Hybrid delivery: Azure Virtual Desktop arrives at a data centre near you!
As the world began to seriously consider remote working in late 2019, Microsoft launched Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), a service designed to enable the virtualisation of Microsoft’s Windows operating system to deliver virtual desktops and applications securely from the cloud.
AVD provides users with a scalable and flexible platform, enabling them to create a complete desktop virtualisation environment able to accommodate a selection of diverse workloads. It also enables cloud capacity to be automatically increased or decreased based on certain criteria such as: time of day, specific days of the week or as demand changes by using autoscale. All of which helps manage the cost of running the system.
However, AVD could only be accessed in Azure. Until now.
Meet Azure Stack HCI
The creation of Azure Stack HCI, has changed the game completely for businesses using or thinking of using AVD.
As a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution that hosts both Windows and Linux, Azure Stack HCI is a hybrid product that connects on-premises systems to Azure for cloud-based services, monitoring and management.
If businesses are already using AVD with session hosts in Azure, they can extend deployment to their on-premises infrastructure with Azure Stack HCI, enabling them to better meet their performance or data sovereignty needs.
But how else do businesses benefit from using AVD with Azure Stack HCI?
On-premises revolution
By utilising on-premises infrastructure, businesses who use AVD with Azure Stack HCI can avoid some of the recurring costs associated with cloud usage. Azure Stack HCI enables businesses to store important data on-premises, helping them better comply with data regulations, all without footing a growing bill for cloud storage.
Where there are concerns around using a purely cloud solution, businesses who deploy Azure Virtual Desktop with Azure Stack HCI on-premises can benefit from improved performance - the result of applications and data being served locally. Azure Stack HCI runs AVD session hosts using Microsoft hardware that is installed onto physical servers on-premises which ensures end-users experience a low latency connection and faster access to data.
Similarly, if businesses are looking to meet specific performance requirements, utilising Azure Virtual Desktop with Azure Stack HCI provides businesses with the flexibility to tailor infrastructure to meet targeted performance benchmarks. Organisations can fine-tune host hardware specifications including CPU, memory and storage to achieve precise performance goals, helping them optimise the virtual desktop environment in ways unique to the demands of their business.
What about Windows 365?
Anyone who’s looked at AVD will also have encountered Windows 365. A cloud-based service, Windows 365 automatically creates a new type of Windows virtual machine for businesses and their employees. Each Cloud PC is assigned to an individual user and streams as their dedicated Windows “device”.
Windows 365 however, is not designed to be delivered in a hybrid model.
Head-to-head, Windows 365 also has fewer management features and flexibility compared to AVD, which comes with an array of options to manage virtual machines including the ability to deliver pooled desktops shared between users.
The differences in delivery approach and levels of customisation and management, are also reflected in the cost of the services. For Windows 365 businesses are paying per user regardless of whether the virtual desktops are being used or not. Conversely, deploying AVD, businesses pay-as-they-use.
If you’re curious as to how you can benefit from using AVD with Azure Stack HCI on-premises, get in touch with the FluidOne Business IT team today.
