Extending Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS with Horizon Cloud Service
Several months ago, we announced the preview of Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS. There has been overwhelming interest and demand from our customers, and that’s why today I am excited to tell you about two major developments.
First, we are announcing the general availability of Horizon 7 (VDI and RDSH, Full Clones and Instant Clones) and App Volumes on VMware Cloud on AWS with the upcoming releases of Horizon 7.7 and App Volumes 2.15. User Environment Manager support has been available since September. With this, Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS is now at parity with Horizon 7 on-premises with the exception of few minor features and those we do not plan on supporting. Consult KB58539 for more details.
Second, we are enhancing Horizon 7 on-premises and on VMware Cloud on AWS by integrating with the Horizon Cloud Service and taking the first step to extend Horizon 7 with cloud-based management service. This will help consolidate and simplify management of global hybrid and multi-cloud deployments. With this announcement, we will be releasing unified visibility, health monitoring, and helpdesk services delivered from the Horizon Cloud Service for Horizon 7 deployments for both on-premises and on VMware Cloud on AWS. And specifically, for Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS, we will be previewing the automated installation of the Horizon 7 infrastructure. See our press release.
Up until now, Horizon Cloud Service and Horizon 7 have been two distinct platforms. Horizon Cloud Service delivers Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) to customers on IBM SoftLayer and Microsoft Azure, and Horizon 7 is a customer installed and managed software available on-premises and on VMware Cloud on AWS. Integrating Horizon 7 with the the Horizon Cloud Service brings the two platforms together with common cloud services and provides significant benefits to Horizon 7 customers:
- Single pane of glass view of global deployments – as a Horizon 7 customer, you can now view all your deployments, whether on-premises or on VMware Cloud on AWS, from a single Horizon Cloud management console. In addition to viewing the capacities, you will also have a dashboard where you can see the health of your deployments. From the search bar, you can look up information about users from any of the deployments thereby making it easier for your help desk to support your users.
- Tech Preview – Automated installation of Horizon 7 infrastructure on VMware Cloud on AWS – you will be able to automate the installation of your Horizon 7 Connection Server, Unified Access Gateway, App Volumes Manager using a wizard on the Horizon Cloud management console. This is a sneak preview of what you can do with the auto installer. We expect to deliver additional functionality in follow-on releases. For more information and to preview this service, please contact your VMware Account Executive.
So how can you get access to these optional new features? You’ll need the Horizon Subscription License. You will then be instructed to set up to log into the Horizon Cloud Service where you will access all these features. You can use the automated install service to deploy a new Horizon 7 pod on VMware Cloud on AWS. Or you can manually install a Horizon 7 pod and then connect it to the Horizon Cloud Service by downloading and installing the Horizon 7 Cloud Connector, a virtual appliance that connects Horizon 7 pods to Horizon Cloud Service.
While this is the first step on our multi-release journey to transform Horizon 7 with cloud-based management service, this is not a Horizon 7 DaaS (Desktop-as-a-Service) on VMware Cloud on AWS. As a customer, you are still in control of your own Horizon 7 infrastructure, but the management is made easier with more and more tools delivered from the Horizon Cloud Service.
Last but not least, to simplify the setup experience of Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS, we have also published a Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS Deployment Guide. While deploying Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS is very similar to on-premises, networking configuration on AWS is unique. This guide explains all of that, as well as how to link your Horizon 7 on VMware Cloud on AWS deployment with your on-premise deployments for hybrid cloud management.
