Citrix Systems Citrix MetaFrame Application for Windows 1.8 - Manual (Page 80)

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The ICA Browser maintains data on Citrix servers and published applications.
Separate data is maintained for each network transport (TCP/IP, IPX, and
NetBIOS). The ICA Browser consists of a master browser, member browsers, and
client systems. The ICA Browser uses directed packets to communicate with other
ICA Browser services running on Citrix servers.
The ICA Browser service maintains a list of available Citrix servers and published
applications for a given network and transport type.
Citrix ICA Clients query the ICA Browser service to obtain a list of Citrix servers
and published applications. The Citrix ICA Client queries the ICA Browser
service for the network address of servers and published applications when a
session is launched. Citrix servers use the ICA Browser service to pool licenses
and share administrative and performance information.
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Every Citrix server runs the ICA Browser service. One Citrix server is elected the
master browser; all other Citrix servers on the network are member browsers.
Each physical network of Citrix servers has one master browser per protocol. The
master browser for each network is chosen by a master browser election. If the
current master browser on a network goes down, a new master browser election is
held. This provides high reliability for the ICA Browser service.
The master browser keeps track of the following information:
u The available Citrix servers
u The available published applications
u Any pooled licenses
u Performance and load information for Citrix servers
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The master browser maintains the browse list and periodically obtains updates
from the member browsers (Citrix servers) on the same network. Each transport
protocol (TCP/IP, IPX, and NetBIOS) has its own master browser.
The master browser is an ICA Browser acting as a central information store. An
ICA Browser becomes the master browser after winning a browser election.