Cisco Converged-Infrastructure Solutions for VDI with VMware Horizon

The modern workplace includes a mix of employees and contractors, working from multiple locations, with different devices, and wanting the flexibility and convenience they experience in their personal lives. Digitization and cloud technology continue to change the experience, and expectations, for how work gets done.

These changes increase the pressure on IT departments to add flexibility, support multiple access scenarios, and maintain the security of corporate networks and data. These challenges are compounded by desktop refresh cycles, aging PCs, upgrades to Microsoft Windows 10, and increasing graphics demands from applications.

A virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can provide the needed flexibility for workers, support a wide variety of applications, maintain or increase data security, and reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). Desktop virtualization with VMware Horizon and Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS®) converged infrastructure solutions delivers scalable solutions that simplify management, optimize user experiences, and offer superior price-to-performance ratios for customers of all sizes. Fully integrated with VMware vCenter, this VDI solution offers uncompromised user experiences across devices and locations.

These solutions simplify infrastructure and reduce the risk associated with desktop virtualization deployments, addressing the typical IT challenges to enable a high-performance, easy to manage, and cost-effective environment.

Meet the evolving demands of today’s workforce

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Benefits of Cisco’s converged-infrastructure solutions for VDI with VMware Horizon• Increase flexibility with anytime, anywhere, any device access.• Accelerate time to productivity and business agility with a solution that

provisions new desktops in seconds and scales seamlessly.• Deliver an uncompromised user experience.• Save money and experience faster ROI, using one of the industry’s

greatest virtual desktop density per server, with fewer cables and fewer ports required.

• Solve the complex, massive problem of securing your intellectual property by keeping your data in the data center, under your control, while allowing VDI users access to create, modify, and retire content.

• Cisco UCS servers contain more cores to handle workloads, provide better memory performance, and deliver a smooth user experience.

• Cisco UCS Manager provides unified, embedded management of all software and hardware components of Cisco UCS. It can control multiple chassis and thousands of virtual machines.

• Cisco Nexus® switches deliver industry-leading automation, programmability, and real-time visibility with low density, low latency, and power efficiency.

• VMware Horizon enables IT departments to simultaneously deliver virtual desktops, applications, high levels of desktop security, and superior scalability and management – all while substantially reducing TCO.

• Several scalable storage options are fully tested to work with this VDI solution. They offer efficient, enterprise-grade storage with consistent performance. Cisco Validated Design (CVD) storage solutions include NetApp FlexPod, Pure Storage FlashStack, and IBM VersaStack.

• NVIDIA virtual GPU (vGPU) graphics acceleration can be added to the solution, to allocate and support graphics processing resources to users’ machines based on need.

Task user

Microsoft Windows 10

Horizon agent

Application

Microsoft Windows 10

Horizon agent

Application

Microsoft Windows 10

Horizon agent

Application

Graphics workstation

Knowledge worker

LAN/WAN/wireless network infrastructure

Laptops

iPad and Android tablets

PCs and workstations

iPhone and Android phones

VMware Horizon

VMware ESXi + NVIDIA GPU, host drivers, and software

FlexPod VxBlockVersaStackFlashStack Custom solutions

Cisco UCS converged infrastructure solutions

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With a VDI built on Cisco UCS converged infrastructure and VMware Horizon, users can work on any app, any device, at any location, provided the compliance requirements defined by the application or service owners are met. Cisco and VMware provide a consistent, unified, and performant end-user experience – even across operating systems. With this solution, depicted in Figure 1, IT can focus on improving usability and providing the personalized, intuitive experience that workers expect when they access mission-critical apps and data. The Cisco converged infrastructure solutions for VDI with VMware Horizon include Cisco UCS, Cisco Nexus® switches, VMware Horizon for VDI, your choice of primary storage, and optional graphics acceleration.

Provide the optimal end-user experience

Learn moreExplore how VDI on a converged infrastructure can support your organization’s current and future plans, deliver business agility, and lower both CapEx and OpEx.

• Cisco Virtual Desktop Infrastructure• Cisco and VMware partner site• Cisco Validated Design Navigator

Figure 1 Cisco converged infrastructure solutions for VDI with VMware Horizon