Deployment FAQs

Ion is designed using software isolation, so we are able to provide the rendering experience as needed without replacing system components. When a user enters a URL, Ion evaluates the request against the rules list and determines if the resource requires Ion rendering. If yes, rendering is handled by Ion. If no, rendering is passed off to the default browser engine installed on the machine.

None. Ion was designed to run as a per-user application so it can actually be run without being installed on the system if needed. No system configurations are changed or values modified, and Ion can be fully uninstalled at any time.

No. Whether IE is your default browser in your organization or not, Ion does not affect your default browser choice. By design, Ion is meant to be used to provide a compatibility experience and should be used when needed rather than as a default setting. Ion itself is not a browser but a plug-in that runs inside the existing IE browser; if IE8 or IE9 is the default on your system, it can remain so with Ion installed.

No, Ion has been designed as a per-user application. We worked hard to make sure Ion is very lightweight, easily deployed and requires no special configurations to run. Ion will work the same if the user has local admin rights or on locked down machine configurations.

Yes, Ion was designed to work perfectly in virtual desktop/terminal services/Citrix environments where resource constraints play an important factor in determining user load levels. The Ion  rendering process consumes a minimal amount of memory when active (exact memory usage varies, but is generally 10-30MB). The background controller process takes about 5-10MB and is very resource sensitive about releasing rendering resources quickly to ensure memory is properly utilized. When not in use, all Ion processes flush memory to reduce their impact in resource-constrained environments.

Ion can be deployed using any infrastructure technology you are using today. We don’t make any assumptions about or put requirements on your infrastructure in order to deploy Ion. The user mode package is created as an MSI, so you can choose to distribute it as is or you can extract out the pieces and rebuild it for your preferences or needs. If you prefer not to use an MSI installer, you can unpack the Ion files in a single directory and run it right from there, even a thumb drive! We don’t require a restart or replace or update any system resources so the deployment options are really up to you.

All Ion rules are managed through the Configuration Manager. Making a rule is very simple – just select your options from the dropdown lists, enter the URL, domain name or pattern to be matched and select which Profile should be used to render that rule. You’ll also need to give the rule a unique name. More information about Ion rules are provided in the Administrator’s Guide, which is part of every Ion evaluation download and also on our support site at http://support.browsium.com/.

Profiles are groups of settings and configuration options tied to a particular browser engine. Profiles enable you to set specific registry values or define custom ActiveX settings to ensure a web application runs properly if it requires specific versions or settings. For example, Profiles enable you to have the granular control to set the 1.05 version of the JVM for a single page, while the rest of that web application uses JVM version 1.3, etc.

Using Profiles, you can isolate the settings required for one application to run from all your other applications, meaning that for one application or web page you can invoke a legacy IE engine, an old version of Java, and custom security settings, but for everything else, the default software (IE8 or IE9, the latest version of Java, etc.) will be used.

Profiles are created using the Configuration Manager. Simply create a Project then choose “Add Profile” from the action pane on the right side of the manager. Choose the IE engine you need and then name your new Profile. That’s all it takes. From there you have the option to make custom file, registry and ActiveX settings and more for the Profile if your web applications require that level of system configuration. Most web applications will be compatible with either the “Emulate IE7″ profile or the “IE Quirks” profile.

Absolutely. The Configuration Manager is installed as part of the admin mode installation, and is simply an interface to edit and configure Ion settings. Administration isn’t done centrally by design – Ion doesn’t have any infrastructure or server components – so the ownership can be shared by members of team, or even as broad as teams around the entire company. Using the Configuration Manager an application owner can manage the rules and configurations for their own application, and exported rules are merged with other Ion rules when imported to the Group Policy environment. For flat file distribution systems the files are merged on the target system instead.

Browsium Ion has been designed to be lightweight. In general, if your system can run Windows, it can run Ion. The specific requirements are:

System Requirements