Virtual Desktop Service

What is NetApp’s Virtual Desktop Service (VDS)?

VDS is a SaaS-delivered global control plane for virtual desktop management that functions as an extension of the cloud. With VDS, businesses anywhere in the world can deploy a validated solution to address today’s inefficiencies when managing legacy virtual desktop solutions.

What problems does VDS address?

VDS makes virtual desktop provisioning and automation easy. It offers businesses anywhere in the world a validated solution to their biggest challenge in the virtual desktop deployment, management and optimization.

How does VDS solve these problems?

VDS extends cloud capabilities by delivering a global control plane to manage virtual desktops through all phases of the desktop lifecycle. VDS can provision and deploy both users and infrastructure in an automated manner, and then manage the cloud, Windows, and application layers according to your policies. VDS is a flexible solution, with open REST APIs, and is interoperable with your private, public or hybrid cloud deployment strategy and your user’s chosen endpoint devices

In what cloud environments can I use VDS?

VDS supports Remote Desktop Services (RDS) on major public cloud environments including Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform as well as on-premise HCI environments running the vSphere hypervisor. NetApp VDS also provides native support for Microsoft's Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) solution in Microsoft Azure.

Can VDS meet the requirements of my changing workforce?

VDS meets the needs of today’s changing workforce in the following ways:

• Reduce time, processes and costs due to manual on-premise configuration of individual workspaces
• Mitigate risk of human errors in a business climate driven by the need for speed, agility and a rapidly changing workforce – that now includes contractors, seasonal and shift workers
• Accelerate application provisioning by rapidly creating workspaces for employees, syncing with real-time data, and integrating with your public cloud of choice
• Simple SaaS UI and open API interfaces reduce time to provision, scale, consolidate, suspend, power down, monitor and maintain digital unified workspaces.
• Flexible interoperability with public or hybrid clouds.

What are the hardware and software requirements to deploy VDS?

VDS is a hosted global control plane, accessible as a SaaS solution – so you don’t need to ‘deploy’ it all. All that is required is credentials to the service, which allow you to deploy in your chosen cloud infrastructure or on-premise environments.

Where do I deploy VDS?

NetApp hosts and manages VDS’s control plane software. It is managed as a SaaS solution to accelerate your deployment of virtual desktops by utilizing the cloud infrastructure of your choosing – whether public, private, or hybrid cloud models.

How does VDS scale?

VDS is inclusive of multiple, high availability PaaS elements to ensure consistent performance uptime and security from any location. And you have the comfort of knowing that NetApp is recognized for providing some of the most scalable cloud services in the industry, such as Azure NetApp Files and Cloud Volumes Service.

How many virtual desktops can VDS deploy and manage

As a cloud-driven solution that is operable on your preferred cloud infrastructure, VDS can support an infinite number of end users and virtual desktops.

What does it cost to run virtual desktops in the public cloud environment with VDS?

The primary drivers of cost are compute, network, and storage resources. VDS provides the tools to “right-size” your existing IT infrastructure resources by adapting, in real-time, to virtual desktop consumption needs. VDS optimizes the cost and utilization of your current cloud resources to ensure that you achieve maximum performance at minimal cost.