By Tina de Benedictis, Senior Technical Marketing Manager, End-User Computing, VMware
Are you wondering about licensing for the new VMware Horizon Suite and each of its component bundles? Following is a quick guide to Horizon Suite licensing.
Because of the preponderance of multiple devices per person in the workplace, VMware decided to go with named-user licensing for the Horizon Suite. Why? Named-user licensing allows each named user to access the Horizon Suite from any of their devices. The Horizon Suite is software for a mobile workforce. An end user can sit at their desk and access their View desktop, their applications, and their data from their desktop computer, then go to a meeting or head out to the airport and still be able to access their desktops, data, and applications from any HTML5 web browser on an iPad, iPhone, or Android mobile device. Mobile users, mobile devices…the Horizon Suite accommodates this mobile lifestyle.
The VMware Horizon Suite 1.0 includes the VMware Horizon View, VMware Horizon Mirage, and VMware Horizon Workspace bundles. You can also purchase each bundle separately. Here is a table summarizing the licensing scheme for the whole Horizon Suite, as well as for each bundle that you might purchase separately.
Licensing of users is according to which Horizon bundle or suite you purchase:
Bundle or Suite |
Components |
Type of License |
Horizon View |
|
Concurrent User |
Horizon Mirage |
|
Named User |
Horizon Workspace |
|
Named User |
Horizon Suite | All three smaller bundles:
|
Named User |
* In all Horizon bundles and the suite, VMware Workstation is licensed for the creation of virtual machines for the ThinApp capture-and-build process. Workstation is not licensed for creating virtual machines for users. VMware Fusion Pro in the Horizon Mirage bundle is intended for the creation of virtual machines for users, and Horizon Mirage can manage those Fusion virtual machines. |
Any product purchased within a bundle or suite retains the license type of the bundle or suite. Thus, ThinApp purchased within the Horizon View bundle is licensed per concurrent user, and ThinApp purchased within the Horizon Suite or Horizon Mirage bundle is licensed per named user.
If you purchased VMware View in the past, or purchase the new VMware Horizon View bundle separately from the Horizon Suite now, your Horizon View desktops are licensed per concurrent user. If you want to use those desktops within the Horizon Workspace, the concurrent-user licensing persists. If you want named-user licensing for your Horizon View desktops, purchase those desktops through the Horizon Suite.
For more information, see the VMware Knowledge Base article VMware Horizon Suite 1.0 licensing.