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Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) enables organizations to host and deliver large numbers of virtual desktops to remote users through a centralized hypervisor-based environment. It scales beyond single-user remote access solutions to support entire user populations accessing dedicated virtual machines over a network.

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About this video

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is an enterprise-grade remote access solution that centralizes desktop environments on a server running a hypervisor, allowing many users to simultaneously connect to individual virtual machines hosted within the organization's network. This approach extends the core concept behind a jump server — remoting into a machine that provides access to internal resources — but is architected to support large user populations rather than isolated individual connections. In a VDI deployment, the hypervisor runs on a dedicated server and hosts numerous virtual desktop instances, each functioning as a fully operational desktop environment that remote users can access. A connection broker is commonly deployed alongside the hypervisor to manage authentication and route each user to the appropriate virtual desktop, adding a layer of control and efficiency to the infrastructure. Because all virtual desktops and their associated data reside on the local network, VDI keeps sensitive resources off endpoint devices while delivering a consistent, manageable computing environment at scale. This makes it a practical choice for organizations that need to provide secure, standardized desktop access to distributed or large workforces without sacrificing centralized control.

What you'll learn

Explain how Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) enables multiple remote users to access centralized virtual desktops through a hypervisor-based environment
Distinguish between a jump server and a VDI solution in terms of scale and use case within a secure network architecture

What's covered

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VDI vs Jump Server
- Jump Server Recap
  - Remotes into network machine
  - Best for 1-2 users
- VDI for Many Users
  - Scales to hundreds of users
VDI Components
- Hypervisor
  - Installed on host machine
- Virtual Desktop OSes
  - Users remote into desktops
- Connection Broker Server
  - Brokers outside user connections
VDI Benefits
- Keeps resources local
- Supports many concurrent users

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

3.1 Compare and contrast security implications of different architecture models.

3.2 Given a scenario, apply security principles to secure enterprise infrastructure.

CompTIA SecurityX

2.5 Given a scenario, implement appropriate controls to secure cloud and virtualization solutions.

NIST 800-53

AC-17 Remote Access

Key terms

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: A virtualization technology in which desktop operating systems run as virtual machines on centralized servers and are delivered to end-user devices over a network. VDI simplifies desktop management, improves security, and allows users to access their desktop environment from any device.
Hypervisor: Software that creates and manages virtual machines by abstracting hardware resources.
Virtual Machine: A software emulation of a physical computer that runs an operating system and applications.
Server: A computer or program that provides services or resources to other devices, known as clients, over a network.
Jump Server: A hardened intermediary host used to provide controlled access to devices within a separate network segment, also known as a jump box or jump host.

Topics

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Hypervisor Remote Access Jump Server Virtualization Network Architecture

Transcript

Another great way to get a connection into a network is by using a virtual desktop infrastructure. This is on a larger scale. It's similar to the jump server, but we can use it for a lot of different users.

From a jump server to VDI

With a jump server, we are remoting into a machine that's on the network, which then gives us access to other machines and other resources on that network. This is great because it all stays local. But this is a good solution if you just have one or two users that are logging in. If you have a whole bunch of users that want to use the same sort of setup, then we need to go to something like a virtual desktop infrastructure.

How VDI is set up

With virtual desktop infrastructure, we have a whole infrastructure set up to host these virtual machines that people will be remoting into. So what we have here is a hypervisor that's installed on this machine, and then on top of that we have all these operating systems that are installed. These operating systems are desktop infrastructure, so this is going to be desktops that people can remote into, and you could have hundreds of these set up on a virtual desktop infrastructure.

There could be even a secondary server installed here that brokers that communication between the outside users and this system right here. It's a great way to keep things local on your local network and supply these virtual desktops to a lot of different users.

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