Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is the future of IT. It involves using Virtual Machines to run end-user desktops. The virtual machines are hosted in either dedicated bare-metal servers or in the cloud. In this environment, every single user is allocated a virtual machine dedicated to running a separate operating system.
It offers an isolated environment to each employee along with the same user experience they get on a physical desktop. Users can use any device for laughing into their VMs through a secure network.
The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) uses a virtualized backend for providing the end-user experience. With the right deployments from the right VDI service provider, a company can experience optimal performance at reduced costs.
Basic components of a VDI
The VDI is comprised of servers that host application software and operating systems inside the virtual machines that can be accessed from any device. It allows software and hardware to be abstracted on the server as well as the client-side. Here are the basic components of a VDI that helps it do the same:
1. Hypervisor
A hypervisor is used for installing multiple operating systems as virtual machines on the server. This hypervisor can either be software hosted (hosted) or hardware-based (bare-metal). It also manages the virtual machines so that they can operate as a standalone computer that have the required virtualized software and hardware resources.
2. Connection broker
The hypervisor also brokers the connections between the client devices and the virtual machines on the server. The virtual desktops or the client devices connect to the server and power up the operating system of a virtual machine. Then, the user is able to run the applications residing within the same VM.
3. OS instances
Through VMs, users get virtualized hardware resources that serve the applications and operating systems. There are also actual machines that are running the virtual desktops like desktops, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, etc. These devices don’t have to meet the minimal requirements of running the operating system and applications.
How does VDI work?
The operating system’s desktop image is run on the VMs over a hypervisor and delivered to the endpoint devices such as laptops, desktops, smartphones, or tablets over a network. Users can use these endpoint devices for interacting with the operating system as well as its apps. Here are the characteristics possessed by all the VDI deployments:
- The virtual desktops use a centralized server for operating over VMs.
- All the virtual desktops have an operating system image. In most cases, they use Microsoft Windows.
- Multiple VMs instances can be housed within the data center on the same center which means the VMs are host-based.
- In order to maintain access to the VDI, the end clients have to maintain contact continuously with the centrally-managed server.
- Clients that access the VDI environment successfully use the VDIs connection broker to connect to the virtual desktops in the resource pool.
- In the meanwhile, the hypervisor is creating, running, and managing multiple host machine VMs that can encapsulate the virtual environment.
With VDI, the company can have convenient and secure remote access to their modern digital workspaces while ensuring a consistent experience across a wide range of devices.
The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure with their accessibility, continuity, and security needs. The central management and level of security offered through the VDI service provider are unmatched. The users will appreciate the ease of access it offers on any device and anywhere.