Updated: July 15, 2020 (August 17, 2015)
Charts & IllustrationsCommon Server-Based Desktop Infrastructure Components
Organizations deploying another vendor’s server-based desktop solution may still have to license Windows Server. Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS), Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop, and VMware Horizon View all provide server-based desktop infrastructures. For some tasks, such as the storage of user files or authentication and authorization, these solutions leverage Windows Server components and require Windows Server licenses. Citrix also uses SQL Server to store connection information. (The numbers in the first column of this chart reference the components in the “A Generic Server-Based Desktop Architecture” illustration)
| Microsoft | Citrix | VMware | ||
| Server-Based Desktop Components | Remote Desktop Services (RDS) | XenDesktop and XenApp | Horizon View | |
| (1) | Client software | Remote Desktop Client | Receiver;
Virtual Delivery Agent |
View Client;
View Agent |
| (2) | Connection protocol | RemoteFX (formerly RDP) | HDX (formerly | |
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