Citrix Virtual Desktops Explained

Citrix Virtual Desktops (formerly XenDesktop) is a desktop virtualization product.

History

The virtualization technology that led to XenDesktop was first developed in 2000 through an open-source hypervisor research project led by Ian Pratt at the University of Cambridge called Xen Project for x86.^{[1] [2]} Pratt founded a company called XenSource in 2004, which made a commercial version of the Xen hypervisor. In 2007, Citrix acquired XenSource, releasing XenDesktop version 2.0 in 2008.^{[3] [4]} The company continues to release updated versions, with XenDesktop 7.6 featuring HDX technology enhancements for audio, video and graphics user experience, as well as a reduction in storage costs associated with virtual desktop deployments as a result of improvements to Citrix provisioning services.^{[5] [6]}

In 2018, the software was renamed Citrix Virtual Desktops.^[7]

Product overview

The product's aim is to give employees the ability to work from anywhere while cutting information technology management costs because desktops and applications are centralized.^[8] XenDesktop also aims to provide security, because data is not stored on the devices of end users, instead being saved in a centralized datacenter or cloud infrastructure.^[9] Citrix developed the software for use by medium to large enterprise customers.^[10]

Citrix Workspace is able to manage and deliver applications and desktops using a connection broker called Desktop Delivery Controller.^{[11] [12]} It supports multiple hypervisors, including Citrix Hypervisor, VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V and Nutanix Acropolis to create virtual machines to run the applications and desktops.^[11] The software allows for several types of delivery methods and is compatible with multiple architectures, including desktops and servers, datacenters, and private, public or hybrid clouds.^{[8] [13] [11]} Virtualized applications can be delivered to virtual desktops using Virtual Apps.

Release history

• Version 7.5 - March 26, 2014
• Version 7.6 - September 30, 2014
• Version 7.6 Feature Pack 1 - March 31, 2015
• Version 7.6 Feature Pack 2 - June 30, 2015
• Version 7.6 Feature Pack 3 - September 30, 2015
• Version 7.6 LTSR - January 11, 2016
• Version 7.7 - December 29, 2015
• Version 7.8 - February 24, 2016
• Version 7.9 - June 1, 2016
• Version 7.11 - September 4, 2016
• Version 7.12 - December 7, 2016
• Version 7.13 - February 23, 2017
• Version 7.14 - May 23, 2017
• Version 7.15 LTSR - August 15, 2017
• Version 7.16 - November, 2017
• Version 7.17 - February, 2018
• Version 7.18 - June, 2018

See also

• EmbeddedXEN, Type-1 (bare metal) hypervisor

Notes and References

1. News: The Current State of Open Source Virtualization . Kris . Buytaert. Virtualization . March 26, 2008. 25 June 2015.
2. News: Virtualization topics covering definition, objectives, systems and solutions . John K . Waters . . March 15, 2007 . 25 June 2015 .
3. News: Release: Citrix XenDesktop 2.0 . Virtualization . May 20, 2008 . 25 June 2015.
4. News: Citrix Launches First Product From XenSource Acquisition . Charles . Babcock . . October 22, 2007 . 25 June 2015.
5. News: Citrix makes VDI faster, secure, more reliable and cheaper on storage with the latest XenApp and XenDesktop . Cloud Computing Intelligence . August 20, 2014 . 15 July 2015.
6. News: New Citrix XenApp, XenDesktop releases to take down adoption barriers . Mark . Cox . Channel Buzz . August 25, 2014 . 25 June 2015.
7. Web site: Citrix quietly ditches Xen and NetScaler brands days after Synergy 2018 . Keumars Afifi-Sabet . 16 May 2018.
8. News: Citrix sets price and release date for XenDesktop . Mikael . Ricknäs. https://web.archive.org/web/20150925102811/http://www.networkworld.com/article/2278079/data-center/citrix-sets-price-and-release-date-for-xendesktop.html . dead . September 25, 2015 . . April 14, 2008 . 25 June 2015.
9. News: Citrix brings full support for Windows 10 to its desktop virtualization products . Brett . Howsw . . July 14, 2015 . 14 July 2015.
10. News: Citrix's New XenDesktop Options Include Free Edition . Robert . McMillan. . May 20, 2008 . 25 June 2015.
11. News: Components, features and use cases for XenDesktop 7.5 . Randy . Becker . . 25 June 2015.
12. Web site: Xen and the Art of Hosted Desktops . Danielle . Ruest . Nelson . Ruest . Virtualization . January 1, 2009 . 25 June 2015.
13. Web site: Citrix XenDesktop . Margaret . Rouse . Search virtual desktop . . 13 July 2015.