Citrix HDX technologies: 2 megabits per second for remote work with 3D

In one of the previous materials, we showed how you can work with the Windows 7 operating system on the Apple iPad. The ability to fully remotely work with "heavy" applications is exactly what makes virtualization technologies so attractive. This time we will not be limited to ordinary office tasks and show how Citrix solutions for remote access can be used to solve much more complex work problems using the Citrix HDX technology suite .

Let me give you a few “difficult” tasks. Is it possible to conduct a video conference in a virtual environment using a webcam built into your “client” laptop? Can you watch video in a virtual environment using a fairly slow internet connection? What about high definition video? Finally, is it possible to fully work with 3D applications remotely, including both games and complex complexes for three-dimensional modeling? Is it possible to remotely work with heavy applications on a multiprocessor workstation by connecting to it from a laptop? The answer to all these questions is yes, and in this article we will tell you more about Citrix solutions used in such tasks.


The Citrix HDX (High-Definition User Experience) technology suite was announced in 2009 as a complement to the XenDesktop solution for workstation virtualization. You can test these technologies in practice by downloading and installing a trial 90-day version of XenDesktop Platinum or Enterprise from here (you will need to fill out a short form). HDX includes several solutions. Here are the main ones:

• HDX MediaStream- Provides the delivery of multimedia content, including video, sound, or, for example, clips in Adobe Flash format to a client device. It supports the most common video and audio formats, and provides the best video quality, depending on the type of client. For example, on a Windows laptop with media codecs installed, video processing will be performed on the client side without loss of quality. But if necessary, such processing can be carried out on the server side.

• HDX RealTime - allows you to connect the microphone and webcam of the client device to the virtual operating system. An example of connecting a webcam to a remote operating system is given in this video:



• HDX Broadcast - a key component that allows you to transfer multimedia content in almost any environment. Effectively compresses and caches data (images, videos, etc.) for maximum efficiency even with a slow Internet connection. If for working with ordinary office applications even a modem connection to the network may be sufficient, then 3D graphics or video will require at least one and a half to two megabit channels with low latency. In this video, you can see how the optimization of HDX Broadcast when working with PowerPoint graphics allows you to reduce the necessary bandwidth by five times - from five megabits per second to one:



• HDX Plug-n-Play - with the help of HDX you can connect to the virtual OS not only a webcam and microphone. HDX Plug-n-Play technology also provides work with local printers, supports the connection of multiple monitors and even allows you to work with media players connected to the client machine.

• HDX RichGraphics- the most interesting component, which ensures the efficient transfer of three-dimensional graphics to the client machine. This technology can work in two modes. The first does not impose serious requirements on the server and allows you to transfer three-dimensional content (anything from Google Earth to the latest “Civilization” and CAD systems) through a local area network. The second mode can be used on a workstation with a powerful NVIDIA graphics card with CUDA support (with 128 stream pipelines on board). In this case, the video card is used both for processing 3D content in the application, and for compressing the data stream to the minimum values. This video demonstrates the launch of 3D applications in a virtual environment, including CATIA CAD systems:



You have the option to adjust the quality of the graphics transmission using the built-in HDX Config Tool. Depending on the type of network connection, graphics (2D or 3D) can be transmitted in original quality, or with different degrees of compression.



Examples of using

Of course, nothing will stop you from using HDX to run the latest GTA series in a virtual OS. But the main application of HDX technology is professional 3D applications. In particular, Citrix solutions are used by Swedish Volvo to design trucks. Developers remotely connected to servers in Sweden from Japan and Australia and worked in the CATIA design system. In this way, the security issue is also resolved: remote developers gain access to new projects, but data is not stored on client devices. Accordingly, the risk of information leakage is reduced.

Finally, for ordinary users, all the technologies mentioned above give one important result: they practically do not notice the difference between working in a virtual environment and working with a conventional operating system on their own PC or laptop. They can work with complex graphics in office programs, can organize video calls with colleagues, connect their own devices, and so on. A demonstration of “custom” examples of working with HDX (Google Earth, YouTube videos and the like) is given in this video:



What's next?

Citrix HDX technology is constantly being improved, and the next development step will be the new HDX Nitro project. Announced earlier this year, Nitro’s HDX technology suite delivers solid multimedia content and professional graphics. The bandwidth requirements of the channel will be reduced even more, in particular, it will be possible to transmit content without delay when connected with latency up to 300 milliseconds. Any communication channel available to you with the production server will be used 100%, and at the same time - without delay.