RemoteApp 101

Delivering Seamless Remote Applications

Dr. Benny Tritsch

CTO bluecue consulting

http://www.drtritsch.com

Twitter: @drtritsch (#BriForum)

• The History of “Remote Applications Integrated Locally”

• Seamless Remote Applications Concepts

• Installing and Configuring RemoteApp

• RemoteApp Usability

• Azure RemoteApp

• Summary

Content

What is RAIL?

Local

Application

RemoteApp

Seamless App

Application

Host

Client

Remoting

Protocol

RAIL = Remote Applications Integrated Locally

Local Applications vs. RAIL

Local applicationon local desktop

Software

Deployment

Server

Applicationruns here

Remote applicationon local desktop

RDSH

Server

OS

Hardware

User Sessions

Application

runs here

RDP

Datacenter

Windows Components

Small

Icon

Menu

Bar

Windows Title Bar and Caption Control

Box

Scroll

Bar

Border

Attributes

• Size and

position

Window styles:

• Caption, SysMenu

• Visible

• ScrollBar

• ThickFrame

• MinimizeBox,

MaximizeBox

This text is displayed in the “Client Area”

Most Windows applications create a main window as the first window of the application

A child window can also be a parent window that contains child windows, such as controls

When a parent window is destroyed, moved, hidden or disabled, so are its children

Events in a child window are not always passed to the parent window

Z Order – GDI Repaint Mechanism

Invalid

Rectangle

WM_PAINT

Client

Area

“Poor Man’s” Application Remoting

Alt-Print

Ctrl-V Send Email

Mouse Click

RAIL #1: Mapping the Entire App Window

Host ClientSeamless Frame

App Window

Icon Resource

RAIL #2: Using Client Window Manager

Seamless Frame

Wnd Resources

Icon Resource

Client Area

Untitled - Notepad

_

File Edit Format View Help

ClientHost

RAIL #3: Hidden Desktop

ClientDesktop Mapping

Invisible Desktop

Local Window

Icon Resource

Host

Z Order of Application Windows

Local

ApplicationRemote

Application

Local

ApplicationRemote

Application

Okay, Let’s Build a RemoteApp™ Server

“Simple” Microsoft RD Session Host

RDSH Collection

RD Connection

Broker

RDP

Client

Notes:

• Backend servers must be domain-joined!!!

• RemoteApp can also be provided by Windows clients

RemoteApp™ Configuration

RemoteApp™ User Assignment

• RDP Client for Windows

• RDP Client for Windows RT

• RDP Client for Mac OSX

• RDP Client for iPad (iOS)

• RDP Client for Android

RDP Clients – Supported Platforms

Microsoft RDSH + RD Web Access

HTTP

RDSH Collection

RD Connection

Broker

RD Web

Access

RDP File

RDP

Client

RDP

• Windows Server 2012 R2 RDSH

• RD Connection Broker

• RD Web Access

• RD Licensing

• Windows 8.1

• Domain-joined

Simplified Demo Environment

• Windows Server 2012 R2 DC

• DNS

• Domain users

Windows 8.1

Client Hyper-V

VM1

VM2

VM3

RDS Management Console

RD Web Access

• Available in Control Panel

• Provides administrators the ability to group and personalize

RemoteApp programs and virtual desktops

• Makes them available to end users on the Start menu

• A RemoteApp and Desktop Connection notification area icon

shows connection status and allows to disconnect

• Administrators can create a client configuration file (.wcx) and

distribute it, allowing users to automatically configure RemoteApp

and Desktop Connection

• NOTE: Certificate required for client-to-host communication

RemoteApp and Desktop Connection

RemoteApp and Desktop Connection

Usability: Device Redirection

• Client drives

• USB devices

• Audio devices (CAM)

• Clipboard

• Printers

Usability: RDP Virtual Channels

RDP

ClientRDS

Host

RDP Protocol Stream

Core (graphics, keyboard, mouse)

Seamless Windows / RemoteApp

Printing Data

Clipboard Mapping

Drive Mapping

Audio

Dynamic

Virtual Channels

Usability: File Type Associations

• Z order of dialog boxes (popups behind main window)

• Transparent application elements and window regions

• Mouse cursors and keyboard shortcuts

• Move and resize experience, full drag

• Thumbnails and live tiles in taskbar

• Tray area notifications (“toasts”) with transparency (alpha blending)

• Rotation and resolution adoption (tablets)

• Shell extensions dependencies (Explorer plug-ins)

• User profile management in client and host sessions

RemoteApp Challenges – Some Fixed

Microsoft Azure RemoteApp Cloud Deployment

RemoteApp Service

Pre-built template imageAutomatically maintained

Published Apps

Session Host …

Session Host

Session Host

Elastic Runtime

Persistent user data(50GB per user)

Microsoft Account

Azure Active Directory

On-premises Network

Windows Server Active Directory

DirSync(optional)

RDP

Identity Options

Authentication

Source: Microsoft

Azure RemoteApp Management

Azure RemoteApp Client for Windows

https://www.remoteapp.windowsazure.com/

Price (per user) Free during preview

Window Server version Windows Server 2012 R2

Remoting Protocol RDP 8.1

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013

Bring your own applications

Device platforms Windows 7/8.x, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows RT

Coming soon: Mac OS X

Microsoft Account support

Federated Identity with Active Directory

Integration with On-Premises IT Infrastructure

Storage (per user) 50 GB

Initial capacity at preview 20 users per Azure account.

Customers can request additional capacity during the preview.

Regions US East, US West, Europe North, Europe West, Asia Pacific

East, Asia Pacific Southeast

Microsoft Azure RemoteApp Features

Source: Microsoft

• RemoteApp is cool stuff – but not too many people know about it

• Not only RD Session Host servers can host RemoteApp programs,

but also physical or virtual Windows clients (Enterprise edition)

• RemoteApp management has room for improvements

• In Cloud concepts, RemoteApp (or RAIL in general) may become

an important cornerstone – saves the “legacy” Windows apps

• RemoteApp clients are available for a range of devices and OSes

(also non-Windows platforms)

• Check out the new kid on the block: Azure RemoteApp

Summary

THANK YOU

Benny Tritsch

http://www.drtritsch.com

Twitter: @drtritsch