Simplicity [sim-plis-i-tee], noun:
freedom from complexity, intricacy or division into parts
You’re kicking off a project to deploy virtual desktops (VDI). It’s a journey that starts with assessing compute, memory and storage requirements and ends—eventually—with production desktops. Sound familiar? Well, leveraging VCE VxRail to deploy VMware Horizon VDI can radically simplify the process.
Here are five reasons why:
Reason #1: It’s Easy to Get Up & Running
The planning and design phase of traditional architecture involves coordination and
negotiations with multiple groups, such as server/compute, storage and networking.
And there is anxiety, because the deployment needs to be future proof. The last thing you want to do is launch the production environment, only to have to essentially start over to add more desktops. Or the reverse- oversize the environment (and investment!) to cover all eventualities.
Instead of creating a future-proofed monstrosity that requires every IT group in the company to agree on it, and herculean efforts to get the required budget, you can start small with VxRail. The reason you can start small is because you know you can easily scale when needed. This assurance helps get projects out of the planning phase and minimizes the up-front costs.
Reason #2: Even Easier to Scale
We’ve seen it before: the customer outgrows their deployment soon after or even before (gasp!) they launch the production desktop environment. It means they are growing fast, which is one of those good problems to have! Except, of course, if you are the IT administrator, who has to kick off a new project to scale the environment, essentially starting the whole process over again.
The modular, building-block nature of hyper-converged architecture makes it very easy to scale. VxRail appliances or even single nodes can be added to existing clusters in about five minutes. Learn more here.
[Related: Zero to VDI in Just 7 Weeks with VMware Horizon & VCE VxRail]
Reason #3: Streamlined Management for Lower OPEX
VMware constantly develops software to streamline management, and we’d like to focus in on three of Horizon’s new features that do just that:
- VMware Instant Clone Technology
- VMware App Volumes for modern application lifecycle management
- VMware vRealize Operations for Horizon to monitor the health and performance of the environment
Instant Clone Technology
If you ask an IT admin if they would rather deploy persistent or non-persistent desktops, they will pretend they don’t even know what a persistent virtual desktop is. Non-persistent desktops are infinitely easier to manage, and that’s the reason we offer products like VMware User Environment Manager to personalize plain vanilla desktops. Instant Clone technology takes non-persistent desktops to the next level by providing users with a brand new desktop in seconds. Click here for more information about Instant Clones.
App Volumes
Desktop image management quickly gets unwieldy across operating systems, application stacks and user groups. Every time there is a software update, each image must be recreated and reinstalled on the appropriate virtual desktops. It is an arduous process with many golden images. App Volumes radically streamlines this process by allowing multiple users to share one image, decreasing the time spent managing images by up to 95%. The time required to package applications is cut by 80% with almost no delivery failure rates, compared to an average of 12% (link) with traditional app management methods. Learn more about App Volumes here.
vRealize Operations for Horizon
Another source of operational efficiency comes from solving IT issues quickly or even before they surface. Have you ever suffered from the IT support chasm—the gap between IT teams? Something goes wrong, and IT teams blame each other. It’s common and can have a heavy impact on the business.
vRealize Operations for Horizon provides a single pane of glass to monitor the health and performance of your desktop environment—including the underlying infrastructure. End-user metrics streamline troubleshooting to quickly pinpoint and remediate system issues.
Reason #4: Rapid Plugin, Power-Up & Provisioning
VxRail integrates over 200 automated workflows and a new appliance can be set up in less than an hour. Adding an appliance to an existing cluster is even easier, taking just 5 minutes to get up and running. Pretty cool.
Reason #5: One Number to Call
If you are suffering from system issues and your IT teams are stumped, it’s time to call in the cavalry. But who? Which vendor are you going to call? The hypervisor vendor or the hardware vendor? Your technology stack can easily include six or more vendors, all with different service levels and remits.
VxRail is the only jointly developed VMware Hyper-Converged Software solution on the market, with both hardware and software supported solely by EMC. The all-VMware solution stack is designed to work together and ultimately supported by VMware, making your route to resolution easy.
VxRail is Latin for “simple.” Kidding, of course. But, seriously, check out VxRail as a simple solution to run your Horizon desktops and apps.
Learn more in our solution brief, VCE VxRail Appliance with Horizon VDI: Breaking Down the Barriers to Desktop Transformation.
Written in partnership with Arron Lock, VMware Senior Technical Marketing Manager.
