You can use Horizon Client to securely access published Windows-based applications, in addition to remote desktops.
With this feature, after launching Horizon Client and logging in to a Horizon Connection server, users see all the published applications they are entitled to use, in addition to remote desktops. Selecting an application opens a window for that application on the local client device, and the application looks and behaves as if it were locally installed.
For example, on a Windows client computer, if you minimize the application window, an item for that application remains in the Taskbar and looks identical to the way it would look if it were installed on the local Windows computer. You can also create a shortcut for the application that will appear on your client desktop, just like shortcuts for locally installed applications.
Deploying published applications in this way might be preferable to deploying complete remote desktops under the following conditions:
- If an application is set up with a multi-tiered architecture, where the components work better if they are located geographically near each other, using published applications is a good solution.
For example, when a user must access a database remotely, if large amounts of data must be transmitted over the WAN, performance is usually affected. With published applications, all parts of the application can be located in the same data center as the database, so that traffic is isolated and only the screen updates are sent across the WAN.
- From a mobile device, accessing an individual application is easier than opening a remote Windows desktop and then navigating to the application.
To use this feature, you install applications on a Microsoft RDS host. In this respect, VMware Horizon published applications work similarly to other application remoting solutions. VMware Horizon published applications are delivered using either the Blast Extreme display protocol or the PCoIP display protocol, for an optimized user experience.
