Nfuse - Citrix Systems
- Posted:
- 00:00 12 Jun 2001
- Topics:
- Active Server Pages (asp) | Internet Security | Software Types | Yahoo | e-mail | Databases | Open Source Software | Java | Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) | Unix | Portable Device Operating Systems | Servers | Security | Operating Systems | Computer Hardware | IT Standards & Protocols | Internet Portals & Search | Network Technology | Application Services | Enterprise Applications | Application Integration | Web Browsers | Thin Clients & Remote Desktops | Authentication & Encryption | OEMs | Internet | Mobile & Wireless Networking | Mainframes | Linux
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Drivers for remote deployment
There is an increasing demand on businesses of all sizes to provide access to their installed base of applications from a wide range of geographical locations, and to many different types of device. Businesses are becoming distributed in nature, due to factors such as increased globalisation, mergers and acquisitions, and teleworking. Technology is also driving this forward, through the Internet, the advent of wireless devices, the outsourcing of IT to third parties, and the reduced cost of communications.
While organisations are using these new technologies to broaden the reach of their core business systems, they are, at the same time, becoming aware of the need to manage the distribution of both applications and data very carefully. Failure to do so can result in a dysfunctional structure, where application islands - systems that are not integrated into the organisation's infrastructure - hamper the flow of information, and add considerably to the burden of management, upgrades, and support.
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As new technologies develop, they open up new avenues for application deployment. In the early years of the PC, applications became distributed to the desktop, where a fat-client model saw a copy of each piece of software installed on every machine in the organisation. It soon became apparent that the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of this paradigm was extremely high, due to the work involved in upgrading and maintaining the software.
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Two approaches tried to address these problems: firstly to mitigate the support burden by building zero-administration tools into the operating system and using third-party desktop management software; and secondly by a whole new paradigm - the Network Computer (NC). The NC concept, proposed principally by Oracle and Sun, featured a thin-client which would download its applications from a server when required, and which could be managed and maintained centrally.
Neither of these solutions
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Server-based computing
Citrix Systems was the first company to offer server-based computing, initially running under OS/2 and then for the Windows environment with its WinFrame product, released in 1995. WinFrame ran on a Windows NT 3.51 server, and permitted multiple applications sessions to run on the NT server, with the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocol being used to connect the client to the server-based session.
In addition to the benefits already outlined in terms of manageability, the low bandwidth required for ICA and the minimal hardware requirements of the client device offered further advantages. Organisations were able to prolong the life of their client devices, because a WinFrame session would run on practically any PC: they did not need to be upgraded with more powerful processors and additional Random Access Memory (RAM) every time the applications became more demanding. Also, remote access to applications became easier because of the low bandwidth needed: a WinFrame session would run quite happily over a dial-up modem if required.
These benefits saw Microsoft licence the MultiWin technology that lay at the heart of the Citrix products, for incorporation into Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition (TSE). Citrix followed up WinFrame by launching the MetaFrame application server, in June 1998, simultaneously with TSE. MetaFrame is the leading solution for server-based computing in a Windows environment and adds application delivery value to Windows NT TSE and Windows 2000 in a number of key areas. These include the ability to deliver server-based sessions as "seamless windows" to the client, which look and perform exactly like locally-executed applications to the user.
MetaFrame also features intelligent load-balancing that is application-aware, rather than simply using network traffic as the balancing criteria. It allows automatic drive-mapping of local drives to a server-based application, and enables the easy initiation of shadow sessions (for remote support), where the user does not need to be aware of which server the application is running on.
Web-based delivery
In parallel to the evolution of server-based computing, the Web has become a pervasive technology within organisations of all shapes and sizes, and the two concepts come together to provide a convenient method for the remote deployment of applications. In this respect, the Web is truly an enabling technology, as the network - the Internet with the Internet Protocol (IP) and HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) - and the client, the Web browser, are already in place.
Delivery of applications can be achieved by utilising this structure, and Citrix took advantage of this by including a technology known as Application Launching and Embedding (ALE) in MetaFrame. ALE allows applications to be launched from, or embedded into HyperText Markup Language (HTML) Web pages without modifying the application code. The resulting session looks and performs as though it was running locally on the client, even though it is actually executing on the server.
The benefits of using the Web for application delivery in this way are considerable. Firstly, the management and support burden is reduced still further: the software client is the ubiquitous Web browser, the requirement for a panoply of different hardware drivers is reduced, and execution is carried out in a robust server environment. Furthermore, the technology offers a secure connection to the client, no application re-engineering is necessary, and updates can be carried out more quickly, offering a faster time-to-value proposition.
Application portals
As part of the move to Web-based computing, portals are becoming widely used as a deployment tool that integrates information from disparate sources. Citrix has extended the portal concept to the application delivery space with the launch of Citrix NFuse. NFuse can simply be described as an application portal. It allows the server-based applications that are running on MetaFrame to be presented to the user as icons in a browser window. The system expands on the Program Neighbourhood concept that was introduced in MetaFrame 1.8, which presented the published applications to a desktop window or to the user's Start Menu.
At the server end, the Published Application Manager allows an administrator to manage published applications throughout the enterprise, spanning multiple servers (in Citrix terminology, a Citrix Server Farm). The administrator can personalise the set of applications that is displayed to the user via the NFuse portal on a group or individual user basis. It also provides close control over application deployment: applications can be enabled or disabled dynamically; minimum client requirements can be set; and client connection information, such as screen resolution and colour depth, can be pushed to the client, without having to be physically configured at the client end.
Publishing an application using MetaFrame and NFuse is very simple. Once an application is running under MetaFrame, the process takes some eight clicks of the mouse, and less than three minutes to complete. Many applications now offer MetaFrame support out-of-the-box and, even where additional configuration is required, this information is generally available, and involves a few additional steps during the installation procedure.
NFuse filters and caches the application sets that are published from the server, which considerably speeds-up the process of logging-on and launching the applications. Once launched, an application can either run embedded within the browser, or can run in a seamless window, as if it were executing on the local machine. NFuse also supports the fault tolerance that is built into MetaFrame: if a server goes down, NFuse will connect to a back-up server to maintain application availability.
Although NFuse requires the ICA client to launch and run applications, it features an automatic discovery and download facility, which makes deployment of the product very flexible and powerful. Imagine a scenario where an employee goes into an Internet cafe, fires up a Web browser, and connects to the corporate home page. NFuse recognises that the ICA client is not installed at the client end, carries out an automatic download, and once the user has logged in, they are to access all their corporate applications from within the browser. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption provides the level of security that is, of course, required in this situation.
2000 has also seen the release of MetaFrame for the Unix environment, providing similar features to the Windows-based product. With Java growing rapidly in popularity as a server technology, Citrix sees MetaFrame for Unix as an ideal platform for deploying X11 or Java-based applications across the enterprise. The NFuse portal is able to combine applications from both Unix and Windows servers into a single browser window, providing seamless integration for application delivery.
On the client side, browser-enabled environments that are supported by ICA, and thus by NFuse, include: Windows 3.x; 95; 98; ME; Windows NT and 2000; Windows CE; EPOC; Unix; Linux; Web (ActiveX); Web (Plug-in); Java-Applet; Java-Application; and Macintosh.
ASP market
The latest sector to seize on MetaFrame and NFuse technology has been the Application Service Provider (ASP) market. The Citrix technology offers the ideal route for ASPs to deploy their applications to customers over the Internet. No client-side installation and configuration is required, authentication and secure connectivity is supported, and the MetaFrame features, such as load-balancing and failover, assist with the high levels of availability and large number of users that an ASP must support.
The Web-based interface is familiar for the user, and the ASP can easily configure and control the customer's access, and obtain information that will allow usage-based charging. No architectural changes are required to the applications themselves, and critically, access is available from a wide range of client devices.
The ASP market is forecast to grow from $300m (£210.5m) in 1999 to $8bn by 2004, and Citrix already provides a sizeable share of the underlying delivery technology. The company has set-up its iBusiness program to provide services and support to the ASP community, and is developing new licensing models for this market that allow ASPs to "pay as you go" rather than incurring large, up-front fees.
Complementary products
NFuse is also capable of integrating with corporate portals, so that the published applications appear alongside other business information and utilities on the corporate site. The first example of this combination of application portal with information portal was mySAP.com, but Citrix has now signed deals with other leading portal providers including Brio, Epicentric, Plumtree, TopTier, Viador, and Corporate Yahoo! As the corporate portal increasingly becomes used as a one-stop shop, it makes sense to be able to launch applications from the same location. It would also be possible to combine company-hosted locations with those provided by an ASP in the same portal - the user does not need to know where the application is provided from.
Citrix Extranet is a newly released product that complements the NFuse solution. It provides a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to allow secure application delivery across the Internet. Features include authentication using a two-factor system and support for third-party authentication products, encryption using public key and Triple Digital Encryption Standard (3DES) technologies, and a high level of access control. Citrix Extranet offers the ability to deploy applications quickly and securely to large extranet populations, which will be applicable to the ASP market, and to those companies where an extended supply chain requires secure access to corporate systems.
Conclusions
Over time, application delivery via a Web browser will become the norm, as the ASPs gain market share, and Web-based services see application components being distributed beyond the boundaries of the organisation. Citrix is already strong in this market, and NFuse and Extranet will add value to the Citrix offering. For existing MetaFrame users the choice is an easy one: NFuse is being offered free of charge, and can be downloaded from the Citrix Web site.
There are other products that compete in this market, particularly Tarantella Enterprise III from SCO, which offers deployment of mainframe-based applications as well as Unix and Windows-based software. There is often also a requirement to integrate applications, rather than just to deploy them to a single point, and in these instances, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) tools should be considered.
In terms of application delivery however, Citrix has built up a well-featured, robust and scalable platform, and its long list of blue chip customers will testify that this is a proven solution.
Vendor profile
Citrix Systems was founded in 1989, and now has over 100,000 customers worldwide, including all the FORTUNE 100 companies and 40% of the FT500. The firm has headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and regional offices all over the world. In 1999, the company's revenues were $403m, and its stocks are traded on NASDAQ under the symbol CTXS.
The company has over 1,300 employees worldwide, and markets its products through a network of value-added resellers, system integrators, and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) licensees. The company's ICA technology has become a de facto standard, and is licensed by more than 150 manufacturers for incorporation in a wide range of devices.
Contact details
Citrix Systems, Inc.
6400 NW 6th Way Fort Lauderdale FL 33309 USA Tel: +1 (954) 267 3000 Fax: +1 (954) 267 3100
Citrix Systems (UK), Ltd.
Buckingham Court Kingsmead Business Park London Road High Wycombe HP11 1JU Tel: +44 (0)1494 684900 Fax: +44 (0)1494 684999
http://www.citrix.com
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This Research Paper is reproduced from Butler Group's Research and Advisory Service. For more information on this and other technology focused services, contact Mike James on +44(0)1482 586149, email mike.james@butlergroup.com or visit www.butlergroup.com/ras/
