What is a virtual app?
In the simplest of terms, a virtual application, or virtual app, runs on a computer without the need to be installed first. This can be accomplished in a few ways, using technologies like published apps, app streaming, or using app packaging methods. There are fundamental differences between these approaches, but they are often used together to cover various use cases.
What are the benefits of virtual apps?
Some of the many benefits of virtual apps include:
- Centralized and simplified application management: Since admins need only update a single virtual application on a server to be distributed to client devices enterprise-wide, managing and updating apps translates into lower overhead to support.
- Access to Windows apps from anywhere: Virtual apps allow apps to be accessed from devices that would not be able to run an application in normal conditions. Consider a Windows application being used on a macOS or Android device.
- BYOD support: Delivering applications remotely also allows organizations to support Bring Your Own Device scenarios since any device with a web browser can access the apps.
- Reduced base image size: Since OS and apps can be separated, base OS images don’t take up as much storage as if all apps were installed in it. This reduces storage costs, speeds up image management, and reduces admin time spent managing images.
- Increased portability: Apps can be deployed, centrally or remotely, anywhere in just minutes, meaning users can be productive wherever they happen to be.
- License optimization: Virtual applications can run on-demand, reducing overall software license expense since they don’t need to be installed on every device.
- Security: Apps can be hosted centrally and therefore can be accessed by unmanaged desktops, have granular security policies applied, and sensitive data protected to improve security posture.
- PC repurposing: Extend life of PCs by turning them into “thin clients” that access remote desktops and applications.
What are the methods of delivering virtual applications?
The primary methods of delivering virtual apps include:
- App and desktop virtualization
- App packaging
- A combination of the two approaches
App and desktop virtualization
App virtualization and desktop virtualization are related technologies that enable secure, remote access to computing resources, but they serve different purposes.
With app virtualization, apps run on remote servers—whether in an on-premises data center or a cloud environment. Only the app’s user interface (UI) is transmitted to the endpoint device, allowing users to interact with the app as if it were running locally. This approach supports a variety of devices, including those running Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, Chrome, or iOS, often requiring just a web browser. Because the application itself is not installed on the endpoint, organizations benefit from centralized management, improved security, and reduced local resource requirements.
Desktop virtualization, in contrast, delivers an entire desktop environment rather than just individual applications. Users access a complete operating system hosted in the data center or cloud, providing a consistent, secure experience across devices. This approach is particularly valuable for remote work, as it ensures that all data remains centralized rather than being stored on endpoint devices. Additionally, hosting desktops and applications closer to their backend systems improves performance and enhances productivity. Apps can also be virtualized and accessed inside virtual desktops.
Note that app virtualization is often referred to as published apps, hosted apps, and even RDSH (remote desktop session host) apps.
App packaging
Apps delivered via app packaging (also called “app streaming,” though that term is sometimes interchanged with apps delivered via app and/or desktop virtualization) are different than app and desktop virtualization because they are, in fact, running on a given machine despite not actually being installed when the machine is turned on. Application management solutions use some sort of “packaging” to create a self-contained package that consists of the executable files, registry items, settings, and everything else required to make an application work. This package is then assigned to individual users or machines so that when the user logs in (or the machine turns on), the application is attached to the machine. In this manner, the application behaves normally even though it is never traditionally installed on any device because of the underlying operating system, and therefore the user, the app works as if natively installed. Another option for users to access apps is on demand, where the user opens a virtual app and only then is it delivered and available on the virtual or physical endpoint.
When an app needs to be updated, rather than updating on each individual machine, the app package is updated one time. Then, the next time users log in, or on-demand, they’re given the latest version of the app. This dramatically simplifies app patching and updating!
Apps delivered in this manner can also be isolated from the operating system or from other applications on the device. Different methods are used to achieve this. Some solutions apply a layer of virtualization between the attached apps and the operating system. Others used sophisticated filter drivers, while there are some platforms do no isolation at all.
Apart from security and isolation, app management solutions ease management by reducing the number of base images that must be maintained. By keeping only the apps required by everyone in the base image and centrally managing and distributing all other applications as individual packages and assignments, admins are able to patch and update both the OS and individual apps more easily.
A combination of the two approaches
Both approaches to app virtualization are useful, but combined they can be a critical component of any application and desktop management strategy. App packages can be assigned to virtual desktops and delivered as a virtual app to a thin client or other remote endpoint. In addition, app packages can also be delivered to physical endpoints. This results in the best of both worlds – centralized remote access to virtual desktops and apps with all the flexibility and management relief made possible by app packaging.
What are use cases for virtual apps?
There are number of ways that virtual apps can support growth and enable productivity for organizations:
- Distributed workforce: With employees increasingly dispersed working from a number of unmanaged devices, the ability to use virtual applications to support the broadest range of devices has become increasingly important.
- Portability and migration: Virtual apps facilitate migration from on-premises to the cloud, and simplify migration from server to server and from cloud to cloud. Organizations can continue to utilize legacy web applications by virtualizing the necessary web client along with the application to be migrated or ported.
- Reduce silos / server consolidation: Multiple applications that previously were incompatible on the same machine can be now run on the same system since virtual applications can be packaged or sandboxed with user-specific configuration data to enable them to run without interference.
- Client application isolation: Client device application conflicts can similarly be eliminated by isolating applications from each other and the underlying OS into a single executable file that can be easily deployed to many endpoints.
- BYOD and desktop security: Deploying virtualized apps can act as a "locked-down" PC, while enabling users to run personal programs and games without impacting application or enterprise security.
