Orlando, Florida (PRWEB) May 12, 2015
Unidesk Corporation, a leading provider of desktop and application management software for the cloud, announced today at Citrix Synergy that its layering technology – known for streamlining management of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) – has been verified as Citrix Ready to provide fast, flexible provisioning and management of Citrix XenApp servers virtualized on Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Azure and VMware vSphere. Unidesk can now create XenApp server VMs in private and public clouds from reusable operating system and application “layers” that eliminate the need for traditional installs. Service providers and enterprise IT organizations can use Unidesk to greatly reduce the operational costs traditionally associated with delivering applications, patching Windows, and upgrading XenApp farms.
Layering Innovation Simplifies XenApp Farm Management
Citrix XenApp is the leading solution for publishing Windows desktops and applications. Unlike VDI, where every user has their own virtual desktop, XenApp shares a single desktop or application instance among many users. Desktop and apps running on XenApp servers can be remotely accessed from any endpoint device.
The popularity of XenApp and the growth of XenApp server farms have created application delivery and image management challenges for IT, however. If all apps are installed on every server for uniformity and interoperability, the duplicate “images” create extra work for the administrators who need to keep Windows and apps up to date. If “silos” are created with fewer apps on each server, or if application virtualization is used to isolate applications in separate containers, apps can no longer interoperate and duplicate copies of Windows must still be patched. Time-consuming server rebuilds and application re-installations are also required to upgrade Citrix XenApp from one version to the next.
Unidesk overcomes these challenges by virtualizing the Windows operating system and applications as read-only virtual disks, or “layers.” IT administrators can use Unidesk to provision XenApp servers simply by selecting a Windows OS layer and any combination of app layers. Unidesk composites the layers into logical C: drives for each server, enabling new applications, application updates and Windows patches to be delivered to an entire XenApp farm or specific XenApp silos without ever being installed. Unlike traditional application virtualization, layering is fast and easy, works for all apps and Windows itself, and delivers apps as if they were locally installed – not isolated – for full interoperability. XenApp upgrades that traditionally take weeks now only take a few minutes, leveraging Unidesk’s ability to deliver the Citrix Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) as a layer to an entire XenApp farm, keeping all other server configurations and applications intact.
“Unidesk’s advanced layering technology has been verified in Citrix XenDesktop environments to help streamline the management of desktops and applications,” said Calvin Hsu, Vice President of Product Marketing for Desktops and Apps at Citrix. “By earning Citrix Ready verification for XenApp, they are now extending the value of their solution, which can ease management and simplify the upgrade process for our customers.”
Unidesk Features and Benefits for XenApp
Unidesk has already been selected by more than 1,000 enterprises to streamline management of VDI. Unidesk now brings these proven capabilities to Citrix XenApp:
Application layering: Deliver applications to any number of XenApp servers as shared, read-only virtual disks; layered applications look and feel as if they are locally installed for full interoperability.
Windows OS layering: Deliver the Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 operating system as a read-only virtual disk that can be assigned to all XenApp servers as a base OS layer; eliminates image duplication for patch-once simplicity.
XenApp server provisioning: Create custom XenApp virtual machines on Hyper-V, Azure or vSphere quickly and easily by assigning OS and application layers in any order or combination.
XenApp upgrade: Upgrade an entire XenApp server farm in minutes by layering key XenApp software components separate from other configurations and updating just that layer.
Availability
Unidesk support for XenApp will be available in June through Unidesk Solution Partners. More information can be found at http://www.unidesk.com/software/citrix-xenapp Trial versions of the software can be found at http://get.unidesk.com/trial
“We are excited to broaden our partnership with Citrix through our new management capabilities for XenApp,” said Samantha Foster, Vice President of Channel and Alliances at Unidesk. “Our layering innovation brings tangible efficiencies and cost savings to the management of XenApp farms. Service providers and enterprises looking to publish applications and desktops with XenApp on-premise or in Azure now have the ideal partner solution in Unidesk.”
Presence at Citrix Synergy
Unidesk will be demonstrating Unidesk with Citrix XenDesktop and XenApp at Booth #428 at Citrix Synergy. Attendees can also learn from their IT peers how Unidesk brings desktop and application simplicity to any cloud by talking with joint Citrix and Unidesk customers DMS, Loews Hotels and Sunrise Health at the Unidesk booth.
About Unidesk Corporation
Unidesk enables customers to simplify and scale the management of Windows desktops and applications in the cloud. With Unidesk layering innovation, IT organizations can deliver applications and update Windows with ease, while offering the personalization and support that delights end users. Unidesk’s open solution manages virtual desktops and multi-user Windows session hosts; supports Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Azure and VMware vSphere cloud platforms; and integrates with leading connectivity solutions including Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop, Microsoft VDI/RDSH and VMware Horizon. Unidesk is a privately held company headquartered in Marlborough, Mass., with authorized solution partners around the world. For more information, visit http://www.unidesk.com.