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Thin Client Integration (Deciding which Thin Client "Client" to use?)
The following sections are designed to help you understand and decide which Thin Client "Client Software" to use and when. Whether ICA, RDP, ActiveX or Java, each client access method has inherent and specific reasons to use them. I will attempt to put good reasoning and common sense in play while explaining why to use one client over the other. Such as using the ICA Java client over say Microsofts RDP Connection Manager client. Why? Keep reading.
The first division of the thin client "clients" that will help you mentally categorize them, is the Client software that communicates to Microsoft Terminal Server/Services, and Client software that communicates to Citrix MetaFrame. The RDP clients communicate only to MS Terminal Server/Services and ICA clients communicate only to Terminal server/services with Citrix installed. The ICA client software will also communicate with Citrix WinFrame and WinView products, which are older generation Citrix products.
Microsoft Clients
RDP
Connection Manager
Installs and runs only on Windows
95, 98, NT, 2000 clients. It comes pre-installed on Windows XP. Reason to Use: Use this client if you
are NOT going to use Citrix, but only the Microsoft Windows 4.0 Terminal
Server or Windows 2000 Terminal services product. Why would you only
want to use just the Microsoft solution. If your clients only need access
to a desktop or a single application on a Terminal Services server or Clustered Servers using Microsofts Clustering Services. With this configuration you can create .rdp files which connect to different applications on different Terminal Services Servers.
Here is a Microsoft article explaining the .rdp file and settings.
| Automatically
installs to client
|
No
|
| Published
Application Access
|
Yes, the Microsoft way
|
| Desktop
Access
|
Yes
|
| Access
Load Balanced Servers
|
Yes, Microsoft Session Directory
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Terminal Server Advanced Client: (TSAC)
ActiveX control - Will install and run only on systems that have Microsoft
Internet Explorer 4.0 and above. Reason to Use: Use this client
if you are NOT going to use Citrix, , but only the Microsoft Windows
4.0 Terminal Server or Windows 2000 Terminal services. Why would you
use this client. Easy autoinstall of the ActiveX control to client systems.
It can be configured to auto start an application upon server logon.
Citrix Clients
Here are some reference docs for the ICA Client.
The Configuration Guide for ICA Win32 Clients - PDF (Excellent Reference)
ICA Client Features.xls
Appsrv.ini Parameters Deciphered
PN.ini Parameters Deciphered
Citrix ICA 32 bit Client
Called Program Neighborhood, installs on
Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP and 2003. Use this client when using Citrix MetaFrame.
This client is feature filled and has some great custom integration
advantages. Such as placing application icons in the start menu or on
the desktop based on group membership. Opinion: This client is best
used for corporate deployments when using this 32 bit ICA client as
a desktop standard. If your desktop engineering team has chosen to Preinstalled
this client on all desktops you will be ready for any Citrix deployment.
This client is also feature filled, and is the best of the best of all
the clients.
Deployment:
Packaging and deploying this client.
Enterprise Wide Upgrade of Citrix Program Neighborhood ICA Client 32
| Automatically
installs to client
|
No,
One time manual install is required. Auto update feature can be
used therafter.
|
| Published
Application Access
|
Yes
|
| Desktop
Access
|
Yes
|
| Access
Load Balanced Servers
|
Yes
|
Citrix Program Neighborhood Agent
Called Program Neighborhood Agent, installs on
Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP. Use this client when using Citrix Presentation Server and Web Interface.
This client installs on the client PC and relies on a central configuration file on the Web Interface server. This would be the same as managing the pn.ini file centrally. This client will place icons on the desktop of client PC's based on application set security. (Domain group membership).
Opinion: This client provides server side configuration of client settings and is best used for corporate deployments using NFuse or Web Interface. This client relies on the Web Interfaces Web Server component being up at all times. Testing has shown that if the web server is off line the clients cannot access their application set.
| Automatically
installs to client
|
Yes,
Install can be delivered through NFuse Webpage. Auto update feature can be
used.
|
| Published
Application Access
|
Yes
|
| Desktop
Access
|
Yes
|
| Access
Load Balanced Servers
|
Yes
|
ICA 16 bit Client:
Installs on Windows
3.1 and Windows for WorkGroups. Use this client when using Citrix MetaFrame.
Opinion: This client is best used on older Windows 3.1 PC's.
| Automatically
installs to client
|
No,
One time manual install is required. Auto update feature can be
used therafter.
|
| Published
Application Access
|
Yes
|
| Desktop
Access
|
Yes
|
| Access
Load Balanced Servers
|
Yes
|
ICA ActiveX Client: ActiveX ICA Client Tips and helpful hints
Installs on Microsoft
Internet Explorer 4.0 or above. Use this client when using Citrix MetaFrame.
Also has a Netscape Plug-in that auto installs to the client.
This client also has version control for upgrading to new versions from
a central web server.
Opinion: This client is the easiest to deploy and is my preference for
large Citrix deployments.
| Automatically
installs to client
|
Yes,
This ActiveX control will install from a web server.
|
| Published
Application Access
|
Yes
|
| Desktop
Access
|
Yes
|
| Access
Load Balanced Servers
|
Yes
|
Java ICA Client
This client
can be used with MS Internet Exploter 4.0 and Netscape, and can be auto
installed to the client from a web page. This client is easy to deploy.
| Automatically
installs to client
|
Yes,
Auto installs or runs from Web server.
|
| Published
Application Access
|
Yes
|
| Desktop
Access
|
Yes
|
| Access
Load Balanced Servers
|
Yes
|
ICA DOS Client
Installs on MS DOS
systems. Use this client with older DOS PC's to access 16 and 32 bit
Windows Applications.
Unix ICA Client:
There
are ICA clients for many versions of Unix see downloads on the Citrix
web site. www.citrix.com
Citrix
ICA Client for Windows CE:
The Citrix ICA Client
for Windows CE lets you use a handheld PC to make an ICA connection
to a Citrix server. When the ICA connection to the Citrix server is
established, you can access application and work with files as if you
were working at the Citrix server itself.
Macintosh ICA Client
Installs on
Apple Macintosh systems.
Thin Client Terminals
Thin client
terminals are VGA display devices that have a monitor, keyboard and
mouse. They do not typically have a hard drive, instead they have a
ROM memory chip that supports the ICA and RDP protocols for communicating
to your MS Terminal Servers.
Reasons for use: Lower cost of ownership and central administration
and central support of all applications, And a very easy client deployment
to the desktop, with very little configuration to the Terminal.
The Thin Client Terminals Operating system comes in Windows Embedded or Unix/Linux based. The Unix/Linux based Terminals typically use the Citrix Program Neighborhood Agent Lite version of the ICA client. This version of the ICA client points to a Citrix Presentation Server XML Service. Not a Web Interface server or NFuse server.
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