Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
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.
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 collection of technology to help organizations deploy the basic infrastructure for VDI, including:
- A scalable, stable, and high-performance hypervisor (Hyper-V Server) that hosts virtual desktops
- An integrated management suite, Microsoft System Center, that allows IT to manage physical, virtual, and session-based desktops from a single console
- Application virtualization technology (Microsoft Application virtualization) that enables dynamic delivery of applications to a user’s virtual desktop rather than installing applications as part of the virtual desktop image
- A cost-effective infrastructure platform, Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services, 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 click 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.
