Many organizations are currently leveraging virtual desktops. Right now, they are becoming increasingly popular, when much of the workforce is remote. The fact is, the way we work is rapidly evolving. An increasing number of companies are adapting to these changes and cutting costs with Azure Virtual Desktop, also known as AVD (formerly Azure WVD).
The following sections have been covered in this blog:
- What is Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)?
- Need of a Virtual Desktop
- Advantages of an Azure Virtual Desktop
- Requirements for AVD
- Azure Virtual Desktop key management tasks
- Azure Virtual Desktop Pricing
- How to be an Azure AVD Specialist??
What is Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)?
Azure Virtual Desktop or AVD is a set of technologies from Microsoft Azure that enables IT professionals and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to create Windows 10 virtual desktops in Azure. It is fast becoming the solution of choice for organisations looking for a reliable, secure and cost-efficient solution to remote working.
Here’s what you can do when you run Azure Virtual Desktop on Azure:
- Set up a multi-session Windows 10 deployment that delivers a full Windows 10 with scalability
- Virtualize Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise and optimize it to run in multi-user virtual scenarios
- Provide Windows 7 virtual desktops with free Extended Security Updates
- Bring your existing Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and Windows Server desktops and apps to any computer
- Manage Windows 10, Windows Server, and Windows 7 desktops and apps with a unified management experience
Need of a Virtual Desktop
You may be wondering: How do I determine if my organization need a virtual desktop solution?
If all of your staff have work laptops and you can secure and manage their access to the information and applications they need, using a virtual desktop may not be necessary for your organization. If any of the following apply to you, it’s worth considering AVD.
- Your staff need to work remotely: Your team need to be able to work from home, when travelling, on customer sites or in the office and have the same user experience wherever they are. You need to manage and secure access to company data and applications.
- Simple security management: When you have contractors or part-time staff that need access to information, security can become a concern.
- You have an occasional need for PCs: Azure WVD makes it possible to deploy virtual PCs when you need them. As your needs change, you can add or remove virtual desktops to meet the needs of your workforce.
- You need different types of PCs for different teams in the business: You can deploy different virtual desktops to different user groups.
Advantages of an Azure Virtual Desktop
- Simple to deploy and configure: In the Azure Portal, you can deploy and manage virtual desktops and apps, assign users and have access to monitoring and diagnostics. All of this is available to you in a single interface.
- Cost-effective: Azure Virtual Desktop can save your organization money because you only pay for virtual servers when your virtual desktops are on.
- Easy to scale: You can quickly provide full Windows 10 desktops with all your business applications to your users.
- Flexible: It’s the only virtual desktop interface that offers Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session.
Requirements for AVD
Your infrastructure needs the following things to support Windows Virtual Desktop:
- An Azure Active Directory
- A Windows Server Active Directory in sync with Azure Active Directory. You can configure this with one of the following:
- Azure AD Connect (for hybrid organizations)
- Azure AD Domain Services (for hybrid or cloud organizations)
- An Azure subscription that contains a virtual network that either contains or is connected to the Windows Server Active Directory
Azure Virtual Desktop key management tasks
- Administer Group Policy
- Manage images
- Update your desktops and applications or deploy new applications
- Validate updates before users access them
- Add or remove session hosts from the host pool
- Create new host pools
- Monitor and receive alerts for the environment
- Backup the environment
Azure Virtual Desktop Pricing
Azure experts outline that the monthly cost will depend on the number of users, the software that they need and their usage patterns. This is what the costs will typically include:
- A domain controller: This will manage user access and the Session Hosts. If simplicity is a priority for your organization, one option is to use Azure Active Directory Domain Services.
- Session hosts: You will need session hosts to host the virtual desktops. Note that you only pay for the session hosts while they are on.
- Storage for user profile disks: Your user profile is stored centrally and is attached to whichever session host you are allocated to – this means that your desktop and your data looks the same regardless of which session host you are allocated to that time.
- Licensing: To use AVD, you will need licensing for MS Office with Shared Computer Activation (if you are using the Office suite), FSLogix, Windows 10. Enterprise
How to be an Azure AVD Specialist?
To be an Azure Virtual Desktop Specialist you have to Earn the new Azure Virtual Desktop Specialty certification with Exam AZ-140. Responsibilities for this role include deploying virtual desktop experiences and apps to Azure. Professionals in this role deliver applications on Azure Virtual Desktop and optimize them to run in multi-session virtual environments. To deliver these experiences, they work closely with the Azure administrators and architects, along with Microsoft 365 Administrators.
Conclusion:
In this blog, we learned that Azure Virtual Desktop is a Microsoft Azure-based system for virtualizing its Windows operating systems, providing virtualized desktops and applications in the cloud and how to determine if any organization need a virtual desktop solution and which certification to be an AVD Specialist.
References/Related
- Case Study: Deploy A Container Instance In Azure Using The Azure Portal
- Azure Storage Account [Official Microsoft]
- Core Cloud Service: Azure Compute Options
- [Recap] Day 8: Manage Workloads in Azure [Azure Solutions Architect] [AZ-303/304]
- Exam AZ-305: Azure Solutions Architect Expert Certification
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