VMware Horizon View - VDI on the Horizon
April 18, 2016
VMware Horizon View - VDI on the Horizon
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with VMware Horizon View
It's being used primarily in our callcenters. However we do have multiple active use cases across departments and physical locations. This has primarily allowed us to provide 'just-in-time' access to users without significant repetitive labor on the part of our team. It has also alleviated concerns with high risk users that may be prone to vulnerabilities. Their systems are recycled upon logoff, providing a clean slate on their next session.
- Fast resolution to high volume user access demands.
- Allows for rapid deployment of updates or updated desktops and new applications without user downtime, repetitive action, or physical access.
- Dynamic options, allowing to cater needs to the user, role, or company expectations. This includes OS, application access avenues, and user management of resources.
- VSAN -- This experience is from a pre-Horizon 7 deployment. While we have had redundancy issues in our deployment, the concerns we experience are said to be resolved in the latest VSAN release.
- Persona Management can be troublesome, leading to mismatches in user data against the server. This requires manual interaction to resolve if a network or user error led to the two falling out of sync. The risk in this is user data loss. Again, new developments in user management is said to resolve these concerns in Horizon 7.
- Security Servers and off-site access to VMware Horizon View has been difficult due to the problematic deployment scenario (a server inside the network with several external hooks). This is said to be resolved with the advent of EUC in Horizon 7. I'm excited to begin testing on this solution as feedback elsewhere has been positive.
- Reduced need for additional IT staff.
- Flexibility in existing IT staff's work location with reduced physical access demands.
- Less losses in hardware. The servers that power the desktops have a longer productive life than traditional desktops and allow for flexibility in how resources are allocated to actual need versus the 'lump assumption' of a normal thick client. If needs demand more resources they can be allocated logically on the fly. If the larger need for more resources is defined, additional or new generation servers can be brought into the cluster. If older servers are cycled out, they still have productive use for other non-VDI roles, furthering their ROI.
We did not deploy in-house testing, though we did review another company's deployment. At the time we liked what we saw in Horizon, though I have no doubts that XenDesktop could deliver just as well and still does for the other company that presented it to us. What tipped the scales in VMware's favor was our already invested state with ESXi, the tight integration promised with vCenter, and the newly available (at the time) VSAN solution.