We all know that we are in the era of digital transformation where major changes occur daily in the work landscape, working from home and hybrid ecosystems are now becoming everyday life. The need to work from multiple locations and access to services creates difficulties in managing the high control and security requirements of the infrastructure required to maintain the good functioning of a business.
Due to these challenges, all businesses are looking for tools that will facilitate the secure management of these new requirements, always having their cost as a guideline. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) can be the answer to these challenges that are created.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is the creation and management of virtual desktops and applications that allow employees to work and access applications and services inside and outside the office.
VDI, through the creation of a virtual computing infrastructure known as virtual machines (VMs), allows organizations to run multiple applications and operating systems on one or more physical servers (Servers). Each Virtual Machine has the ability to provide any operating system that a classic desktop computer would have installed (such as Windows, Redhat, etc.).
Multiple different operating systems or even the same operating systems can coexist with variations in the applications or resources that each VM has. This allows infrastructure administrators to provide very quickly and in most cases with almost zero downtime to the end user an environment that will meet any need that arises. All actions can be performed by the administrator without affecting the user’s VM (Patching, Software Installation, etc.), and with a simple Reboot the end user can connect to the new machine that will be assigned to him.
Users have the ability to securely connect to virtual desktops, such as Microsoft Windows or individual applications such as a design program, via any device and regardless of their location. The ability to access corporate applications from anywhere in a secure way is not only useful, but it also allows you to “bring your own devices” such as laptops, tablets, even lower-powered ones, as the entire “weight” of your work is carried by the VM you are connected to.
The benefits, as one can perceive from the above, are many, but we will highlight the most important ones that make the difference in our opinion.
Security
VDI helps businesses maintain complete confidentiality, as all applications and data reside on the central infrastructure and not on the user’s device. So if a device is stolen or damaged, the ability to connect to that device can be terminated to protect business data.
Accessibility
VDI allows end users, as we mentioned, to “bring your own device” (BYOD) and gain remote access to files and applications from any location. This essentially creates a digital workspace, providing a better user experience and making working from home significantly easier.
Simplified and Centralized Management
Administrators have the ability to update and modify all virtual desktops, as well as applications, simultaneously, but also manage who and how will have access to them. Which gives great flexibility in how any action that would traditionally require a lot of downtime and risk will be done.
Cost Reduction
The reason why VDI creates great cost efficiency is quite obvious. VDI saves costs by improving the quality of work and services while reducing the energy and time required in everyday life. Also, VDI end-user devices are economical, while the related hardware has a longer lifespan than a typical PC and costs less. Centralization of services reduces the huge costs that arise from an almost unlimited number of individual licenses in a classic model.
Instant Backup Capability
VDI has provision for data security and instant backup capabilities. It is common practice for companies running mission-critical systems on VDI to have two separate Data Centers. One serves as “Primary” and the other as “Disaster Recovery”. If for any reason the “Primary” site cannot provide the service to end users, administrators have the ability from the copies available at the “Disaster Recovery” site to immediately provide all services and ensure Business continuity until the situation at the “Primary” site is restored.