Citrix Systems will add more scalability and centralized
management capabilities to virtualized applications when it
launches XenApp 6, the former Citrix Presentation Server, on March
24.
XenApp 6 will feature a new management console, AppCenter, aimed
at making it easier to manage from one central location the
virtualized applications in the enterprise. In some cases,
companies run SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, or other applications in
virtual machines to better meet fluctuations in user demand.
"This version is about trying to drive IT as more of an
on-demand environment," said Alicia Rey, director of product
marketing. When applications are virtualized, IT can better manage
server resources and forestall some capital expenses that might
have been needed to keep up with demand in the past, she said.
The new version has been integrated with Microsoft Application
Virtualization or App-V, formerly known as the product acquired
with Softricity, SoftGrid. App-V can run applications in
virtualized form on a central server or stream them over the wire
to another computer, where they can be run locally.
The combination means Citrix customers can use whatever mix of
centrally running or locally running virtualized applications that
they choose, said Rey.
Citrix publicly says an SAP or other application running in
virtualized form can now serve up to 500 users per server, or 15
percent more than previous versions of XenApp. "We've seen in
excess of 500," Rey added in an interview. New wizards in XenApp
make it easier to install an SAP or other enterprise application
and run it as a virtualized resource, she said.
XenApp 6 has also been integrated with Citrix' iTunes-like
application store, Dazzle, where users of XenApp may select the
applications they want to work with and have them activated on
demand without IT intervention. The applications may have been
virtualized under either XenApp or Microsoft App-V.
Citrix has extended support for virtualized application clients,
which already include Windows and Linux PCs and notebooks and
netbooks. The application runs on a central server but can be
accessed from a Macintosh or smartphones, including the Apple
iPhone, Google Android-based phones, or Microsoft Mobile-based
devices.
XenApp 6.0 has been verified in tests as being able to handle up
to 150,000 concurrent users when it's running on a server cluster;
no specific cluster size or type of application was listed with the
claim.
XenApp will be available in the future as part of XenDesktop 4,
Citrix' approach to creating and managing virtualized desktops on
an enterprise scale. Part of the return on investment in
virtualizing desktops is realized when the user applications are
virtualized on central servers, Rey said.