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I’ve already write a post with the comparison between PCoIP and RDP (PCoIP vs. RDP) and some considerations on how use each protocol in a VMware View infrastructure.

Other protocols, like HP RGS (Remote Graphics Software) has been removed (from View) years ago, and protocols from other solutions (like, for example, SPICE) are not included.

But now there is also the HTML5 option (Blast protocol) included with the Horizon Suite or with the Feature Pack of Horizon View (see this post on how enable it).

It’s just a 1.0 version so this kind of protocol could not replace yet the PCoIP one:

VMware-Blast

Blast protocol is just PCoIP over HTML5 or it’s another protocol? It seems to be a really different protocol. From the packets dump it’s clear that it used only the TCP 8443 (blast) port. Of course the web portal use the 443 port. Note that on the virtual desktop side it used the TCP 22443 port.

The graphics and rendering behavior are little similar with PCoIP behavior, although it works in a different way and use heavily the HTML5 browser capability. Actually I’ve not seen yet big changes between different browsers version, but probably we could expect some optimization in the future.

The “funny” thing is that it does not change if you fix a desktop protocol, for example RDP:

View-RDP

But this behavior make sense, considering that HTML5 access protocol is just an option of pool protocols and you use a different way to access it.

Cloud be interesting see if this could become a replacement of PCoIP or just a different way to access your desktops (or your applications).

Blast limits

This is the first release, so there are going to be rough edges that need some polish. Below are some of the issues in the current release (Feature Pack 1 with Horizon View 5.2):

  • No Multimedia or Flash Redirection
  • No ThinPrint Support
  • No USB Support
  • No Audio Support
  • No WebCam Support
  • Unsupported on Android
  • Seems (really) slower compare to PCoIP
  • It require several browser retransmission
  • Possible browser compatibility issues?

For more information see also:

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Virtualization, Cloud and Storage Architect. Tech Field delegate. VMUG IT Co-Founder and board member. VMware VMTN Moderator and vExpert 2010-24. Dell TechCenter Rockstar 2014-15. Microsoft MVP 2014-16. Veeam Vanguard 2015-23. Nutanix NTC 2014-20. Several certifications including: VCDX-DCV, VCP-DCV/DT/Cloud, VCAP-DCA/DCD/CIA/CID/DTA/DTD, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP, CCA, NPP.