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Have a client that's running Citrix Metaframe with remote locations that are by and large limited to 56K dial-up connections.

Citrix Program Neighborhood always ran pretty decently over 56K; any chance XenApp can be configured to work in a similar, modem-friendly way?

Shane Madden
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gravyface
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2 Answers2

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Some of this may depend on the type of applications in use over the ICA connection and the latency on the 56k lines as well as the number of users trying to use that 56k line at the same location.

From a general perspective, XenApp (up to v6.5) can still use the PNAgent much like Program Neighborhood in the old MetaFrame days. In theory, if your applications are working in old MetaFrame/Presentation Server world, they can still be made to work at least in XenApp 6.5.

Rex
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  • Yes, from what I gather, everything runs fine with RAS; my concern was with the PNAgent and whether the codebase has become bloated or has OS dependencies outside of XP SP3 (which is what they're using at the remote locations). – gravyface Feb 20 '14 at 20:33
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Generally, the ICA protocol has improved and been extended with HDX, since the MetaFrame days. You should be able to run over 56k, but it probably won't be a great experience.

There are lots of tricks and configuration tweaks you can consider, to improve low-bandwidth high-latency performance.

These options include:

  • Disabling drive, port, audio and printer mappings (unless really needed)
  • Restrict printer bandwidth if printers are needed
  • Use Flash redirection
  • Disable themes, window animations etc. in Windows
  • Experiment with local text echo and other SpeedScreen settings
  • Use aggressive image compression, maybe progressive too

This can largely be configured by policies, so you can provide a barebone, but faster, experience to modem users, and a rich experience to broadband connected users.

To hit the sweet spot takes some trial-and-error, so being able to test is vital to get it "right". Consider a small PC running WANem, pfSense or M0n0Wall, that can act as a bridge with configurable bandwidth, latency and packet loss.

abstrask
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