Book Image

Getting Started with Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6

By : Augusto Alvarez
Book Image

Getting Started with Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6

By: Augusto Alvarez

Overview of this book

<p>Organizations often spend more money than they should on maintaining applications and the operating system life cycles. Supporting end-users' problems as well as maintaining different operating system baselines can also get really expensive. Microsoft App-V saves resources and increases productivity by virtualizing applications and providing centralized management for your organization's application infrastructure. However, application virtualization is not as simple as it sounds and can require expert guidance for successful implementations in an organization. <br /><br />With this book in hand, you will learn how to easily implement a centralized management for your applications with Microsoft App-V. It provides all the necessary guidance for preparing your App-V environment, as well as sequencing (capturing) and delivering simple and complex applications. It will demonstrate how you can save a lot of time and effort by eliminating the common issues faced in application deployment and maintenance. <br /><br />This Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 Implementation Guide will show you, in a step-by-step manner, how to set up the environment for installing your company&rsquo;s applications, defining all the requirements and configurations one time only, and then delivering the same baseline to all the users you want. Microsoft App-V removes the constraints we usually have with applications, their dependencies and the issues involved, providing a centralized management of those applications. With this book, you will first review the basics of App-V architecture and the components involved and then start working directly with the platform by installing the App-V server and client components. As the book progresses, you will learn to sequence and publish simple as well as complex applications. Using this guide, applications' transitions, such as moving up from Microsoft Office 2007 to Office 2010, can be achieved transparently for all users. It will also guide you through advanced topics such as integrating App-V with Microsoft&rsquo;s Configuration Manager, securing communications, and publishing applications through Remote Desktop Services.</p> <p>By the end of this book, you will be geared up to plan and implement the virtualization of your application infrastructure with Microsoft App-V.</p>
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Getting Started with Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Appendix A. Reviewing App-V for Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services)

As you have seen in the initial chapters of this book, agility and optimization are some of the most common keywords found in the virtualization world. Those keywords are not a recent invention; organizations were always looking for new or improved ways to optimize resources (like hardware, time, and money) and make their services and platforms more agile for deployment and maintenance.

One of the technologies most commonly used to gain those benefits was Terminal Services, now called Remote Desktop Services , which allows for centralized management of resources, plus some simplified maintenance of users' environments.

The name of Remote Desktop Services appeared because the platform communication is based on the RDP protocol. In Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft changed the term Terminal Services to Remote Desktop Services, and added some changes to the architecture and functionalities. One of the new features included is that, even though the protocol used is RDP, you can now also use Web Access to access applications or desktops, just needing a compatible browser.

Many organizations choose Remote Desktop Services as part of the basis of their IT platform, which leaves you with a challenge if you are considering an App-V implementation. Can you believe in the co-existence of Remote Desktop Services and App-V? Yes, of course, but there are some considerations you should evaluate before the implementation as what you have seen so far of App-V deployments needs a twist for a successful combination with RDS.

In this appendix, you are going to learn about:

  • What Remote Desktop Services, formerly known as Terminal Services, is

  • Components involved in RDS

  • Differences in RemoteApp features between RDS and App-V

  • Combining RDS with App-V, including benefits, considerations, and procedures