Application Virtualization Dashboard

The Microsoft® Application Virtualization Dashboard helps you monitor virtualized software applications across your organization. The dashboard’s built-in charts, gauges, and tables let you track any APP-V dataset in near-real time, so you can easily stay on top of the usage, health, and compliance of all your virtualized applications.

The App-V Dashboard is designed and built on Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 as the application platform by using Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5/4.6.  

Key Benefits

Benefits of the dashboard include:

  • Actionable information out of the box. The dashboard comes with a wide range of valuable, built-in reports like top 5 applications used, top 5 users, applications never used, application usage for a specific user, system utilization, and many more.
  • Near-real-time access to key information. The graphical dashboard lets customers view any App-V dataset in near-real time.
  • Easy to build and configure. The dashboard’s wizard-based tools let customers easily create new dashboards in minutes. 
  • Easy to customize. The dashboard can easily be customized to meet the needs of different departments and other groups. Any data set in the Microsoft Application Virtualization database can be presented on the dashboard, in chart, gauge, and table formats.  
  • Flexible & interactive. Users can easily filter data and create ad hoc, custom views. Filters allow users to quickly drill down from high-level to more specific data.

Join the Beta Program for the Dashboard

The App-V dashboard is now in beta release. Want to get an advance look at the dashboard, and a chance to provide feedback so it best meets your needs? Join the beta program!

To join the beta program, click here. You can also send your enquires about this Solution Accelerator to satdash@microsoft.com.

How the Dashboard Works

The Application Virtualization Dashboard is designed to work with an existing Application Virtualization 4.5 or 4.6 infrastructure. The Dashboard queries the Application Virtualization database and uses the resulting data set to present key infrastructure metrics in a graphical format.

The Application Virtualization Dashboard uses SharePoint Web parts to manage and display data sets:

  • Microsoft Dashboard Configuration Web Part. Use this Web part to create and modify the SQL queries that produce the data sets and the other properties that govern how the Dashboard displays the data sets.
  • Microsoft Dashboard Viewer Web Part. Use this Web part to display the data sets. A Dashboard Viewer Web Part displays one data set at a time. The Application Virtualization Dashboard can contain multiple copies of the Dashboard Viewer Web Part at once, each copy displaying a different data set.

The following figure shows how users can interact with the Web parts to retrieve and display data.

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Figure 1. Application Virtualization Dashboard Process Flow

The Application Virtualization Dashboard process flow involves the following sequence of activities:

  1. An IT Service Manager requests a new data set.
  2. The IT Administrator uses the Dashboard Configuration Web Part to define the new data set.
  3. The IT Administrator stores the configuration information for the new data set (the information is saved in the Windows SharePoint Services Content database).
  4. The IT Administrator adds a new copy of the Dashboard Viewer Web Part to the default Application Virtualization Dashboard and then modifies the Web part to display the new data set.
  5. The IT Service Manager browses to the Application Virtualization Dashboard site.
  6. Windows SharePoint Services queries the Application Virtualization database as specified by the data set configuration.
  7. Windows SharePoint Services renders the new data set using the Dashboard Viewer Web Part.

Sample Screenshot

ScreenShot.png

Requirements for the Application Virtualization Dashboard

The App-V Dashboard integrates with an already functioning deployment of System Center Application Virtualization and has no additional infrastructure requirements. It is assumed that App-V and it’s database are configured in accordance with Microsoft installation guidance.

The following table lists software requirements for the Application Virtualization Dashboard.

App-V Dashboard Software Requirements

Software

  • Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 or 4.6
  • Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP2

    Note   Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 SP2 is supported as an alternative to Windows SharePoint Services 3.0.

  • Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Browser

Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7.0 or Internet Explorer 8.0.

Author: Robert Smit [MVP]

Robert Smit is Senior Technical Evangelist and is a current Microsoft MVP in Clustering as of 2009. Robert has over 20 years experience in IT with experience in the educational, health-care and finance industries. Robert’s past IT experience in the trenches of IT gives him the knowledge and insight that allows him to communicate effectively with IT professionals who are trying to address real concerns around business continuity, disaster recovery and regulatory compliance issues. Robert holds the following certifications: MCT - Microsoft Certified Trainer, MCTS - Windows Server Virtualization, MCSE, MCSA and MCPS. He is an active participant in the Microsoft newsgroup community and is currently focused on Hyper-V, Failover Clustering, SQL Server, Azure and all things related to Cloud Computing and Infrastructure Optimalization. Follow Robert on Twitter @ClusterMVP Or follow his blog https://robertsmit.wordpress.com Linkedin Profile Http://nl.linkedin.com/in/robertsmit Robert is also capable of transferring his knowledge to others which is a rare feature in the field of IT. He makes a point of not only solving issues but also of giving on the job training of his colleagues. A customer says " Robert has been a big influence on our technical staff and I have to come to know him as a brilliant specialist concerning Microsoft Products. He was Capable with his in-depth knowledge of Microsoft products to troubleshoot problems and develop our infrastructure to a higher level. I would certainly hire him again in the future. " Details of the Recommendation: "I have been coordinating with Robert implementing a very complex system. Although he was primarily a Microsoft infrastructure specialist; he was able to understand and debug .Net based complext Windows applications and websites. His input to improve performance of applications proved very helpful for the success of our project

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