DEV Community

Elijah Dare
Elijah Dare

Posted on

πŸ’πŸ’° Building a πŸ’² Cost-Efficient Desktop Virtualization Environment with Azure Virtual Desktop πŸ–₯οΈπŸ’Ό

🌟 In today's digital workplace, remote access and desktop virtualization have become critical for businesses to maintain flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency. πŸ’ΌπŸ’»

πŸš€ Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), formerly known as Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), is a powerful cloud-based solution that enables organizations to create a full desktop virtualization environment without the need for additional gateway servers. πŸŒπŸ”Œ

πŸ“– In this comprehensive guide, we will explore how to set up an AVD environment that supports unlimited host pools, accommodating diverse workloads, while simultaneously reducing costs with pooled, multi-session resources. πŸ“ŠπŸ’°

🌈 Introduction to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) 🌈

πŸ”΅ Azure Virtual Desktop is a cloud-based service offered by Microsoft Azure that allows organizations to virtualize Windows desktops and applications. It offers the following advantages:

  • Scalability: AVD can scale up or down based on demand, ensuring you only pay for the resources you use. πŸ“ˆπŸ’²

  • Security: Azure's robust security features protect your virtual desktops and applications, including Azure Firewall and Azure Active Directory integration. πŸ”’πŸ›‘οΈ

  • Simplified Management: AVD centralizes management tasks, making it easier to deploy, monitor, and maintain your virtualization environment. πŸŽ›οΈπŸ‘¨β€πŸ’Ό

  • Cost-Efficiency: You can reduce costs by leveraging multi-session Windows 10 or Windows 11, allowing multiple users to share a single virtual machine (VM). πŸ’ΈπŸ€

πŸ› οΈ Setting Up Azure Virtual Desktop πŸ› οΈ

Let's go through the steps to create a full desktop virtualization environment in Azure. πŸš€

βš™οΈ Step 1: Azure Subscription βš™οΈ

1.1. Ensure you have an active Azure subscription. If not, sign up for one at https://azure.com. πŸ’ΌπŸ–‹οΈ

⚑ Step 2: Install PowerShell Modules ⚑

2.1. Open PowerShell as an administrator and install the Azure PowerShell module:

   Install-Module -Name Az -AllowClobber -Force -Scope CurrentUser
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

2.2. Sign in to your Azure account:

   Connect-AzAccount
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ–₯️ Step 3: Create Host Pools πŸ–₯️

3.1. Host pools are logical groupings of virtual desktops with similar configurations. Create host pools based on your workload requirements. πŸ“ŠπŸ–₯️

   New-RdsHostPool -TenantName "<YourTenantName>" -HostPoolName "<HostPoolName>" -FriendlyName "<FriendlyName>" -LoadBalancerType BreadthFirst
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ–ΌοΈ Step 4: Create VM Images πŸ–ΌοΈ

4.1. Build a golden image for your virtual desktops, ensuring it includes all required applications and configurations. 🌟🏞️

4.2. Capture the image and create a shared image gallery:

   Set-RdsGalleryImageDefinition -TenantName "<YourTenantName>" -GalleryImageName "<GalleryImageName>" -OsType "Windows" -Offer "Windows-10" -Sku "20h2-evd"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸš€ Step 5: Create Session Hosts πŸš€

5.1. Create session host VMs that will run your virtual desktops: πŸ–₯️πŸ”₯

   New-RdsSessionHost -TenantName "<YourTenantName>" -HostPoolName "<HostPoolName>" -SessionHostName "<SessionHostName>" -GalleryImageName "<GalleryImageName>"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό Step 6: Configure User Access πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’Ό

6.1. Grant access to users by assigning them to application groups: πŸ‘₯πŸ‘©β€πŸ’Ό

   New-RdsAppGroupAssignment -TenantName "<YourTenantName>" -HostPoolName "<HostPoolName>" -AppGroupName "<AppGroupName>" -UserPrincipalName "<UserPrincipalName>"
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

πŸ’‘ Step 7: Optimize Costs with Multi-Session Resources πŸ’‘

7.1. To reduce costs, use multi-session resources. This allows multiple users to share a single VM: πŸ’°πŸ‘₯

   Set-RdsSessionHost -TenantName "<YourTenantName>" -HostPoolName "<HostPoolName>" -SessionHostName "<SessionHostName>" -MaxUserCount <UserCount>
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🌟 Conclusion 🌟

By following these steps, you can create a fully functional desktop virtualization environment in Azure Virtual Desktop without the need for additional gateway servers. This environment is scalable, secure, and cost-efficient, making it an ideal solution for organizations of all sizes. Azure Virtual Desktop empowers businesses to embrace remote work, diverse workloads, and dynamic scaling while maintaining control and security. πŸŒπŸ‘©β€πŸ’»πŸŒπŸ”’

Top comments (0)