Differences between VDI and HVD

What is VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure)

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, VDI, is an on-premises technology that allows remote access to virtual machines hosted on an on-premises central server. VDI also supports cloud hosting integration but is mostly deployed on local servers. Through VDI technology, companies can empower their staff to work remotely from anywhere they are.

Use Cases:

• Remote Access: The major use case of VDI is to provide remote access to applications on a central server.
• Program Visualization: Engineers and product designers may use VDI technology to simulate or emulate applications to end-users or for testing purposes.
• Education and Learning Institutes: VDI is very useful in the educational sector, fostering remote learning and instant access to learning materials.

Advantages:

• Cost Effectiveness: VDI is more cost-effective to set up than HVD. The cost and resources required are minimal; there’s no need for more work desk computers as employees can work with their PCs and even mobile devices.
• Security: VDI offers better levels of security than running physical computers – since all data is sent and managed on a central computer.
• Accessibility: Through VDI deployments, end-users and employers can easily access business apps and communicate effectively.

Disadvantages:

• Scalability: Scaling VDI VMs is a bit stressful compared to cloud-hosted VMs – and it could face performance issues in high-demand data environments.
• Requires Highly Skilled IT Experts: Launching and managing VDI deployments requires high technical expertise.

Latency: Resource-intensive programs may cause high latency on the server, making the virtual desktops run slowly.

VDI vs. HVD

VDI and HVD are similar in many ways, but at the same time, they share quite many differences.

Architecture

VDI is deployed locally in a physical centralized system, which processes all the traffic and data. On the other hand, HVD is deployed on the cloud and all its traffic is managed by the service provider. However, due to the cloud deployment of HVD, it offers much easier scaling and other functionality.

Deployment Flexibility

From all angles, is it easier to deploy and manage multiple HVD virtual machines than VDIs. You can launch multiple HVD VMs by simply cloning a master VM and it as a template for launching many other similar VMs.

Performance and User Experience

Generally, virtual machines facilitate swift performance and improved user experiences. However, the performance of VDI is limited to the specifications of the local central system and hardware connections attached. While, for HVDs, there is room to scale and improve the users' experience easily.

Security Features

Talking of security, VDI is stored within busy premises, which means the security of the data stored on the VDI rests on the uptight security provisions of the organization. Also, keeping up with the security of on-premises VDI deployments requires employing data experts to monitor the system.

On the other hand, cloud-based HVD is equipped with formidable online security and encryption protocols to ensure 100% data safety. Also, patches are released by the service provider to ensure bug fixes and smooth performance of the deployed virtual machines. There could be other security features depending on your HVD service provider.

Conclusion

VDI and HVD have many similarities and they serve the same purpose – but HVD offers more flexibility and easiness for scaling. Small businesses may prefer VDI, but enterprise businesses would always want HVD since HVD offers enterprise features. However, choosing between these two remote-access deployment technologies depends on your business needs and size.