With centralized management, improved security, and increased remote access capabilities, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and desktop as a service (DaaS) have become increasingly popular. However, many organizations find the intricate VDI technology stack too complex to manage at scale. Automation is the critical enabler.
This post will walk through the 6 biggest challenges of manual VDI and explore how automation leads to efficient operations, optimized resource usage, an enhanced security posture, and excellent user experiences.
1. Performance and scalability
Working with EUC solutions for more than 25 years, I’ve seen how poor user experiences quickly lead to a decrease in VDI usage or a surge in help desk requests and complaints. So, one of the first challenges we will look at is ensuring adequate performance for concurrent user sessions while maintaining the scalability to meet varying user loads.
VDI requires more processing power and memory per user compared to traditional physical PCs. To achieve acceptable performance, enough CPU cores, RAM, and disk throughput must be allocated per virtual desktop. Additionally, network bandwidth and quality are critical to avoiding latency during user sessions. Therefore, thorough testing and proper sizing of hardware resources before production deployment is essential.
The demand for active VDI sessions can fluctuate significantly throughout the day and week. IT administrators need the capability to dynamically scale resources up and down as needed. While instant cloning, virtual disk replication, hot add/remove of CPU, RAM, storage, and network bandwidth can expedite and streamline this process, it’s crucial to remember that these features are only effective when coupled with robust monitoring and corresponding automated processes.
Organizations must invest in enough resources to handle maximum load while efficiently utilizing resources during lower loads, so extensive capacity planning and prediction of future peak loads are critical.
2. Storage
Back in the early days of VDI, we used to call VDI “storage from hell,” and it was one of the major reasons companies did not implement the technology. While the technology has significantly improved, VDI places high demands on storage solutions, both for user data, profiles, and virtual disks. The volume of data is high, making storage performance and scalability paramount.
On the user data side, IT administrators need effective ways to manage profiles and workspaces across sessions and restarts. Data must be replicated and made available to users regardless of location. Technologies, such as (FS-login) and cloud-based file shares, may be suitable.
The choice of disk technology is crucial for performance and cost-effectiveness for the virtual disks that make up the actual desktops. Optimizing storage through proper configuration of RAID levels, caching, and disk types, such as SSD/Flash, is essential to achieve enough IOPS to serve numerous concurrent desktop sessions.
3. Administration and updates
Managing many virtualized desktops requires efficient mass administration and streamlined distribution of updates. Manual administration of each individual virtual machine is impractical. Numbers collected from the field tell us that not everyone updates their images after every “Patch Tuesday” or redeploys updated versions of applications since it is time-consuming.
IT administrators need tools and processes for centralized distribution of OS updates, application updates, and configuration changes to significantly reduce workloads and the risk of errors. They also need tools to clone and provision new machines based on updated templates.
Without automation, these tasks are extremely labor–intensive and inefficient, and they run an increased risk of human error.
4. Security
Centralizing data processing through VDI heightens security concerns. All user and application data is processed in a virtual environment with new attack surfaces and threats. A long-preferred entry point for attacks, VDI must be secured correctly to prevent hackers from using it to gain access to other critical systems.
The IT department must protect user profiles and workspace data both during transmission over the network and while the data is stored on servers, requiring effective encryption, secure transmission methods, and control over who has access to the data.
Virtual machines and host systems are also potential attack surfaces, and the lack of automation makes the process of keeping software updated extremely labor-intensive. And, while often overlooked, insider attacks also pose a very real danger.
With looming threats at each stage, rock-solid systems for monitoring, auditing, and controlling access become extra important in VDI environments.
5. Cost considerations
Implementing and operating a VDI environment in your data center involves significant investment and operating costs.
Procuring servers, storage, networking equipment, VDI software, and licenses can easily amount to million-dollar investments. Operating VDI manually also requires more time from staff for installation and setup.
6. Backup and restore processes
Backup and restore processes in a VDI environment are critical for maintaining data integrity and availability.
Challenges:
- Cyber attacks, such as ransomware
- Attackers targeting backups for ransom payments
Solutions:
- Regularly testing and validating backup and restore processes ensures that data can be reliably restored in the event of an incident. This includes performing routine restore drills to verify the integrity and completeness of backups.
- Utilizing automation tools to streamline backup and restore operations significantly reduces the risk of human error. Automated backup schedules ensure that backups occur consistently and at optimal times, minimizing the impact on system performance.
- Implementing robust security measures to protect backup data is crucial. This includes encryption of data at rest and in transit, secure access controls, and regular monitoring for unauthorized access attempts.
- Implementing comprehensive backup solutions and DR plans that offer redundancy and high availability is paramount. This includes off-site backups, snapshot-based backups, and incremental backups that capture changes since the last backup, minimizing data loss.
- Developing and maintaining comprehensive disaster recovery (DR) plans that outline procedures for data restoration in various scenarios is essential. These plans should be regularly updated and tested to ensure their effectiveness in real-world situations.
The benefits of automation
Automation and orchestration tools are critical enablers to effectively run VDI at scale while controlling costs and ensuring performance/security. Automation offers solutions for:
- Automated provisioning and de-provisioning of virtual desktops.
- Dynamic allocation of compute, storage, and network resources.
- Intelligent load balancing and session management.
- Centralized patching and updating across the entire VDI stack.
- User data/profile management and replication.
- Performance monitoring and auto-scaling triggers.
- Role-based access controls and auditing.
Leading VDI platforms, such as Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop and others, provide APIs and integration capabilities to enable automation workflows. Third-party tools can further enhance automation capabilities.
By leveraging such tools, IT teams can simplify operations, improve compliance, optimize resource utilization, and rapidly respond to changing business demands, reducing capital and operating expenses.
Conclusion
Running VDI internally without automation tools is a highly labor-intensive endeavor that strains IT teams and budgets. From struggling with performance and scalability, inefficient administration, and security vulnerabilities to unpredictable costs, the challenges are daunting. Thankfully, leveraging automation tools and other helpful processes can make on-premises VDI less daunting.
However, instead of dealing with the difficulties of on-premises systems, more organizations are shifting their operations to the cloud with Microsoft Azure. Migrating your VDI environment to Microsoft Azure not only addresses the inherent challenges of on-premises setups but also enhances overall efficiency, security, and cost-effectiveness. Azure empowers organizations to focus on their core business objectives while providing a robust, scalable, and secure VDI solution.
Looking for ways to incorporate automation within your infrastructure? Learn how Nerdio Manager for Enterprise can help.
