When designing a hybrid and multi-cloud desktop virtualization platform like VMware Horizon, one of the main challenges is building a single platform that can be deployed in multiple locations without making it feel like you’re managing multiple different environments. After all, organizations don’t want to be in the business of managing multiple desktop virtualization silos. They want one desktop virtualization platform that can deliver desktops in multiple ways.
Threading that needle is something VMware has put a huge amount of effort into, and with the Horizon Control Plane Services like Cloud Monitoring, Image Management and Simplified Application Management, we’ve shown we’re up to the task. But to truly achieve that one-platform-for-all-uses vision, you must be able to simplify and unify assigning and accessing virtual desktops and applications. That is where VMware Horizon Universal Broker comes in, and it’s what today’s blog is about.
This week, we’re also announcing the expansion of several Horizon Control Plane services to additional cloud providers. I’m excited to note that Horizon Universal Broker is now available for VMware Horizon on Azure VMware Solution (AVS) environments. You can head to our overview blog and press release for more information.
Brokering, Simplified
Horizon Universal Broker, along with its counterpart Multi Cloud Assignments, is part of the Horizon Control Plane and serves as the evolution of Cloud Pod Architecture. These two technologies combine to reduce operational costs, environmental complexity and end-user friction across all Horizon environments, including Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure (which was previously not supported with Cloud Pod Architecture).
Because Universal Broker lives in the VMware-managed Horizon Control Plane, it has visibility into each Horizon environment, on-premises or in the cloud. Rather than relying on complex network configurations to route traffic between Horizon pods in different providers (on-premises or in a cloud provider like Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud), each pod communicates directly with Universal Broker.
With Multi-Cloud Assignments, admins no longer need to create different assignments for each pod. Instead, they create an assignment one time for all environments, and users have a single URL from which they can access all their entitlements.
The top-down approach of Universal Broker and Multi-Cloud Assignments (collectively referred to as just “Universal Broker”) results in a cohesive global entitlement layer that simplifies management and increases the user experience. With this new method comes new opportunities to add value, such as:
- Simplified management through the ability to make one assignment for all environments
- Support for all Horizon Control Plane-connected environments, including Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure and those currently running Cloud Pod Architecture.
- Intelligent, centralized smart brokering that can automatically route end users to the virtual desktops or apps based on admin-configurable policies like client device type or user location.
- End users have a single interface to access their virtual desktops and apps, either via a single URL to the Universal Broker instance, or via Workspace ONE Access & Intelligent Hub.
- East-West traffic is eliminated between Horizon Pods, eliminating hairpinning.
- Because Universal Broker lives in the Horizon Control Plane and has visibility into all Horizon environments, IT no longer needs to deploy GSLB to support multiple deployment locations with a single URL for all users to access their desktops.
We believe that Universal Broker and Multi-Cloud Assignments are a shining example of the power of VMware Horizon. When you combine them with the other capabilities of the Horizon Control Plane like monitoring, image management, and application management, as well as the features and functionality you’ve come to expect from Horizon, you’ll see there’s no better combination of features, user experience and value than VMware Horizon.
For more information on the Horizon Control Plane Services, Horizon Universal Broker or Multi-Cloud Assignments, check out these resources:
- VMware Tech Zone: Horizon Universal Broker and Multi-Cloud Assignments Feature Walk-Through
- VMware EUC Blogs: Learn about the Horizon Control Plane – Universal Brokering and Multi-Cloud Assignments
- Horizon Control Plane Services website
- Horizon Control Plane Services Journey – https://techzone.vmware.com/horizon-control-plane-services-journey
- Horizon Control Plane Universal Broker Page – https://techzone.vmware.com/horizon-control-plane-services-focus-page#universal-broker
