Citrix XenClient Virtualization

Last week, Citrix demonstrated their new XenClient virtualization solution. The plan since earlier this year was to introduce a Virtualization solution called "Type 1 hypervisor" usually usually used in server side virtualization. VMWare & Parallels on the client side are referred to as "Type 2 hypervisors". This new technology aims to be both faster and a more secure virtualization environment than previous solutions. "Type 2 hypervisors" need to run on host operating systems. Easy to implement, but the results introduce possible security vulnerabilities and a performance hit due to the added abstraction level.

XenClient being a "Type 1 Hypervisor" runs natively on "bare metal" hardware, giving the virtual environment full access to system resources and 3D hardware acceleration. The benefits of this become evident once you view the video below from the Citrix keynote event.

Citrix

iPhone Citrix Receiver Application

Citrix has announced the availability of their iPhone-iPodTouch app called Citrix Receiver. The app allows you to run Windows applications as services over Citrix networks. It gives the user VNC style control with greatly enhanced performance. Once connected to a Citrix XenApp environment, iPhone or iPod-Touch securely works with apps from Oracle, SAP, McKesson, Cerner, and others. Screen taps, gestures, keyboard input, and screen updates are the only Information sent over wired or wireless connections, Keeping your data completely secure.

As a bonus, for those who have been waiting for Flash and/or Silverlight content, Recevier uses Citrix HDX to deliver high-definition content to your device. It's not native support, but it's enough to get work done in an enterprise environment running Citrix. The app is available for free in the App Store.

Cirtix Receiver Information
Receiver in iTunes Store