Application servers are really nice. They encapsulate or package applications and just deliver them to the desktop, almost irrespective of what that desktop is. So if you’re using Windows 7 but the app only runs on Windows XP, using an app server will deliver that app to that device as if it was running from the desktop.
Traditionally, Citrix has been the big dog in this marketplace and offers a high quality product. A key problem is that it’s expensive at either $350 to $600 a seat! The answer – 2X. 2X is a company based in Malta, that’s right the little island in the Mediterranean (I’ve been there. It’s really nice), that offers a very nice low cost connection broker for VDI. It’s only $990 for unlimited users on a single Windows 2008 R2 server. And if you have up to 80 users, you can have 2X do the connection brokering, with the application server software included for only $1,200, that’s a total of $15 a user!
At the moment it supports XPe, CE, Windows XP, Windows 7, Mac, ( Linux, iPad, iPhone, Android -V9 Beta) so if you’re using Virtual Desktop and thin clients or whatever, you can have access to your precious apps wherever and whatever you happen to be running… almost. For example, you live in Outlook which only runs (as a PC application) on PCs, but with the 2X application server you can use it on your now beloved iPad just like you were working on your PC.
So if your users are driving you crazy trying to run incompatible apps, or want them everywhere take a look at this.
