Independent Computing Architecture

Protocol for application server system Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) is a proprietary protocol for an application server system, designed by Citrix Systems. The protocol lays down a specification for passing data between servers and clients, but is not bound to any one platform. Citrix's ICA is an alternative to Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). Products Practical products conforming to ICA are Citrix's WinFrame, Citrix XenApp (formerly called MetaFrame/Presentation Server), and Citrix XenDesktop products. These permit ordinary Windows applications to be run on a suitable Windows server and for any supported client to gain access to those applications. Besides Windows, ICA is also supported on a number of Unix server platforms and can be used to deliver access to applications running on these platforms. The client platforms do not have to run Windows; for instance, there are clients available for Mac, Unix, Linux, and various smartphones. ICA client software is also built into various thin client platforms. ICA is broadly similar in purpose to window servers such as the X Window System. It also provides for the feedback of user input from the client to the serve