This week at Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft announced a Tech Preview for a new feature that allows Azure Virtual Desktop to run on-premises via Azure Stack HCI. This new feature of Azure Virtual Desktop addresses some customer needs related to using the features of Azure Virtual Desktop, like Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session, in environments with data locality constraints or latency-sensitive applications.
VMware Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure is an approved Azure Virtual Desktop provider and can leverage the power of Azure Virtual Desktop in Horizon Cloud environments. As such, Microsoft and VMware will be working together to extend our partnership to support this new capability in ways that provide exceptional value to our joint customers. We plan to do this with our next-generation hybrid DaaS architecture, which was previewed at VMworld.
What is the next-generation hybrid DaaS architecture?
Today, we offer two platforms for delivering virtual desktops and applications. Horizon 8 runs on vSphere-based environments, like on-premises or VMware Cloud platforms like VMC on AWS, Google Cloud VMware Engine, or Microsoft Azure VMware Solution. Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure, on the other hand, runs natively in Azure. Each of these platforms leverages the same Horizon Control Plane, which unifies management and allows customers to treat all Horizon deployments as a single hybrid or multi-cloud environment.
Announced at VMworld, our next-generation hybrid DaaS architecture is our plan for the evolution of VMware Horizon. Our goal is to create a single, unified platform across on-premises and cloud environments. We plan on doing this with a pod-less architecture that moves key components to the VMware-hosted Horizon Control Plane.
Instead of pods (and all the components required to support them), the next-gen architecture will consist of a lightweight, or “thin” edge deployed on-premises or in the cloud, with single pane of glass management across all environments. This new approach will reduce costs, increase scalability, improve troubleshooting, and deliver a seamless hybrid and multi-cloud experience. Plus, the next-gen platform is API-driven, meaning customers, partners and service providers will be able to build third-party integrations and services to further enhance the platform!
Our plan is to roll out the next-gen architecture for native Microsoft Azure workloads first, effectively becoming the new back end for Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure. This coincides nicely with the plans Microsoft has laid out for Azure Virtual Desktop support on Azure Stack HCI.
We’ve been getting great feedback from early preview customers and partners. If you’d like to be included in upcoming communications about the next-generation hybrid DaaS architecture of VMware Horizon, fill out this form. We’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest news, including betas, release information, features, and more.
For more information on the Horizon next-generation hybrid DaaS architecture, check out the following resources:
- Announcement Blog: It’s time to reveal the future of VMware Horizon
- VMworld 2021 Solution Keynote Part 2: Technical Deep Dives on SASE and Horizon with Shawn Bass and Shikha Mittal
- VMworld 2021 Session: VMware Horizon Cloud Service: Update and a Sneak Peek at the Next Evolution of Horizon with Shikha Mittal and Jerrid Cunniff
- Voices of VMworld: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and VMware CEO Raghu Raghuram on industry trends and our partnership
