Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)
This guide provides practical advice on deploying and managing an Azure Virtual Desktop environment, helping you optimize costs and improve performance.
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Microsoft Windows 365
What is Azure Desktop?
Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) is a comprehensive cloud-based desktop and app virtualization service designed to give your organization secure, flexible remote work. Built on the Microsoft Azure platform, AVD enables you to provide your employees with personalized, scalable virtual desktops and applications accessible from anywhere.
Key benefits for your enterprise include cost efficiency with a pay-as-you-go model, robust security with Azure’s built-in protections, simplified IT management, and seamless integration with Microsoft 365 and Teams for enhanced productivity.
Why should my enterprise consider using Azure Virtual Desktop?
Azure Virtual Desktop offers a powerful solution for you to modernize your IT infrastructure, enhance workforce productivity, and optimize costs. Designed to deliver secure, scalable, and flexible virtual desktop experiences, AVD addresses the unique needs of large organizations, from supporting remote and hybrid teams to enabling seamless application delivery.
AVD includes the roles that were traditionally managed manually by administrators–such as Web access, diagnostics, broker, management, gateway, and load balancing–all as a scalable managed service on Azure. And you can provision the compute and configure user experiences for host pools based on your specific needs. Host pools are collections of virtual machines configured to deliver desktop and app experiences to users, enabling flexible and scalable resource allocation. Plus, it works with full-featured apps across any device–Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android–and from any location.
Below, we explore in more detail the key benefits that make Azure Virtual Desktop a compelling choice for enterprises.
Deploy secured virtual machines
You can configure virtual machines that deliver Windows 11 and Windows 10 application and desktop experiences with these benefits:
- Data protection: Azure’s robust built-in compliance and security features help you ensure enterprise security and protect sensitive data.
- Centralized administration: AVD’s unified platform for deploying and monitoring virtual desktops simplifies IT management and minimizes risks associated with endpoint devices.
Monitor global connection quality
You can also deploy infrastructure in secure Azure regions worldwide and analyze connection quality. This gives you:
- Reliable performance: Select regions closest to employees to optimize user experiences.
- Global scalability: Access to secure and high-performing connections helps you support a distributed workforce.
Provide familiar Windows environments
For a seamless user experience, you can enable access to Windows 11, Windows 10, and Windows Server versions (2022, 2019, 2016).
- Ease of use: Reduce the learning curve for employees with familiar Windows interfaces.
- Application compatibility: Run legacy and modern applications effortlessly.
Maintain control over configuration and management
Centrally managing your virtual desktops reduces IT complexity and ensures resilience.
- Automation: Automate updates and deployment to minimize manual effort.
- Simplified operations: Offload platform management to Microsoft to ensure resilience and allow you to focus on strategic business initiatives.
- Uninterrupted access: Rely on Azure's globally redundant systems to ensure availability.
Leverage flexible networking options
Tools like Azure Private Link and RDP Shortpath help you enhance security and reliability.
- Stronger security: Protect data with private, encrypted networking paths.
- Improved reliability: Ensure consistent performance with optimized connection paths
Streamline host pool management
Use advanced tools such as custom image templates to efficiently manage large-scale deployments.
- Operational scalability: Deploy and manage virtual desktops for thousands of users seamlessly.
- Custom solutions: Tailor desktop environments to meet unique business or department needs.
Enable multi-session capabilities
Windows 11 and Windows 10 multi-session functionality allows you to have multiple users on a single virtual machine.
- Reduced costs: Minimize the need for additional resources by sharing virtual machines.
- Resource optimization: Utilize compute power more effectively for large-scale operations.
Adopt cost-efficient cloud migration
Transitioning from on-premises solutions to Azure Virtual Desktop helps you to reduce infrastructure and licensing expenses.
- Lower overhead: Eliminate hardware maintenance and shift to a cost-effective Azure cloud model.
- Future-ready IT: Modernize infrastructure to support evolving enterprise needs.
Scale with a pay-per-use model
You pay only for the compute capacity you use, with no upfront payments or long-term commitments.
- Cost control: Align spending with actual usage to minimize waste. And reduce hardware investments by leveraging virtual desktops.
- Business agility: Scale up or down instantly to meet workforce or workload demands.
Know the TCO
This step-by-step wizard tool gives you the total cost of ownership for AVD in your organization.
What are the key components of an AVD environment?
Let's walk through a simplified overview of the core components of Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and how they interact.
Here's an explanation of the diagram:
- Host Pools: These are collections of virtual machines within Azure. You configure these host pools to deliver desktop and application experiences to users, allowing for flexible resource allocation based on your needs.
- Azure Virtual Desktop Service: This is the core cloud-based service running on Microsoft Azure. It manages roles that were traditionally handled manually, including web access, diagnostics, the connection broker, management interface, gateway, and load balancing, all delivered as a scalable managed service on Azure.
- Endpoints/Clients: AVD allows users to access their virtual desktops and applications securely from any location using various devices, including Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, as well as web browsers.
How are businesses using AVD?
In this section, we explore key use cases where AVD delivers value for your enterprise, from enhancing business continuity to optimizing secure application delivery.
Many companies are modernizing their Citrix deployments and VMware deployments to:
- Reduce costs and improve performance by leveraging Azure’s pay-per-use model and optimized infrastructure.
- Address challenges such as complex infrastructure, high costs, and scaling limitations of legacy setups.
- Complement or replace existing deployments with Azure Virtual Desktop to modernize operations.
- Simplify integration and migration with best practices like hybrid setups and gradual transitions.
Enterprises are also using it to facilitate BYOD Policies and Secure Endpoint Access so they can:
- Provide employees access to enterprise applications on their personal devices securely via the same remote desktop client app, which is available for Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android and using a web browser with the HTML web client.
- Centralize data storage in Azure, ensuring sensitive information never resides on endpoints.
- Strengthen endpoint security with Azure's multi-layered protection and advanced compliance features.
They also use AVD to support remote and hybrid teams because it helps:
- Deliver consistent, high-performance desktop experiences to remote and hybrid employees.
- Enable global teams to collaborate effectively with optimized access to corporate resources.
- Simplify IT management with centralized provisioning and monitoring of virtual desktops.
Companies like how it supports business continuity and disaster recovery by:
- Leveraging AVD’s resilience to keep operations running during unexpected disruptions.
- Deploying backups and failover solutions in Azure regions to minimize downtime.
- Protecting against data loss with robust, integrated disaster recovery options.
AVD also secures app delivery for enterprise applications by:
- Delivering tailored solutions for industries like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing.
- Securely running mission-critical applications on virtual desktops, ensuring compliance and performance.
- Customizing app delivery strategies to meet the unique needs of different enterprise use cases.
And finally, it helps in managing temporary workloads or seasonal staff by:
- Scaling virtual desktops on demand to accommodate fluctuating workforce needs.
- Avoiding over-provisioning by deploying resources only when required.
- Enabling secure access for short-term staff without compromising enterprise data.
Know the TCO
This step-by-step wizard tool gives you the total cost of ownership for AVD in your organization.
What are the steps to deploy Azure Virtual Desktop?
This architectural diagram shows how AVD is typically employed as part of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) at enterprise scale.
The step-by-step guide below gives you a clear roadmap for deploying Azure Virtual Desktop, leveraging Microsoft’s resources, and utilizing third-party tools for seamless implementation and management.
1. Plan your AVD deployment
- Assess business requirements: Define user needs, applications, and workloads that will run on Azure Virtual Desktop. Identify performance expectations and security requirements.
- Transitioning from Windows or legacy systems: Evaluate existing infrastructure, including on-premises Windows desktops, Citrix, or VMware deployments, and map out migration paths to AVD.
- Choose the right resources: Select virtual machine (VM) sizes, storage configurations, and network setups that match your workload requirements.
- Estimate costs: Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to plan budgets and understand the total cost of ownership (TCO).
2. Leverage Microsoft's resources for setup
- Microsoft Azure portal: Use the Azure portal, Azure CLI, PowerShell and REST API to configure and deploy resources, such as host pools, session hosts, users, workspaces, and application groups.
- Quickstart documentation: Refer to Microsoft’s detailed deployment guides to simplify initial setup and configuration.
- Microsoft’s best practices: Follow Azure’s official recommendations for security, performance, and scalability.
3. Use tools and automation options for smooth implementation
- Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates: Automate the deployment of host pools and other resources using prebuilt ARM templates.
- PowerShell scripts: Use PowerShell for advanced automation, such as scaling session hosts or configuring user permissions.
- Azure Advisor: Optimize resources by following personalized recommendations from Azure Advisor.
- Nerdio Manager for Enterprise: Streamline and automate AVD deployment using Nerdio’s guided workflows and pre-configured settings to scale, secure, and manage your environment effortlessly.
4. Follow implementation best practices
- Leverage multi-session capabilities: Reduce costs by hosting multiple users on a single VM using Windows 10/11 multi-session functionality.
- Enable autoscaling: Configure autoscaling to match resource usage to demand, ensuring cost efficiency during peak and off-peak times.
- Optimize security: Implement Azure Private Link and RDP Shortpath for secure connections and faster performance.
- Conduct pilot testing: Start with a smaller group of users to identify and address any deployment issues before scaling to the full organization.
- Cost optimization: Use an AVD cost estimator to refine resource utilization and maximize savings.
- Seamless integration: Leverage built-in tools from third-party software such as Nerdio to integrate with Active Directory, FSLogix, and Intune for unified management.
How much does Azure Virtual Desktop cost?
Here we help you understand how to manage and optimize costs while transitioning to Azure Virtual Desktop, highlighting its financial advantages over traditional virtualization platforms.
Overview of pricing models
- Azure Virtual Desktop operates on a pay-as-you-go model, allowing your business to pay only for the compute, storage, and networking resources they use.
- Choose from options like consumption-based pricing or reserved instances for predictable workloads to optimize costs.
- Licensing flexibility: Use existing Microsoft licenses (e.g., Windows 10/11 Enterprise or Microsoft 365) to reduce expenses.
Tips for estimating costs and optimizing spend
- Use the Azure Pricing Calculator to estimate costs based on your workload requirements, including user count, virtual machine size, and storage needs.
- Right-size virtual machines by analyzing usage patterns and scaling resources to align with demand.
- Leverage multi-session capabilities to maximize efficiency, allowing multiple users to share a single virtual machine.
- Implement auto-scaling to adjust resources dynamically for peak and off-peak usage periods, reducing idle costs.
- Use Azure Hybrid Benefits and reserved capacity for additional savings on compute costs.
Comparing costs between AVD and legacy virtualization solutions
- AVD eliminates the need for costly on-premises infrastructure and its associated maintenance overhead.
- Unlike legacy Citrix or VMware solutions, AVD scales easily without requiring upfront hardware investments.
- AVD’s consumption-based pricing often results in lower total cost of ownership compared to traditional virtualization platforms, especially for fluctuating workloads.
- Reduced licensing complexity with AVD compared to managing separate licensing models for legacy solutions.
Comparing costs between AVD and Windows 365
As you can see in the table above, here are the key differences:
- Pricing Model: AVD follows a consumption-based model (pay-as-you-go), while Windows 365 uses a fixed per-user, per-month pricing model.
- Flexibility: AVD offers greater flexibility in scaling resources and optimizing costs, while Windows 365 provides more predictable monthly expenses.
- Customization: AVD allows for more customization of the virtual desktop environment, while Windows 365 offers a more standardized and streamlined experience.
- Management: AVD requires more hands-on management, while Windows 365 is generally easier to manage with its fixed configuration.
- Use Cases: AVD is well-suited for dynamic workloads and varying usage patterns, while Windows 365 is ideal for consistent, predictable usage scenarios.
DIVE DEEPER: Azure Virtual Desktop Pricing Guide
How does Azure Virtual Desktop compare to other virtual desktop solutions?
What is the difference between Azure Virtual Desktop and VM?
Azure Virtual Desktop is a fully managed desktop virtualization service that provides secure, multi-user access to virtualized Windows desktops and apps, optimized for scalability and cost efficiency. Virtual Machines (VMs), on the other hand, are individual compute resources that require more manual setup and management, offering greater customization for various workloads but without the desktop-focused features of AVD.
Is Azure Virtual Desktop like Citrix?
Azure Virtual Desktop and Citrix both provide virtualization solutions for delivering remote desktops and applications, but AVD is a fully managed service from Microsoft, while Citrix offers additional advanced management, customization, and multi-cloud capabilities. AVD can function as a standalone solution or complement existing Citrix deployments, simplifying infrastructure and reducing costs.
What is the difference between RDS and AVD?
Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is an on-premises solution that requires managing your own infrastructure, including servers and licenses, to deliver remote desktops and applications. Azure Virtual Desktop, on the other hand, is a cloud-based service managed by Microsoft, offering enhanced scalability, multi-session Windows 11/10 capabilities, and simplified management without the need for on-premises infrastructure.
What is the difference between cloud PC and Azure Virtual Desktop?
Cloud PC, offered through Windows 365, provides a fully dedicated, always-on virtual desktop experience designed for simplicity and fixed pricing. Azure Virtual Desktop, formerly known as Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), is a more flexible, scalable solution with pay-as-you-go pricing, supporting multi-session capabilities and advanced configurations for diverse business needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
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