VDI on the Horizons
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We utilize Horizons currently as an RDP solution for our work-from-home associates. This allows them to access internal resources, such as applications, intranet, etc, easier as if they were remoting into a physical machine in the office. This allows us to purchase lighter physical machines with less resources since most of the computing will be done on the virtual machine.
Pros
- Ability to utilize voice when remoting into the virtual machine.
- Ability to utilize physical peripherals of a machine.
- Easier options for end users to configure in order for them to utilize.
Cons
- Disconnection from Horizons Agent randomly which forces the VM to need to be restarted before Horizons can administer it again and end users can login.
- Speed when being utilized by end users compared to Microsoft RDP. Horizons is noticeably slower compared to Microsoft RDP.
- Failover functionality when VMs disconnect from agent.
Return on Investment
- Saved quite a bit of money instead of spending it on physical machines.
- Kept productivity going for most associates during Covid.
- Agent issues with the VMs disconnecting have caused an issue with productivity from the IT side.
Other Software Used
Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan), draw.io, Datadog, Microsoft SharePoint
