Image sprawl, time-consuming processes, and app management complexity are some of the top challenges IT admins deal with across VDI and published app environments. These challenges become more rampant as organizations deploy and manage different types of desktop and app virtualization solutions. To address these challenges, we’re excited to share our latest announcements for unifying app management in virtual desktop and app environments with VMware App Volumes. In this blog, we’ll cover what’s new with App Volumes and Apps on Demand, the foundational pillars of our Apps Everywhere vision.
App Volumes support for persistent virtual desktops
In VMware Horizon environments with non-persistent desktops, App Volumes can be combined with instant clones and Dynamic Environment Manager so that desktops can be provisioned in seconds, apps can be attached to desktops in real time, and profile and policy configurations can be deployed to user sessions to give users a persistent desktop experience in a snap. We also have many customers who have deployed Horizon with persistent desktops. So now we are excited to host an upcoming beta for App Volumes for persistent virtual desktops, targeted within the next three months. The same one-to-many provisioning model App Volumes applies toward non-persistent desktops will be used for persistent virtual desktop environments. The benefits will include infrastructure savings, as single app copies can be delivered to all persistent desktops instead of one app copy, and the storage it takes up, per desktop. IT teams will also be able to reduce the time they’re spending managing OS images based on App Volume’s unique separation of app and OS layers. IT admins will no longer have to go through the pain of creating bloated OS image after bloated OS image. Sign up for the beta here.
Apps on Demand support for Horizon Cloud next-gen
Horizon Cloud next-gen, made generally available at VMware Explore 2022, is our next-generation platform that offers customers lower infrastructure costs based on a thin-edge concept. This configuration shifts several components that IT had to previously deploy and manage over to the VMware control plane. Thinning the edge helped us develop a pod-less architecture, which helps scale up to 10x more users across edges instead of being limited by pod constraints. App Volumes support is already helping customers efficiently manage their apps across Horizon Cloud next-gen. As such, we’re bringing the power of Apps on Demand to the next-gen platform. Customers will be able to use App Volumes to deliver apps to users at login or Apps on Demand to deliver apps to desktops and RDSH servers on demand. The same benefits we’ve discussed will apply: reduced image and app management time and infrastructure costs, based on a reduction in the number of OS images and one app copy delivered everywhere. We are working toward supporting this capability within the next six months.
Apps on Demand support for Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop RemoteApp streaming
Earlier this year, we announced a solution preview of App Volumes for Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop RemoteApp streaming. Customers could test App Volumes and Apps on Demand with Azure Virtual Desktop’s remote app service. We are working toward App Volumes and Apps on Demand support within the next three months. Customers using Azure Virtual Desktop RemoteApp will be able to realize the benefits of simplified app lifecycle management with App Volumes and Apps on Demand. The App Volumes manager will be configured for Azure to deliver apps to RemoteApp servers as users utilize their apps. This feature will eliminate the need to install apps into OS images, thereby reducing management and infrastructure costs. For any customers using Azure for capacity to host virtual desktops and apps, App Volumes is already supported with Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure, Horizon on Azure VMware Solution, and Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop for non-persistent desktops. App Volumes support for Windows 365 is currently in public preview. Ultimately, App Volumes will be the single solution IT teams need to manage apps across various Azure deployments.
Apps on Demand support for Amazon AppStream 2.0
Continuing down the path of multi-cloud support for app management, we are working toward App Volumes with Apps on Demand support for Amazon AppStream 2.0 within the next three months. We have partnered with Amazon on several deployment options, including Horizon Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, Horizon on VMware Cloud on AWS, and Horizon with Amazon WorkSpaces Core. For those who prefer to use Amazon AppStream 2.0 to stream apps to users, App Volumes can be used to deliver, update, and manage the lifecycle of apps on AppStream servers. As with App Volumes for Horizon Apps, Citrix Virtual Apps, and Azure Virtual Desktop RemoteApp, IT teams will be able to leverage App Volumes and Apps on Demand to separate apps and OS management, reducing infrastructure and time spent managing apps.
If you are at VMware Explore 2023 Las Vegas, you can learn more about Apps Everywhere, App Volumes, and Apps on Demand from subject matter experts in our App Volumes sessions. To learn more about App Volumes and Apps on Demand, visit https://vmware.com/go/av.
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