Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is one of the many Optimized Desktop scenarios offered by Microsoft to help organizations optimize their IT infrastructure. It is a comprehensive set of Microsoft and partner technology, enabling centralization of desktops, applications and data. VDI from Microsoft provides Enterprise IT with integrated management of physical, virtual and session based desktops, centralization of user data, and improved application delivery. End users benefit from a rich remote experience, highly secure and flexible access to their information and increased business continuity. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure benefits non-mobile workers in enterprises that have sophisticated and mature IT departments. It is best suited for contract and offshore workers, users who need access to corporate desktops and applications, and for users that work from home occasionally and whose primary desktop is covered by a corporate license.
Key benefits of VDI include:
Offers improved flexibility, enhancing work scenarios such as work from home and hot-desking
Facilitates improved business continuity through data centralization
Provides integrated management of physical, virtual, and session-based desktops
The Microsoft VDI Standard Suite and Microsoft VDI Premium Suite volume licenses provide excellent value for customers seeking the desktop flexibility of VDI, by making it simple to purchase comprehensive Microsoft VDI software. The Microsoft VDI Standard Suite includes the basic infrastructure and management components required for a VDI deployment, and is up to a third of the cost of the corresponding offering from VMWare. The VDI Premium Suite includes additional desktop and application deployment options that add flexibility and make it a more comprehensive offering. Both Volume Licenses are available as a device-based subscription on top of Software Assurance, thereby complementing the VECD license.
The Microsoft VDI Standard Suite is a suite of products that help organizations deploy VDI infrastructure and management software, including:
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, a scalable, stable, and high-performance hypervisor to host virtual desktops
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager, System Center Configuration Manager and System Center Operations Manager to manage the VDI hosts from a single console
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), which includes Microsoft Application Virtualization for dynamic delivery of applications to virtual desktops
Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services, a cost-effective infrastructure platform which allows VDI users to enjoy a rich end user experience and includes a connection broker for personal and pooled virtual desktops in low-complexity environments
The Microsoft VDI Premium Suite includes all the technologies of the standard suite, but provides organizations with additional flexibility options.
Complete Remote Desktop Services functionality, including the capability to deliver both session-based desktops as well as VDI desktops through the proven Remote Desktop Services platform available as part of Windows Server 2008 R2
Dynamic delivery of applications to an RDS server using App-V for RDS, so as to reduce application silos
Both the VDI suite licenses are available as a device-based subscription. For more information on the VDI suites, please here.
To enable organizations to derive the maximum value from the VDI environment, including the flexibility of creating and destroying desktops dynamically, and migrating virtual desktops onto different hardware systems and configurations, Microsoft created the Windows Virtual Centralized Enterprise Desktop (Windows VECD). This licensing option offers significant advantages over the traditional Windows OEM and FPP licenses, including flexibility in choice of hardware and storage, concurrent access up to 4 VMs via a single license, and the ability to create as many VMs as you want, but pay only based on the number of access devices. For more information regarding the Windows VECD license, please click here.
