application virtualization
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Application virtualization is a software technology that encapsulates
computer program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components. A computer program ...
s from the underlying
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
on which they are executed. A fully
virtualized In computing, virtualization or virtualisation (sometimes abbreviated v12n, a numeronym) is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something at the same abstraction level, including virtual computer hardware platforms, stor ...
application is not installed in the traditional sense, although it is still executed as if it were. The application behaves at runtime like it is directly interfacing with the original operating system and all the resources managed by it, but can be isolated or sandboxed to varying degrees. In this context, the term "virtualization" refers to the artifact being encapsulated (application), which is quite different from its meaning in
hardware virtualization Hardware virtualization is the virtualization of computers as complete hardware platforms, certain logical abstractions of their componentry, or only the functionality required to run various operating systems. Virtualization hides the physica ...
, where it refers to the artifact being abstracted (physical hardware).


Description

Full application virtualization requires a virtualization layer. Application virtualization layers replace part of the
runtime environment In computer programming, a runtime system or runtime environment is a sub-system that exists both in the computer where a program is created, as well as in the computers where the program is intended to be run. The name comes from the compile t ...
normally provided by the operating system. The layer intercepts all disk operations of virtualized applications and transparently redirects them to a virtualized location, often a single file. The application remains unaware that it accesses a virtual resource instead of a physical one. Since the application is now working with one file instead of many files spread throughout the system, it becomes easy to run the application on a different computer and previously incompatible applications can be run side by side. Examples of this technology for the Windows platform include: *
Cameyo Cameyo is an application virtualization product. It aims to virtualize Windows applications so that they can run on other machines or in HTML5 browsers. It is reported to be easy to use, light in weight, and compatible with a wide variety of appli ...
*
Ceedo Ceedo is a cybersecurity company based in Netanya, Israel. Ceedo uses software virtualization technologies to create application containers, claiming to eliminate or reduce endpoint security threats like viruses or ransomware. History Ceedo ...
*
Citrix XenApp Citrix Virtual Apps (formerly WinFrame, MetaFrame, Presentation Server and XenApp) is an application virtualization software produced by Citrix Systems that allows Windows applications to be accessed via individual devices from a shared server ...
*
Microsoft App-V Microsoft Application Virtualization (also known as App-V; formerly Softricity SoftGrid) is an application virtualization and application streaming solution from Microsoft. It was originally developed by Softricity, a company based in Boston, Mas ...
* Numecent Cloudpaging *
Oracle Secure Global Desktop Oracle Secure Global Desktop (SGD) software provides secure access to both published applications and published desktops running on Microsoft Windows, Unix, mainframe and IBM i systems via a variety of clients ranging from fat PCs to thin clients ...
*
Sandboxie Sandboxie Plus (formerly Sandboxie) is an open-source OS-level virtualization solution for Microsoft Windows. It started out as a sandboxing solution that creates an isolated operating environment in which applications can run without permane ...
* Shade sandbox *
Turbo (software) Turbo (formerly Spoon and Xenocode) is a set of software products and services developed by the Code Systems Corporation for application virtualization, portable application creation, and digital distribution. Code Systems Corporation is an Amer ...
(formerly Spoon and Xenocode) *
Symantec Workspace Virtualization Symantec Workspace Virtualization (abbreviated as SWV) is an application virtualization solution for Microsoft Windows by Symantec, now known aSymantec Endpoint Virtualization Suite(SEVS). Originally pioneered by Altiris and based on technology ...
*
VMware ThinApp VMware ThinApp (formerly ''Thinstall'') is an application virtualization and portable application creator suite by VMware that can package conventional Windows applications so that they become portable applications by running on another operat ...
* V2 Cloud


Benefits

Application virtualization allows applications to run in environments that do not suit the native application. For example,
Wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
allows some
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
applications to run on
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
. Application virtualization reduces system integration and administration costs by maintaining a common software baseline across multiple diverse computers in an organization. Lesser integration protects the operating system and other applications from poorly written or buggy code. In some cases, it provides memory protection, IDE-style
debugging In computer programming and software development, debugging is the process of finding and resolving '' bugs'' (defects or problems that prevent correct operation) within computer programs, software, or systems. Debugging tactics can involve in ...
features and may even run applications that are not written correctly, for example applications that try to store user data in a read-only system-owned location. (This feature assists in the implementation of the
principle of least privilege In information security, computer science, and other fields, the principle of least privilege (PoLP), also known as the principle of minimal privilege (PoMP) or the principle of least authority (PoLA), requires that in a particular abstraction la ...
by removing the requirement for end-users to have administrative privileges in order to run poorly written applications.) It allows incompatible applications to run side by side, at the same time and with minimal regression testing against one another. Isolating applications from the operating system has security benefits as well, as the exposure of the virtualized application does not automatically entail the exposure of the entire OS. Application virtualization also enables simplified
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
migrations. Applications can be transferred to
removable media Expandable storage is a form of computer storage that is designed to be inserted and removed from a system. Some forms of removable media, such as optical discs, require a reader to be installed in the computer, while others, such as USB flash dr ...
or between computers without the need of installing them, becoming
portable software A portable application (portable app), sometimes also called standalone, is a program designed to read and write its configuration settings into an accessible folder in the computer, usually in the folder where the portable application can be ...
. Application virtualization uses fewer resources than a separate
virtual machine In computing, a virtual machine (VM) is the virtualization/emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardw ...
.


Limitations

Not all computer programs can be virtualized. Some examples include applications that require a
device driver In computing, a device driver is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer or automaton. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and ot ...
(a form of integration with the OS) and
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mos ...
applications that need to run in shared memory space. Anti-virus programs and applications that require heavy OS integration, such as
WindowBlinds WindowBlinds is a computer program that allows users to skin the Windows graphical user interface. It has been developed by Stardock since 1998, and is the most popular component of their flagship software suite, Object Desktop. It is also avail ...
or StyleXP are difficult to virtualize. Moreover, in software licensing, application virtualization bears great licensing pitfalls mainly because both the application virtualization software and the virtualized applications must be correctly licensed. While application virtualization can address file and
Registry Registry may refer to: Computing * Container registry, an operating-system-level virtualization registry * Domain name registry, a database of top-level internet domain names * Local Internet registry * Metadata registry, information system for re ...
-level compatibility issues between legacy applications and newer operating systems, applications that don't manage the heap correctly will not execute on Windows Vista as they still allocate memory in the same way, regardless of whether they are virtualized. For this reason, specialist application compatibility fixes (shims) may still be needed, even if the application is virtualized. Functional discrepancies within the multicompatibility model are an additional limitation, where utility-driven access points are shared within a public network. These limitations are overcome by designating a system level share point driver.


Related technologies

Technology categories that fall under application virtualization include: * Application streaming. Pieces of the application's code, data, and settings are delivered when they're first needed, instead of the entire application being delivered before startup. Running the packaged application may require the installation of a lightweight client application. Packages are usually delivered over a protocol such as HTTP,
CIFS Server Message Block (SMB) is a communication protocol originally developed in 1983 by Barry A. Feigenbaum at IBM and intended to provide shared access to files and printers across nodes on a network of systems running IBM's OS/2. It also provide ...
or
RTSP The Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is an application-level network protocol designed for multiplexing and packetizing multimedia transport streams (such as interactive media, video and audio) over a suitable transport protocol. RTSP i ...
. *
Remote Desktop Services Remote Desktop Services (RDS), known as Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and earlier, is one of the components of Microsoft Windows that allow a user to initiate and control an interactive session on a remote computer or virtual machine ...
(formerly called Terminal Services) is a server-based computing/presentation virtualization component of Microsoft Windows that allows a user to access applications and data hosted on a remote computer over a network. Remote Desktop Services sessions run in a single shared-server operating system (e.g.
Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows Server 2008 R2 is the fifth version of the Windows Server operating system produced by Microsoft and released as part of the Windows NT family of operating systems. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became General av ...
and later) and are accessed using the
Remote Desktop Protocol Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer over a network connection. The user employs RDP client software for this purpose, while t ...
. *
Desktop virtualization Desktop virtualization is a software technology that separates the desktop environment and associated application software from the physical client device that is used to access it. Desktop virtualization can be used in conjunction with applicatio ...
software technologies improve portability, manageability and compatibility of a personal computer's desktop environment by separating part or all of the desktop environment and associated applications from the physical client device that is used to access it. A common implementation of this approach is to host multiple desktop operating system instances on a server hardware platform running a hypervisor. This is generally referred to as "virtual desktop infrastructure" (VDI).


See also

* Workspace virtualization *
OS-level virtualization OS-level virtualization is an operating system (OS) paradigm in which the kernel allows the existence of multiple isolated user space instances, called ''containers'' ( LXC, Solaris containers, Docker, Podman), ''zones'' (Solaris containers), '' ...
("containerization") *
Portable application creators Portable application creators allow the creation of portable applications (also called portable apps). They usually use application virtualization. Creators of independent portable No agent or client is required for these (also called "agentless" ...
* Comparison of application virtualization software *
Shim (computing) In computer programming, a shim is a library that transparently intercepts API calls and changes the arguments passed, handles the operation itself or redirects the operation elsewhere. Shims can be used to support an old API in a newer e ...
* Virtual application


References

{{Reflist, 30em Virtualization Windows security software MacOS security software Linux emulation software Unix emulation software