Application virtualization is starting to creep into enterprises now, usually in companion to other virtualization strategies. But if you are new to the concept and want to determine which product is right for you where do you start?
If you have the time you could download the trial versions of the software and get a feel for how it works and how it will affect your environment. Usually you will select whatever vendor you already have software from.
If you are starting from scratch the differences are not that apparent.
In a recent report completed by exo.performance.network they compare the 4 major application virtualization products with native software installation. This was linked on BrianMadden.com, so for the full report jump here.
In this report they determined the %execution Overhead rankings of ThinApp, Microsoft App-V, SVS Pro and XenApp5. Interesting enough the results were:
- ThinApp
- XenApp5*
- SVS Pro
- App-V
*XenApp5 was worse than SVS Pro uncached, but much better cached.
I was not surprised about ThinApp coming in first. ThinApp works by packing the application into a single executable file, which naturally has a quicker launch time. The fact that they rated SVS Pro third was a surprise to me. I did some ad hoc testing of SVS Pro previously, see First look at Altiris SVS Professional part 1, granted I didn’t capture any metrics but my perception was that it launched much faster than XenApp5.
The results of the report are interesting, but don’t jump into ThinApp just yet. ThinApp is simple and runs quickly, but you will need to use some other mechanism to publish or deliver it to your users. The profiler creates the executable but cannot deliver it. The other thing you will need to be aware of is you cannot get inter-bubble communication. This means that virtualized applications cannot talk directly to each other. They have to use the normal file type associates. If all you need is applications and do not care about the complex application profiles then ThinApp might be for you. Trial it, it is the best way.
Altiris SVS Professional is more complex than ThinApp to configure, but less than XenApp and App-V.
XenApp5 requires a Citrix XenApp farm to be created, you will also need a profile machine or machines. See Stream Microsoft Office 2007 with XenApp 5.
I haven’t directly looked at App-V yet, when time permits I will, but from what I understand even the latest version is still overly complicated to configure and use, and according to the report, the slowest.
I sometimes think that the use of application virtualization in the general enterprise is of little use. It suits libraries and schools well, but certainly isn’t for everyone.
Has application virtualization helped you organization or just made things more complicated?
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