XenDesktop administrators

2013-09-30 20:41:06 UTC

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Information for administrators of previous

versions of XenDesktop

Read this topic if you have used previous versions of XenDesktop. It describes new
terminology used throughout the documentation and important changes and new features in
XenDesktop 7.
XenDesktop 7 integrates Citrix XenApp and VDI desktop virtualization technologies into a
unified architecture that enables a scalable, simple, efficient, and manageable solution for
delivering Windows applications and desktops.
XenDesktop 7 enables mobile workstyles by allowing IT to deliver Windows desktops and
applications as mobile services. Users can select applications from an easy-to-use store
that is securely accessible from tablets, smartphones, PCs, Macs, and thin clients.
XenDesktop delivers a native touch-optimized experience with HDX high-definition
performance over mobile networks.

Learn new terms and names

Citrix DirectorMonitoring console that provides detailed trend and diagnostic information
on applications and desktops, and provides a detailed and intuitive overview of XenDesktop
7 environments. Citrix Director replaces Desktop Director from earlier releases.
Citrix StudioManagement console that allows you to create and manage infrastructure
and resources to deliver desktops and applications. Previously known as Desktop Studio.
Delivery ControllerA server-side component that is responsible for distributing desktops
and applications to users, managing user access through policies, managing desktops, and
managing reboot cycles for servers. You may also see the Delivery Conroller referred to as
the Controller. Previously known as controller and Desktop Delivery Controller.
Delivery GroupThe container for a machine or machines used to deliver applications and
desktops to a specific group of users. Previously known as desktop groups or assignments.
Desktop OS machinesVirtual or physical machines based on Windows Desktop operating
system used for delivering personalized desktops or applications from desktop operating
systems to users.
HostThe hypervisor that hosts the master images and virtual machines.

XenDesktop administrators
Machine CatalogA collection of machines. The machine catalog can be used to create
applications and desktop for users.
Machine Creation ServicesA service that runs on Delivery Controller and uses a master
image to create a server or desktop machine(s) with a unique identity on the network and
in Active Directory.
Master ImageAn installed instance of a server or desktop operating system, including all
the applications and the Virtual Delivery Agent (optional) installed. The master image can
be duplicated using a provisioning technology to create machines that host applications and
desktops to end users.
NetScaler GatewayProvides secure access to remote users. Formerly called Access
Gateway.
Provisioning ServicesA service that allows you to create virtual or physical instances of
desktop or server machines.
SiteThe core XenDesktop 7 environment consisting of the Delivery Controller and
Database.
Virtual Delivery AgentThe software agent that is installed on the virtual or physical
machine that provides the virtual desktop or application to the user. The acronym VDA is
frequently used. Previously known as Virtual Desktop Agent.
Windows Server OS machines Virtual or physical machines based on Windows Server
operating system used for delivering applications or hosted shared desktops to users.

Key changes and additions

XenDesktop 7 contains powerful new administration features to automate common tasks
while integrating the configuration of profile management, StoreFront, publishing, and
storage optimization. Among many new features, XenDesktop 7 introduces two consoles for
service design (Citrix Studio) and performance monitoring (Citrix Director) and a unified
architecture that enables the most scalable solution for delivering Windows applications
and desktops as cloud services.
XenDesktop 7 offers users complete virtual desktops or just applications. By using Citrix
Receiver with XenDesktop 7, users have a device-native experience on devices including
Windows, Mac, Linus, iOS, Android, ChromeOS, Blackberry.

Support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 Multiple versions of Windows
Server and desktop operating systems can run side-by-side with newly-enabled support
for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.

Studio The management console that enables you to configure and manage your
deployment, eliminating the need for separate management consoles for managing
delivery of applications and desktops. Studio provides various wizards to guide you
through the process of setting up your environment, creating your workloads to host
applications and desktops, and assigning applications and desktops to users.
Studio empowers IT service designers with simple workflows and automated
configuration checking to eliminate as much as 80% of the time and effort needed to
deploy new services.

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Director Monitor and troubleshoot deployments using Director's redesigned user

interface and integrated EdgeSight functionality:

A new help desk view offers an improved troubleshooting experience for help desk
administrators, allowing user, machine, and application issues to be resolved
quickly.

Full administrators have access to other views, including a newly designed

Dashboard to provide a graphical summary of your deployment in a central location,
and a Trends page to provide improved, in-depth, graphical monitoring and
troubleshooting of the entire deployment with various time ranges.

HDX Insight is the integration of EdgeSight Network Inspector and EdgeSight

Performance management with Director to provide real-time assessment and
historical trending and advanced analytics of ICA traffic in your deployment.
Mobile optimizations Optimizations translate multitouch gestures, finger swipes, and
inertia into smooth navigation and scrolling commands that are relayed to the hosted
Windows applications in real-time.

HDX enhancements New technology overcomes the challenges of mobile networks,

by cutting bandwidth consumption, while increasing high definition video frame rates
and dynamically conquering the variations in latency and dropped packets that are
present in public broadband networks.

Desktop Composition Redirection Extend the Aero Redirection feature

introduced in XenDesktop 5.5 to provide users with a more fluid Windows 7 Aero or
Windows 8 desktop experience by leveraging the graphics processing unit (GPU) or
integrated graphics processor (IGP) on supported Windows client devices for local
DirectX graphics rendering. This feature delivers rich multimedia applications to
user devices, while maintaining high scalability on the server.

Windows Media client-side content fetching Enable a user device to stream

multimedia files directly from the source provider on the Internet or Intranet to
improve network utilization and server scalability.

Multicast support Reduce bandwidth consumption when streaming live video to

branch offices. Multicast support enables a single Windows Media source
transmission to support multiple users.

Real-time multimedia transcoding Enable audio and video streaming to mobile

devices, improving the way that Windows Media content is delivered. Host-based
transcoding provides a seamless user experience, even in extreme network
conditions. To improve server scalability, if the Virtual Delivery Agent has a
supported graphics processing unit (GPU) for hardware acceleration, transcoding is
done in the GPU.

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) audio for Server OS machines Extend support for
audio delivery over UDP/RTP to Server OS machines. This feature delivers superior
audio quality for real-time applications like video conferencing and streaming
media, even in environments when there is packet loss or congestion.

Webcam video compression Reduce bandwidth consumption to improve

performance when using supported video conferencing applications.

HDX 3D Pro Deliver applications with graphics processing units (GPUs) for
hardware acceleration to the desktop. This includes 3D professional graphics

XenDesktop administrators
applications based on OpenGL and DirectX.

Server-rendered Rich Graphics and Video Deliver rich graphics (including

Windows 8 or Windows Aero) to virtual desktop users on any client, platform, and
bandwidth condition by rendering the content on the server. When users have the
latest Citrix Receiver, they will also notice improved performance for
server-rendered video.

Improved Flash Redirection Determine when to redirect Adobe Flash content to

the user device for local rendering based on the user's network type and
environment. Flash Redirection helps reduce server and network load, resulting in
greater scalability while ensuring a high-definition user experience.

Machine Catalog Desktops and Applications

Desktops Deliver managed desktops to multiple, simultaneously connected

remote users. Server OS machine and Desktop OS machine desktops provide
features such as SmoothRoaming, session reliability, license consumption, Receiver
and Delivery Services authentication, and Desktop Viewer. This release introduces
Windows Server OS machine catalogs and desktops as a cost-effective virtualization
delivery solution because they provide a significant number of remote users per
server and storage resource. This release also provides Remote PC desktops that let
users access resources on their office PCs remotely, from any device running Citrix
Receiver.

Applications Integrate XenApp publishing capabilities within a deployment. Use

this feature to deliver shared hosted applications to multiple,
simultaneously-connected remote users.
Redesigned Citrix StoreFront Unifies application and desktop access through a
simple, consistent user experience, including seamless transitions between devices,
which pick up where the user left off.

StoreFront replaces Web Interface Create centralized enterprise stores to

deliver desktops, applications, and other resources to users on any device. The
feature provides authentication and resource delivery services for Citrix Receiver.

Desktop Appliance sites Access Desktop Appliance sites through a website on the
StoreFront store. The site is created automatically when a store is created. If, for
example, the store has a path of path/Citrix/Store, the Desktop Appliance site path
is path/Citrix/StoreDesktopAppliance. Users can restart their virtual
machine-hosted desktops on Desktop Appliance sites.

Database as a service Write user subscription data for each store to the local
disk on the StoreFront server by using the new subscription store service. The data
is then propagated across the server group.
Configuration Logging Capture Site configuration changes and administrative
activities to a configuration logging database. You can view the log in Studio using a
variety of filters and generate HTML and CSV reports.

Delegated Administration Group objects into administrative scopes. This feature

provides an enterprise-class administration model with role-based access control,
custom roles with configurable permissions, and fine-grained, object-based control.

New installer A single, streamlined installer to guide you through installing the core
components (Delivery Controller, Studio, Director, StoreFront, and License Server) and
VDAs.

XenDesktop administrators

AppDNA Included as part of some XenDesktop 7 editions to evaluate and solve

compatibility issues for deploying desktop and web applications, or for operating system
upgrades.

Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) intergration Lets you deploy, update,

and support App-V applications. Using Studio, you configure access to App-V
Management and Publishing servers and then deliver the App-V applications to users
through Delivery Groups along with locally installed applications.

Local App Access Enables the seamless integration of users' locally-installed

applications and hosted applications within a hosted desktop environment.

Components in this release