and complexity, XenDesktop includes the integration of a range of Citrix application virtualization technologies with on-demand applications by Citrix XenApp. With application virtualization, IT can control data access, manage fewer desktop images, eliminate any system conflicts, and reduce the application regression testing, by making it a requirement for successful desktop virtualization. Adding, updating, and removing applications has now become simple as XenDesktop now includes a self-service app store, which has been made available through the storefront, and lets users access applications instantly from any location.
The XenDesktop Platinum edition includes the Citrix AppDNA application migration technology, which simplifies app migrations to the latest versions of Windows. The Citrix AppDNA application management software combines insight about the application portfolios with an accurate application testing, compatibility, and remediation. It lets enterprises discover, automate, model, and manage the applications for migrations. It also deploys new virtualization technology and daily application management. Automating the application migration process saves enterprises time, labor, and cost, while reducing risk. It greatly helps the desktop transformations to be completed on time, within budget, and with lesser end user disruption. The AppDNA software also provides the knowledge that guides business decisions about application compatibility, migration, management, and building a long-term application portfolio evolution.
The Citrix AppDNA software simplifies the following key areas of application management:
Discovering application issues with the help of sophisticated testing methods
Application portfolio modeling for determining the best plan of action
Automating both the application remediation and the packaging processes
Eases the management of ongoing application evolution after the launch of the migration or the virtualization project
When deploying Citrix XenDesktop within large organizations and government environments, security standards are an important consideration. Citrix is committed to making sure that the technology is fully secure and adheres to government standards for encryption and accessibility.
For businesses, XenDesktop currently offers the following security and compliance capabilities:
A centrally secured desktop in the data centre that can be delivered to any device.
Centrally secured apps in the data that centre can be delivered to any device.
It provides high security with multi-factor authentication, the latest FIPS Compliance, the Common Criteria Evaluation certifications, and activity logging for compliance support.
It provides SmartAccess fine grained context based policy controls for scenario based access restrictions.
The Session Recording capability provides enhanced security through logging and monitoring. It allows organizations to record on-screen user activity for applications that deal with sensitive information, which is critical in regulated industries, such as health care and finance.
The Mobile Device Management (MDM) suite for configuring and securing the enterprise user mobile devices ensures the authenticity and safety of users who access the XenDesktop sessions from their mobile devices.
The Citrix ShareFile product integration provides optimized and on-demand on-premises or off-premises data sync and sharing.
We saw a detailed XenDesktop evolution timeline from its initial version to its latest version and its roadmap, which is part of Project Avalon. From the roadmap, we learned the key objectives of Project Excalibur and Project Merlin, which make up Project Avalon. This understanding will help you in knowing what to expect in the future releases of the XenDesktop. We also learned the core strengths that have expanded the XenDesktop usability and dependability by businesses. This chapter will help the businesses to easily and clearly understand the reliable data points and technical strengths in choosing XenDesktop. From reading this chapter, you'll be able to assess whether or not you should consider XenDesktop for your desktop virtualization projects.
In the following chapter, we'll go through the detailed architecture that includes the core and additional components of the XenDesktop. We'll learn the role of each component and its orchestration in serving the users of the XenDesktop sessions.
