Technology has become an indispensable part of our lives. The advancements in this field have brought many changes in the working operations of businesses around the world.

One of the most crucial transformations to be considered is desktop virtualization. It has offered flexibility and mobility benefits to its users for better efficiency and productivity. VDI is one of the major platforms in the market for desktop virtualization.

What is VDI?

VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) is a robust technology that enables the creation of virtual desktops. These virtual desktops are delivered over a network so that they can be accessed remotely. It also allows users to back up and centrally manage data from different areas.

Why VDI?

We can say that VDI offers many benefits. Some of its significant advantages are:

1. Remote Access

The local system often restricts the ability of its users to access information and accomplish tasks before deadlines. However, in contrast to traditional office desktops, VDI helps make businesses agile. It enables users to access their virtual desktops from anywhere over the network. This setup allows remote workers to stay connected with their team for better efficiency and productivity.

Also, especially during the times of COVID-19, companies can hire talent from any location and increase the employment rate.

2. Cost-Effective

Deployment and maintenance of office IT infrastructure cost a lot of money that can be otherwise used for improving core business operations. The use of VDI technology cuts down these expenses. There is no need to invest in high-end desktops as virtual desktops can be accessed from personal devices, such as tabs or phones.

Additionally, if you opt for hosted VDI services, there is no need to hire a dedicated team to manage these desktops as the provider takes care of it. It further saves operational costs and provides a safe environment to store information.

3. Better Control

Administering the workflow is a crucial part of any business. However, traditional infrastructure often makes it challenging to achieve this task.

VDI is a one-stop solution that helps gain more control of the desktops. It offers a centralized environment that can monitor the network and enforce policies as well as configurations on different virtual desktops.

Desktop virtualization also makes it convenient to give specific permissions to end-users depending upon the requirements.

4. Enhanced Security

Data security is essential to maintain the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of the information. As in the case of VDI, data is not stored on end-user devices, the chances of data loss due to hardware theft or malfunction are reduced. It further ensures that privacy is not compromised and helps keep security issues at bay.

Many users invest in cybersecurity and other parameters to safeguard vulnerable data. However, one of the tricks is to opt for a competent cloud provider to host virtual desktops. Many reliable providers implement security measures like data encryption, OS patching, multi-factor authentication, and more.

How Does VDI Work?

VDI uses various components to run the virtual environment. Also, there are some choices one needs to make while implementing desktop virtualization, depending upon the requirements. One of them is to choose between persistent and non-persistent VDI.

Persistent VDI- This VDI provides customizable workspaces wherein users can make changes and personalize the virtual desktop as they prefer. The transition from traditional is transparent and more consistent as compared to the non-persistent VDI. However, it requires more storage and dedicated backup space.

Non-persistent- This VDI type doesn’t save any settings customized by the user. Once the session is logged out of it, the changes that were made also disappear. Any major configurations or application downloads are not possible on these desktops. Thus, it is not a user-friendly solution when compared to the persistent VDI.

But, the storage space required for non-persistent VDI is nominal.

The Working

Two of the major components used in VDI are hypervisor and connection broker.

The hypervisor is used to segment virtual desktops on a physical server. It also separates the OS from the base hardware.

And the connection broker is used to connect users to the desktops. It also tracks the activity of the desktops.

Furthermore, here are the steps that take place:

• First, the user logs into the desktop through a client software installed on the end-point device.
• The connection broker accepts the request after the authentication process. After that, the connection broker establishes and assigns the virtual desktop to the users.
• Multiple virtual machines are created through the hypervisor. The desktops are managed and controlled through it for further processing.
• Admins can log out or turn off the virtual desktops whenever required. This scenario helps to accommodate multiple users even if one has lesser server space.
• There is a master desktop through which images are mirrored to the end-devices. This concept is known as desktop cloning. It is of two types- linked and full.
• In the linked cloning, the master desktop’s virtual disk is connected to other desktops at all times. It helps save server space. On the other hand, in full cloning, the master desktop is not linked to other desktops. Each system has independent disk space.
• Many testing tools are used to perform a pilot test after VDI deployment to ensure the proper functioning of the set-up.
• Furthermore, VDI management software like VMWare is used to implement desktop pools. Desktop pools are a set of desktops that require similar configurations. It depends upon the type of work users are defined. Most of the businesses create these pools as per the need of each department. These desktops pools can be centrally managed for easy provisioning and streamlined workflow.

To Sum It Up

VDI is a robust solution that has changed the face of every industry. The virtualization solutions have provided the flexibility and mobility advantages that have aided in increasing the overall efficiency of its users.

Additionally, it is crucial to understand the importance and working of the technology for better implementation. The details mentioned above cover the points that help businesses achieve innovation and stay a step ahead of their competition.