{"id":6581,"date":"2014-01-30T13:56:38","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T12:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ingmarverheij.com\/?p=6581"},"modified":"2014-02-04T16:01:44","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T15:01:44","slug":"citrix-xenapp-xendesktop-decision-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ingmarverheij.com\/en\/citrix-xenapp-xendesktop-decision-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop: A decision tree"},"content":{"rendered":"


\"Citrix<\/p>\n

Citrix offers two products to deliver hosted resources to users: XenApp<\/a> and XenDesktop<\/a>. Although the products share great similarities (and since v7.x<\/a> the underlying architecture is now common, FMA <\/a>rather than IMA),\u00a0 have their unique characteristics.<\/p>\n

What product do you need? When and why? In this article I\u2019m trying\u00a0 to help you make this decision based on a decision tree.<\/p>\n

During the course of this article I’m assuming you’re designing a XenApp \/ XenDesktop 7.x environment, however the principal is equal for XenApp 6.x and XenDesktop 5.x.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/h1>\n

Primary Focus<\/h1>\n

Let’s start with a common misconception, applications versus desktops. It’s easy to think that if you want to provide access to hosted app<\/strong>lications to your users you must<\/strong> use XenApp<\/strong> and if you want provide access to hosted desktop<\/b>s\u00a0<\/strong>you can only use XenDesktop<\/strong>. I guess we can partly blame Citrix for that as well since they do advocate a similar message, have a look on their corporate website<\/a> (see highlighted in red) .<\/p>\n

\"Citrix<\/a><\/p>\n

The primary<\/strong> focus<\/strong> of XenApp is (and always has been) applications and for XenDesktop the primary focus is desktops. However, both products can provide access to hosted applications and<\/i><\/b> desktops, just in a different way. I wrote about this earlier in the article “You don’t need XenDesktop for a virtual desktop<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

The major difference <\/strong>between XenApp and XenDesktop is the execution environment. Where XenDesktop provides access to hosted resources for a single user<\/strong> on a Windows client<\/strong> machine like Windows 7 or 8, XenApp provides access to hosted resources for multiple<\/strong> users on a Windows server<\/strong> machine. like Windows Server 2008R2 or 2012. So users on a machine running XenApp share <\/strong>all resources like CPU, GPU, memory, disk, etc. where users on a machine running XenDesktop get their own <\/strong>(private) CPU, GPU. memory, disk, etc.\u00a0 (not considering virtualization). Because XenApp shares resources, multiple<\/strong> users can use (multiple) applications at the same time, as opposed to XenDesktop where one only one<\/strong> user can run (multiple) applications at the same. Andrew Wood explains the between the difference between the two in the article VDI vs RDSH: Squabbling Siblings or Embattled Enemies?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/caption>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\nXenApp<\/strong><\/td>\nXenDesktop<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Execution environment<\/td>\nMultiple users<\/td>\nSingle user<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Windows operating system<\/td>\nServer OS<\/td>\nClient OS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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\u00a0<\/h1>\n

Terminology<\/h1>\n

Let’s talk about the terminology used, just to avoid confusion. I won’t use the terms SBC or VDI, in my opinion they contribute to the confusion around this already complex matter. I’ve discussed this in my virtual desktop word bingo<\/a> article and concluded that we’re probably better of using the following terms, in relation to XenApp \/ XenDesktop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u00a0<\/caption>\n
\u00a0<\/td>\nXenApp<\/strong><\/td>\nXenDesktop<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Application<\/td>\nHosted Shared Application<\/td>\nHosted Private Application<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Desktop<\/td>\nHosted Shared Desktop<\/td>\nHosted Private Desktop<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Mixed environment<\/h1>\n

As of version 7.x, XenDesktop<\/strong> and XenApp<\/strong> both share the same Flexcast<\/strong> Management Architecture (FMA) and as such can be easily mixed<\/strong> and managed using one central management console, Studio<\/strong>. In fact, XenDesktop versions 7 and 7.1 combine both products into one, leaving the good old IMA<\/strong> behind. Just recently Citrix announced the release of XenApp and XenDesktop 7.5<\/a> (due in March this year) again as separate products. However, they’re sharing the same underlying architecture. Older environments (XenApp 6.x and XenDesktop 5.x) can coexist<\/strong> as well but needs to be managed separately, they can share the same license server.<\/p>\n

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Sharing licenses<\/h6>\n

Licenses can be shared if the XenApp and XenDesktop machines share the same license server. This means that if you’re in a hosted desktop (XA\/XD) and connect to a hosted application (XA\/XD) from another machine, you require only one license. Important to mention is that the license type and edition on both machines needs to be equal (so two servers running XenApp Enterprise share <\/strong>a license but one server with XenApp Enterprise and another with XenDesktop Platinum won\u2019t<\/strong>). If you want to view the used user \/ device license I recommend the free <\/em>UDadmin GUI<\/em><\/a> by Bram Wolfs. Not only does it show the used licenses it also enable you to release claimed license easily.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h6>\n
Do you want to offer a mixed environment?<\/h6>\n

The real question is, do you want to mix two delivery methods and offer them to the same user? Especially when you’re nesting sessions you could end up with some complex scenario’s, offering a mix of functional and technical challenges. However, depending on your (delivery) strategy a mixed environment could be viable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Citrix created an informative video explaining the value of Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop with FlexCast (source: YouTube<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Decision tree<\/h1>\n

I\u2019ve created two decision trees:<\/p>\n