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Virtual desktop infrastructure enables you to deploy desktops remotely. VDI deployments host virtual machines on a central server, and then remotely serve users with virtual desktops. Users can access virtual desktops via an Internet connection, using any type of device, location, and operating system.
In this post, we’ll explain how VDI works and what are the difference between two main types of VDI deployments—persistent VDI and nonpersistent VDI. We will also examine VDI deployment best practices, and show how NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP can help make VDI deployments cost-effective, highly available, and easy to orchestrate with the flagship NetApp cloud solution.
This is part of an extensive series of guides about FinOps.
In this article, you will learn:
- What is virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
- VDI use cases
- VDI basic components
- VDI deployment best practices
- Virtual desktop infrastructure with Cloud Volumes ONTAP
What Is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure?
Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is an implementation that uses virtual machines (VMs) to provide virtual desktops to users. VMs are hosted on a centralized server and desktop environments are deployed to users remotely.
Users can access and use these desktops on nearly any device that supports an Internet connection. Since all processing and computing are done server-side, users aren’t restricted by device OS or most specifications.
When implementing virtual desktop infrastructure, you can set desktops up as either persistent or nonpersistent machines.
Should you choose persistent or non-persistent VDI? Here are the main differences:
- Persistent VDI—users connect to the same desktop every time and data is stored on the machine. The experience for users is almost the same as a native desktop.
- Nonpersistent VDI—generic machines are used that do not store data between sessions. Each time a user connects, they are provided a random session from the pool that is available. Nonpersistent machines require users to save files and data externally if they want to retain it for the next session.
Many organizations choose to implement VDI because it enables them to better control user desktops, improve remote accessibility, and increase the availability of workstations. A VDI solution can also help organizations extend the life of outdated hardware since desktop environments are no longer tied to the limitations of the client.
VDI can be hosted on-premise and in the cloud. While this article focuses mainly about on-premise, you can learn more in our articles about VDI in the cloud and AWS VDI.
Who Should Use Virtual Desktops?
Virtual desktops are not beneficial to every company in every situation. However, for many companies, these desktops are useful for a variety of staff and user roles. These roles include:
- Kiosk users—for example, customers. Virtual desktops can be used to connect users on non-secure networks with minimal risk to your systems.
- Task Workers—for example, receptionists or call center workers. Virtual desktops enable you to provide access to critical business functions and data without it being stored on multiple devices. Additionally, if a desktop fails, it can often be restored faster than a computer can be rebooted, reducing downtime.
- Power Users—for example, code or graphics developers and audio or video producers. These users can gain access to custom configurations and applications on their host device while still accessing workplace environments. This enables users to take advantage of multiple OSes at once.
How Does VDI Work? VDI Basic Components
There are four basic components in a virtual desktop infrastructure implementation. These components are as follows.
Virtualization
Virtualization is the abstraction of your system architecture. It enables you to decouple your operating systems and hardware without losing functionality. You can use virtualization to increase the security, reliability, and flexibility of your infrastructure. Virtualization is accomplished through hypervisors.
Hypervisor
Hypervisors are hardware, firmware, or software that is used to disconnect operating systems from hardware in virtualization. These components enable you to create and manage multiple VMs on a server. Each of these VMs is independent and can contain its own OS, configuration, and applications. In the case of VDI, each VM is a desktop instance.
Connection broker
Connection brokers are VDI software layers that connect your users to your virtual desktops. Your broker manages the authentication and authorization of users. It also ensures that desktop instances are distributed according to your policies and keeps track of the statuses of desktops and users.
Desktop pools
Desktops pools are sets of virtual desktop instances that are categorized by user type or function. When a user matching the profile of the pool requests a desktop, an instance from that pool is served. This makes management of desktops easier when you have teams with different access or application requirements.
VDI Deployment Best Practices
When implementing VDI there are several best practices you should consider. These practices can help you ensure that your desktops are reliable, performant, and easily accessible.
Understanding end-user requirements
Before you can successfully deploy virtual desktop infrastructure you need to be aware of your user and organizational needs. For example:
- What operating systems and applications do users need?
- Do users need to be able to customize desktops or store data over time?
- How many users do you need desktops for?
- How frequently and for how long are desktop sessions required?
- What performance requirements do users have?
In addition to configuration and host requirements, you need to consider what hardware users are working from. This includes any peripherals that users may need to connect to. Often, there is not a single answer that organizations can provide for these questions. The greater variety of users and needs you have, the more complex your implementation.
Make VDI environments highly available
VDI implementations take local access to desktops away from users. This means that you can no longer rely on physical proximity to determine availability. It also means that many more users are relying on the availability of one or a few servers.
To avoid single points of failure you need to ensure that your implementation is distributed across several host servers. Ideally, these servers should be geographically spread to further reduce risks. You need to have failover procedures in place in case servers go down. It is also wise to harden your network connections or implement a backup connection in case your primary one goes out.
Consider using thin clients
Thin clients are essentially screens and peripherals that are connected directly to your network. These clients rely completely on your virtual desktops for computing power and have no storage or memory of their own. Due to this reliance, there is no way for users to change VDI client configurations or download files without your permission and knowledge.
These restrictions can significantly increase security because you have full control over your users’ abilities. Additionally, thin clients can ease IT responsibilities since there is no need to update hardware and any maintenance is significantly reduced.
Use flash or hybrid storage
One downside of a VDI implementation is that it requires significantly more input/output operations per second (IOPS) than traditional infrastructures. This is because desktops must constantly communicate with the host server to allow user functionality.
One solution for this is to use flash or hybrid storage solutions. These solutions enable users to retain and access data locally, reducing the number of server requests. In the case of hybrid solutions, data is also sent to the server, enabling it to be accessed by other users or by the same user from other locations.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure with Cloud Volumes ONTAP
NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP, the leading enterprise-grade storage management solution, delivers secure, proven storage management services on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Cloud Volumes ONTAP supports up to a capacity of 368TB, and supports various use cases such as file services, databases, DevOps or any other enterprise workload, with a strong set of features including high availability, data protection, storage efficiencies, Kubernetes integration, and more.
To find out more about VDI deployment in the cloud and how Cloud Volumes ONTAP can help you run your VDI environment on cloud resources, download our guidebook on Virtual Desktop Infrastructure in the Cloud, where you’ll also learn about case studies of major companies who turned to Cloud Volumes ONTAP to make their VDI deployments cost-effective, highly available, and easy to orchestrate with the flagship NetApp cloud solution.
Learn More About Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
AWS VDI: Understanding Amazon WorkSpaces
Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) technologies use virtual machines to host desktop environments. AWS has created its own, cloud-based version of VDI, which is designed for multiple users. AWS VDI is a fully-managed Desktop as a Service (DaaS) offering, named Amazon WorkSpaces.
This post explains the key differences between DaaS and VDI, and explores use cases for Amazon WorkSpaces, and reviews best practices for Amazon WorkSpaces deployments.
Read more in AWS VDI: Understanding Amazon WorkSpaces
VDI Storage with Cloud Volumes ONTAP: Customer Case Studies
Hosting a virtual desktop infrastructure in the cloud can help make your VDI more scalable, secure, available, and affordable, though there are still challenges involved.Handling Increased WFH Demands with VDI and Cloud Volumes ONTAP Connectivity, accessibility, and visibility of the entire deployment can all make operating the VDI complex. Fortunately, Cloud Volumes ONTAP makes it possible to overcome such issues.
In this blog we take a look at three customer success stories of hosting a virtual desktop infrastructure in the cloud using Cloud Volumes ONTAP as the data management layer, including one case study where an entire VDI was moved to the cloud in just over 24 hours.
Read more in VDI Storage with Cloud Volumes ONTAP: Customer Case Studies
VDI Software: What It Is and How It Works
VDI is an efficient way to manage desktops across your organization. It enables you to centralize IT operations and can grant your users more freedom to work from a variety of devices and locations.
This article explains what VDI is, what components it relies on, the difference between persistent and non-persistent desktops, and what support popular VDI vendors provide for thin clients.
Read more: VDI Software: What It Is and How It Works
VDI Technology in the Cloud: A Better Model for Sharing Company Resources
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) technology enables employees to securely access applications and company data from any authorized device. This simplifies business processes, allowing users access to a customized workplace instance without having to install, secure or maintain apps and data on their PC or laptop devices.
This article explains the basic concepts of cloud-hosted VDI deployments, how to use cloud resources to run VDI, and how to make these deployments more efficient with Cloud Volumes ONTAP.
Read more in VDI Technology in the Cloud: A Better Model for Sharing Company Resources
VDI on Azure: How to Implement VDI on Azure with Cloud Volumes ONTAP
The COVID-19 crisis has led many companies to implement stay-at-home practices, making VDI technology more important than ever. Cloud Volumes ONTAP can be integrated with Windows Virtual Desktop service in Azure to provide unmatched performance and scalability to your VDI deployments.
This article provides a step by step walkthrough on how to use VDI with Cloud Volumes ONTAP on Azure, with an example of an enterprise-grade FSLogix user profile container. This enhances VDI deployments with NetApp capabilities such as high availability, zero data loss, data cloning and minimum downtime.
Read more in VDI on Azure: How to Implement VDI on Azure with Cloud Volumes ONTAP
What Is VDI: Handling Increased WFH Demands with VDI and Cloud Volumes ONTAP
The recent surge in employees working from home has put immense pressure on IT teams and led to an increase in demand for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) technology.
This article explains what VDI is and looks at how to keep up with the demand for it. It also discusses additional major challenges such as file share scalability, availability and continuity, and automated resource provisioning, and explains how Cloud Volumes ONTAP data management solution helps address these issues.
Read more in What Is VDI: Handling Increased WFH Demands with VDI and Cloud Volumes ONTAP
VDI on AWS: How to Implement VDI on AWS with Cloud Volumes ONTAP
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) allows employees to securely access their workstations from any location. This is a crucial capability in avoiding work disruptions. Amazon WorkSpaces Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution enables AWS users to deploy a VDI solution within minutes.
This article provides a walkthrough on how to deploy WorkSpaces VDI in AWS with Cloud Volumes ONTAP to establish secure, high performance and cost-efficient storage with multi-protocol access over NFS, CIFS/SMB, and iSCSI.
Read more in VDI on AWS: How to Implement VDI on AWS with Cloud Volumes ONTAP
See Additional Guides on Key FinOps Topics
Together with our content partners, we have authored in-depth guides on several other topics that can also be useful as you explore the world of FinOps.
AWS Cost Optimization
Authored by Spot
- AWS Cost Optimization Tools and Tips: Ultimate Guide
- AWS Pricing Calculator: Calculate AWS Cost Like the Pros
- AWS Cost Management: Free Tools and 7 Best Practices
Azure Cost Optimization
Authored by Spot
- Azure Cost Management: 4 Ways to Optimize Azure Costs
- Azure Cost Calculator: Estimate Azure Costs
- Azure Cost Analysis: Analyzing Azure Costs, Step by Step
Azure Pricing
Authored by Spot
- Azure Pricing: The Complete Guide
- Understanding Azure Storage Pricing & Examples for 6 Services
- Azure SQL Database: Pricing Per Compute Model & Service Tier
