Data Sheet C

Data Sheet C: Thin Client Implementation

Overview
The SnapComms Client is compatible with a number of thin client environments. In a traditional (non-thin client) desktop deployment, the SnapComms Client is installed onto each end users PC. It is also possible to deploy the SnapComms Client in a thin client environment, using one of the compatible thin client products that are listed below. Compatible thin client products SnapComms Client is compatible with the following thin client products: Product Windows Server 2003 Terminal Services and Windows Server 2003 R2 Terminal Services Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services and Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services Citrix XenApp 6 and Citrix XenApp 5 All SnapComms features except for screensavers are available. Screensavers are available remotely when the entire server desktop is published to the client and when XenApp is run on Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2. In this case, Group Policy must be configured to force the screensaver to run. Citrix XenDesktop 5 All SnapComms features are available including screensavers. Compatibility Information All SnapComms features are available including screensavers. Group Policy must be configured to force the screensaver to run. All SnapComms features except for screensavers are available.

The SnapComms Client has been tested on the thin client products listed above. In addition to this list, the SnapComms Client may be compatible with other thin client products.

Thin Client Implementation Basics

Individual User Registration When a user first logs-in to a session, details of their user profile will be transmitted through to the SnapComms Servers via the SnapComms Client installed on the server, in the same manner as when the SnapComms Client is installed on a workstation. This information is used to define individual users and establish targeting groups by replicating the Active Directory group structures. Alternatively, user profile questionnaires (SnapComms Registration Alerts) can be used to capture user specific details from which targeting groups are established. Content Creation and Targeting The creation and targeting of content within a thin client environment is no different from when the SnapComms Client is installed on a workstation. Content is targeted to individual users or specific groups and downloaded to the SnapComms Client that is installed on the server. A single installation of SnapComms Client on a server is able to support multiple user profiles. Individual users receive only content intended for them, as it is the user profile that determines who gets to see what content. The SnapComms solution also supports mandatory and roaming user profiles as well as machine based targeting. Content Display The display of content delivered within a thin client environment is no different from how content is displayed when the SnapComms Client is installed on a workstation. However due to reduced screen refresh rates it is important to design content with Thin Client users in mind. NB) Designing content for Thin Client users: Ticker bar display characteristics can be optimized to counter adverse effects of low screen refresh rates by reducing the ticker bar scroll speed. The use of animated (Flash/SWF) screensavers should be avoided for thin client users due to low screen refresh rates.

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Data Sheet C

SnapComms Client System Requirements

Windows operating system the SnapComms Client is compatible with the following Windows operating systems:
o

Windows 2000 with SP3 and above Windows XP with SP1 and above Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows Server 2003 with SP1 and above or Windows Server 2003 R2 Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2

o o o o o

Internet Explorer 7.0 or above MSXML 3.0 and above MSXML 3.0 is already present on machines running Windows XP and above.

When the SnapComms Client is installed, a system service (SnapClientService) is installed on the server. The service monitors the active sessions on the server, and whenever a new remote user connects to the server, an instance of the SnapComms Client is launched in the new user session.

Thin Client Implementation for specific Thin Client products

The following information is provided in regards to configuring the SnapComms Client for operation with specific thin client products: Windows Terminal Services / Remote Desktop Services SnapComms can be made accessible in Terminal Services / Remote Desktop Services environment by installing the SnapComms Client directly onto the server. Given that the user accesses the desktop of the server, the SnapComms Client is available via the SnapComms icon in the SysTray Notification Area of the Windows Taskbar within the Remote Desktop session. SnapComms Client instances are launched automatically by the SnapClientService whenever a new remote user connects to the server. The following points of note apply:

On Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 R2 Terminal Services, all SnapComms functionality is available including screensavers. Specific steps must be followed to configure Group Policy on the server to force the SnapComms screensaver to run within the Remote Desktop session. The default configuration of a Remote Desktop session is to ignore the per-user configured screensaver and to instead display a blank screen on the session when the screen saver timeout interval is reached. The specific steps to configure Group Policy to force the SnapComms screensaver to be run can be found in SnapComms Datasheet B - SnapComms Client Deployment Overview. On Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services, all SnapComms functionality is available except for screensavers. At the current time SnapComms screensavers are not available in Remote Desktop sessions on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 due to limitations within these operating systems. It is not recommended by SnapComms that the server be placed into Install mode when installing the SnapComms Client. This is contrary to standard Microsoft guidance for installation of applications on Terminal Services however due to the design of Terminal Services the effects of Install Mode can create compatibility issues with older versions of the SnapComms Client. The effect of Install Mode is to create shadow copies of all registry keys created by the installation program into a separate area of the registry. Terminal Server then initializes each new user profile created on the server with a copy of those shadowed registry keys.

Steps to install the SnapComms Client on Windows Terminal Services / Remote Desktop Services:
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Do NOT place the server into Install Mode. It is not recommended by SnapComms that the server be placed into Install mode when installing the SnapComms Client as noted above. Install the SnapComms Client by executing the SnapComms Client installation MSI file. After the SnapComms Client has been installed, the SnapComms Client will now be automatically launched for all remote user sessions that connect to the server. If Install Mode was used during installation of the SnapComms Client it is recommended to use the Registry Editor to delete the following registry key on the server.

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Data Sheet C
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Communications Client NT\CurrentVersion\Terminal Server\Install\Software\Snap

Citrix XenApp The SnapComms Client is compatible with Citrix XenApp. There are various different methods of publishing applications in XenApp, as follows: Server Desktop: In this mode, the entire server desktop is published to the client. Given that the user accesses the desktop of the server, the SnapComms Client is available via the SnapComms icon in the SysTray Notification Area of the Windows Taskbar within the remote session. SnapComms Client instances are launched automatically by the SnapClientService whenever a new remote user connects to the server. To configure the SnapComms Client in this way, install the SnapComms Client on the server by executing the SnapComms Client installation MSI file. After doing do, use the Citrix Delivery Services Console to publish a new application, and choose Server desktop when prompted for the application type. SnapComms Screensavers are supported in this mode when running XenApp on Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2003 R2. Group Policy must be configured to force the screensaver to run. At the current time SnapComms screensavers are not available in XenApp on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 due to limitations within these operating systems. Application: Accessed from a Server In this mode, the SnapComms Client can be published directly to clients. The SnapComms Client is made available within the SysTray Notification Area of the Windows Taskbar on the Windows client. To configure the SnapComms Client in this SnapComms Client. During this process, the SnapComms Client. At this point, reference the Then use the Citrix Delivery Services Console when prompted for the application type. way, use the Citrix Streaming Profiler to create an application profile of the Citrix Streaming Profiler requests the program/command to run to install the SnapComms Client MSI file and continue with the Citrix Streaming Profiler process. to publish a new application, and choose Application: Accessed from a server

SnapComms Screensavers are not supported in this mode as Citrix XenApp only publishes the specific application windows created by the application. If the local client has a screensaver configured, that screensaver will display after the screensaver timeout. Application: Streamed to Client and Application: Streamed to Server In this mode, the SnapComms Client is virtualized from the underlying Windows operating system upon which it runs, meaning it does not have to be installed on the XenApp server itself. The runtime footprint of the SnapComms Client is captured by the Citrix Streaming Profiler and stored in an application profile on the XenApp AppHub. However to the end user, the visual display of the SnapComms Client is much the same as when published in the mode Application: Accessed from a server. The SnapComms Client is made available within the SysTray Notification Area of the Windows Taskbar on the Windows client. To configure the SnapComms Client in this way, use the Citrix Streaming Profiler to create an application profile of the SnapComms Client. During this process, Citrix Streaming Profiler requests the program/command to run to install the SnapComms Client. At this point, reference the SnapComms Client MSI file and continue with the Citrix Streaming Profiler process. Then use the Citrix Delivery Services Console to publish a new application, and choose Application: Streamed to server or Application: Streamed to client when prompted for the application type. SnapComms Screensavers are not supported in this mode as the Citrix XenApp virtualization layer does not allow the SnapComms Client application to affect the local screensaver on the client. If the local client has a screensaver configured, that screensaver will display after the screensaver timeout. Additional points Additional points to note in regards to running the SnapComms Client on XenApp are as follows:

Installing the SnapComms Client on the thin client itself: In all modes listed above, it is also possible to install the SnapComms Client on the thin client itself, if it is a computer running a supported version of the Windows operating system. Installing the SnapComms Client on the thin client itself is a simple matter of executing the SnapComms Client installation MSI file. When the SnapComms Client is installed on the thin client, then the SnapComms screensaver (if enabled) will display locally on the thin client. This is a possible workaround to situations whereby screensavers cannot be supported in published Application mode or when running XenApp on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

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Data Sheet C

Currently, due to the design of the SnapClientService, SnapComms Client instances will be automatically launched into any session created on the XenApp Server. The effect of this is that, even when an end-user accesses a different published application other than the SnapComms Client, the SnapComms Client will be automatically launched into that session as well as the intended published application.

Citrix XenDesktop The SnapComms Client is fully compatible with Citrix XenDesktop. There are three main options for installing the SnapComms Client in relation to Citrix XenDesktop:
1.

Installation within the virtual desktop (either directly in the master image or subsequently using a centralized software installation tool): provided that the virtual desktop has one of the supported versions of the Windows operating systems installed, simply install the SnapComms Client by executing the SnapComms Client installation MSI file within the virtual desktop master image. The operation of the SnapComms Client within the virtual desktop is much the same to installation on a physical machine. All SnapComms features are available including screensavers, which will be launched within the virtual desktop. Used in combination with Citrix XenApp (VM Hosted Apps) for launching the SnapComms Client from a XenApp server: implementation of the SnapComms Client in this environment is the same as implementing it in a plain XenApp environment, please refer to the information relating to XenApp above. Installation on the thin client: if the thin client itself is a computer running a supported version of the Windows operating system then installing the SnapComms Client on the thin client itself is a simple matter of executing the SnapComms Client installation MSI file. When the SnapComms Client is installed on the thin client, then the SnapComms screensaver (if enabled) will display locally on the thin client.

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