SVS and Softgrid (Microsoft APP-V)
Submitted by umara on 13 August, 2008 - 09:55.
SVS and Softgrid or Softricity or APP-V, whatever you call it, is a revolutionary step in the world of virtualization. The aim of this article is comparing SVS and Softgrid.
Let's differentiate on the basis of facilities provided.
Virtualization:
SVS is about File and Registry Virtualization, whereas Softricity is about complete application virtualization.
In Softricity some applications will get installed to a virtual partition, some will not. This is trial and error and is big drawback. In SVS applications get virtualized almost every time at first try itself.
Softricity is per-user while SVS is per machine.
Time:
You can say this is insignificant for functional excellence but its an important factor as virtualization is all about time saving. With the help of SVS you can virtualize and deploy on the same machine, whereas, in Softricity you need to change control from server to sequencer to verification machine.
Isolation:
APP-V wins here hands down. It provides total isolation in terms of everything regarding application. Regarding the error of Bubbles interacting, its resolved in version 4.5 of APP-V.
In short, in SVS one package can interact with other packages whereas in Softgrid it's avoided.
Deployment:
SVS does not worry about environment. It doesn't need any streaming, but Softgrid needs to stream application and need server machines like Citrix servers or Softgrid servers for doing this while sequencing.
Upgrades and Rollback:
Hmmmm... well there is tough fight, it is supported in both. However you need to be cautious in SVS as it's a per machine installation. When you reset the application user data may get lost, but with a little care with some administrative privileges you can prevent this data loss. (www.svsdownloads.com)
Installing upgrades seems to be quite reliable in Softricity with easy streaming.
Citrix Server:
Citrix being highly used as server, SVS may lose ground to Softricity as, if you are using Citrix server you can't deploy using SVS.
Troubleshooting:
In order to troubleshoot in softgrid you need to get good hold of scripting in .osd files as APP-V is all about shortcuts and osd files, you need to desired changes in OSD files in order to get some custom task done.this .osd file is in XML format
Doing this is certainly more complicated in APP-V than in SVS.
How wrong can you be?
Nachiket_Khawale,
Nice article, but how wrong can you be?
Virtualisation:
SVS is only file and registry virtualisation and Softgrid total? In softgrid you are not able to virtualize drivers, services etc. In SVS we cann.
SVS is the big winner in this one.
And with the Add-on DVS SVS is user based also. So you actually cann choose. User based or machine based.
Time: You forgot the most important one. We virtualised applications in only moments of the time that you would need in Softgrid.
Isolation:
I tested the new Softgrid, and the way they choosed to make two apps in a bubble to talk to each other is not the best way. It conflicts with lot's of applications.
Deployment:
With SVS pro there is a very good alternative to Softgrid, but Softgrid is the winner in this one. Yep.
In October there will be a new player on the market that has one of the best deployment consoles for SVS i ever saw.
Upgrades and Rollback:
In SVS indeed you can loose settings after deleting or resetting a layer. In company environments we can solve that pretty easy.
Citrix server:
With our add-on DVS4SBC we configured a lot of servers with Citrix, and yes it works. It works great.
Trouble shooting:
I rest my case. You are right. SVS is much easier then Softgrid
You forgot to mention one other aspect!
Price:
Were SVS costs some money, Softgrid is free? Not really. You need a software assurance pack that costs about 40% of the price SVs costs.
SVS is legal for years, were the software Assurance pack is only for one year.
For SVS you need a clean machine to package. A VM or Virtual PC is outstanding for doing this.
In Softgrid you need a complete back bone environment, a lot of knowledge and much more.
And yes! I love SVS.
Regards
Erik
www.dvs4sbc.nl