Software Virtualization
A fully virtualized application is not installed in the traditional sense, although it is still executed as if it is. The application is fooled at runtime into believing that it is directly interfacing with the original operating system and all the resources managed by it, when in reality it is not.
Application virtualization differs from operating system virtualization in that in the latter case, the whole operating system is virtualized rather than only specific applications.
Full application virtualization requires a virtualization layer. This layer must be installed on a machine to intercept all file and Registry operations of virtualized applications and transparently redirect these operations into a virtualized location.
The application performing the file operations never knows that it's not accessing the physical resource it believes it is. In this way, applications with many dependent files and settings can be made portable by redirecting all their input/output to a single physical file, and traditionally incompatible applications can be executed side-by-side.
Microsoft Application Virtualization, Software Virtualization Solution, LANDesk Application Virtualization and VMware ThinApp are examples of this technology for the Windows platform.
So software virtualization is a technique that executes applications with no effect to the real environment but to the abstraction layer only. Damages caused by inefficient or badly programmed applications are limited, original starting environment can be reloaded at any time.
Software packaging uses this technique, to build exact customer environments as an abstract layer and test against that only and many times.
In abstract layers applications can communicate with each other, so that interactive functionality can be tested as well.
Raynet produces packages for the virtualization platforms Altiris SVS, Microsoft SoftGrid and VMWare ThinApp (earlier Thinstall).
Even with this young technology Raynet was able to give evidence of its capabilities and were successful in many projects.
Large enterprises are utilizing on Raynet experiences and have already started to virtualize their complete application assets.
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