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Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization
2.1
W
HAT IS A VIRTUAL APPLICATION
?
A virtual application is a virtual machine image pre-configured with all of the files, registry data,
settings, components, runtimes, and other dependencies required for a specific application to
execute immediately. Virtual applications allow application publishers and IT administrators to
significantly reduce the costs and complexity associated with development, setup, configuration,
deployment, and maintenance of software applications.
For example, a publisher of an application based on the Microsoft .NET Framework or Java
runtime engine might create a virtual application combining the application with the required
runtime engine. An end-user can run this application immediately, even if the user has not
installed the required runtime engine, or has an incompatible runtime engine installed. This
improves both the user experience and reduces test and support complexity associated with
deploying the application.
Because virtual applications run in isolated
execution environments, it is possible to
simultaneously execute multiple applications which would otherwise interfere with one another.
For example, applications which overwrite system DLLs or require different runtime engine
versions can all run simultaneously on a single host device. As an additional advantage, virtual
applications can provide access to internal virtualized copies of privileged system resources,
allowing unprivileged users to directly execute many applications without security exceptions or
irritating Vista UAC prompts.
Unlike other virtualization systems, Novell virtual application technology:
•
Does not require any "player" software or separate installation: Novell virtual
applications are executable files that run immediately on the end-user machine without
changes to system infrastructure.
•
Does not incur significant processing or filesystem overhead: Novell low-overhead
virtualization technology allows applications to run with essentially the same
performance characteristics as native executables.
•
Does not require any operating system to be installed onto the virtual application: Novell
virtual apps provide all required virtualized operating system functionality within the
internal virtual environment.
