What Is Cloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)?
Introduction
Cloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is rapidly gaining popularity within markets that utilize 3D applications and highly intensive AI. Companies are now realizing its impressive performance benefits, significant cost savings across the technology stack (including deployment, hardware, networks, software, and IT support), and its seamless scalability for adjusting resources up or down.
At Softdrive, our thoughtful and methodical approach to developing a cloud VDI solution has resulted in the fastest cloud VDI on the market. Softdrive delivers 4K resolution at 100 FPS with ultra-low latency streaming—5x faster than the leading RDP solutions—at half the cost of major cloud providers like Azure and AWS.
What Is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure?
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is IT infrastructure that enables users to access enterprise computer systems from any device, such as personal computers, smartphones, or tablets, eliminating the need for companies to provide physical machines to end users.
What is a Virtual Desktop?
A virtual desktop is an operating system that does not run directly on the endpoint device accessing it. Instead, it provides a preconfigured view of operating systems and applications that can be accessed on various devices via an internet connection. The primary advantage of a virtual desktop is that it allows users to work remotely from any device.
How Does Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Work?
VDI uses server hardware to run desktop operating systems (e.g., Windows, Linux) and applications on virtual machines hosted on centralized servers—either in physical data centers or the cloud.
These virtual machines operate on top of a hypervisor, a software layer that enables the operating system to run independently of the underlying hardware by managing resource allocation from the physical server.
Cloud providers typically offer two types of virtual desktops: persistent and nonpersistent, each tailored to different use cases.
What is a virtual machine?
A virtual machine (VM) is similar to a physical computer, with components like a CPU, memory, file storage, and internet connectivity. Unlike physical devices, VMs lack tangible hardware, existing solely as software running on physical servers. There is a misnomer that a VM = a virtual desktop. While this is technically true, VM is part of a broader category while a virtual desktop is a subset. It is similar to saying an automobile is a sedan. A sedan is just one of many different types of automobiles.
What is virtualization?
The process of separating software (such as an operating system or application) from the hardware that it runs on is called virtualization. This frees the software from needing to be run on a specific device and enables it to be run on any device.
What is cloud virtual desktop infrastructure?
Cloud Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a cloud-based variation of VDI in which virtual desktop computers are hosted in the cloud, rather than on-premise on a physical server.
Comparing Traditional VDI and Cloud VDI
Both traditional legacy on-premise VDI and cloud based VDI seek to accomplish the same goal: enable users to access enterprise office desktop IT environments virtually from any device, anywhere in the world. However, traditional VDI and cloud VDI achieve their goals in different ways. The primary difference being that with traditional VDI, the hosting is in the company’s central data center on-premise. With cloud VDI the hosting is in the cloud.
Traditional VDI: Hosted in a company’s central on-premises data center.
Cloud VDI: Hosted in the cloud, offering greater flexibility and scalability.
Comparing Cloud VDI and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)
Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Cloud VDI are both types of cloud virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). However, their approaches differ. In a cloud VDI environment, the infrastructure is dedicated to a single organization, offering a highly customizable and private solution that mirrors the control and functionality of a traditional on-prem VDI environment, but hosted in the cloud. This setup ensures that one company operates the cloud VDI as the sole tenant, managing a dedicated infrastructure exclusively for its own use.
However with Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS), virtual desktop resources are streamed to users as they require and consume them. When an end-user stops working on the virtual desktop, the resources are deallocated and may be allocated to other end-users at different companies. Therefore, DaaS is a shared, multi-tenant solution that many companies use.
The primary distinction between cloud virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) is that of tenancy; where in a cloud VDI environment a company is the sole tenant and in a DaaS environment there exist multiple tenants (companies) operating and sharing the resources.
How is VDI consumed? Comparing Persistent and Non-Persistent VDI
End users can consume VDI resources on any device; including personal computers, smart phones and tablet devices. With “persistent” virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), the end user's virtual desktop is always loaded in the cloud and ready to be accessed by the end user's device upon request. These persistent virtual desktops are assigned to the end users as needed and continue to exist indefinitely, with the end user able to access them whenever they want. Persistent virtual desktops are a good option for end users such as engineers and IT managers; offering a persistent environment for end users that require enhanced permissions and the greatest degree of personalization and app compatibility. Persistent virtual desktops typically are priced higher per user than nonpersistent virtual desktops.
A nonpersistent virtual desktop separates the personalization layer from the underlying operating system. This enables any end user to sign in to any virtual machine and get a personalized experience. However in the case of nonpersistent virtual machines this personalization will not “persist” and is removed once the end user signs out. This positions nonpersistent desktops as a lower cost solution per end user and are better suited for knowledge and task work in environments like computer labs, call centers and retail kiosks.
- Persistent VDI: Assigns a dedicated virtual desktop to users, retaining personalization and settings across sessions. Ideal for roles like engineers and IT managers, persistent VDIs offer robust customization but come at a higher cost.
- Nonpersistent VDI: Separates personalization from the operating system, allowing any user to log in and receive a temporary, personalized experience. Cost-effective and suitable for environments like call centers and retail kiosks.
Advantages of Cloud VDI
The primary advantages of cloud virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) are the ease in setup and ongoing IT management and maintenance, cost savings across deployment, hardware, network, software and IT support, scalability of resources upward or downward, and the elimination of asset depreciation cycles and rigid deployments that limit flexibility in terms of usage and savings.
- Simplified Setup and Management: Reduced IT overhead.
- Cost Savings: Across deployment, hardware, network, and IT support.
- Scalability: Flexible resource adjustment to meet demand.
- Elimination of Asset Depreciation: Removes hardware refresh cycles and enables BYOD policies.
How Cloud VDI Affects End-user Performance
For VDIs to succeed they need to deliver performance that feels as seamless as a local machine. The focus needs to be on delivering end-user performance that offers low latency, true color accuracy, and a user-friendly setup, at an accessible cost. The end user needs to be not only satisfied but genuinely empowered, while simultaneously meeting the needs of management and IT in terms of security and centralized management.
The approach we took at Softdrive was to prioritize the end user experience and work backwards. We did this by developing Softstream, our remote desktop software designed to overcome the streaming limitations of traditional VDI. We built from the ground up our own encoder and decoder, optimizing GPU to deliver faster performance. We did this by engineering a custom UDP protocol with added reliability through selective integration of TCP and other proprietary technologies. To further enhance the end-user experience, we developed a suite of custom drivers for input devices, printers, webcams and more. The result is the fastest cloud VDI on the market. Our remote desktop software, Softstream, delivers blazing fast streaming, with frame rates up to 100 FPS at 4k resolution. Our image quality is crystal clear, with resolution up to 4k and 4:4:4 color to ensure near-flawless visual fidelity. Our ulta-low latency feels like end-users are using local hardware, and all of this comes in at half the cost of Azure or AWS.
Key Features of Softstream:
- 4K resolution at 100 FPS with 4:4:4 color accuracy
- Ultra-low latency, comparable to local hardware
- 5x faster than industry-leading RDP solutions
- Half the cost of Azure and AWS
How Cloud VDI Affects Cost Savings
Cloud VDI introduces impressive cost savings across every facet of the technology stack; including deployment, hardware, networks, software, and IT support. With on-prem solutions, a customer is committing to purchase, setup and maintain the hardware infrastructure, representing a sizable capital expenditure. The costs associated with the cloud are typically billed monthly and spread over the term of the contract so they can be booked as an Operating Expense. Deploying your company’s VDI solution on-premises means you’ll need to invest a substantial amount of capital upfront on deployment, hardware, installation, software licensing fees, data backup, extra IT services, support and more. Once it's set up, you’ll need to invest in internal or external IT staff for ongoing support, maintenance and security, as well as energy costs, hosting costs and the extra office square footage necessary for the infrastructure. The company will also be on the hook if the physical hardware malfunctions or needs to be replaced, or upgraded; creating costly hardware refresh cycles that cloud VDI solutions are immune to.
Softdrive created a virtualization stack designed for maximum cost-efficiency, called Softvirt. With Softvirt we leveraged bare-metal servers to directly access hardware, optimizing compute resources for greater value. Softdrive customized the KVM hypervisor within our virtualization stack by starting with GPU optimization and later refining CPU performance. The result is a solution that significantly reduces costs compared to AWS and Azure, while delivering the high performance that end users desire. In fact, Softdrive is 2x less expensive than AWS and Azure, while coming in at 5x as fast.
How Cloud VDI Affects Deployment
With traditional on-prem VDI, the deployment process is more capital and labour intensive than with cloud VDI. It involves purchase and installation of physical hardware, installation of the VDI platform, and ongoing maintenance and support. With cloud VDI, corporate IT offloads responsibility of hardware operations to a third-party cloud provider. Companies that adopt cloud VDI don’t need to plan and budget for future growth, instead, they have the flexibility to scale their virtual desktop up or down on demand. The cloud provider sets up and maintains the cloud network, storage and other resources and is responsible for any upgrades needed. While deployment of Cloud VDI is overall simpler than legacy systems from a hardware perspective, deployment of the virtual desktops themselves has largely remained the same.
Most Cloud VDI solutions require IT administrators to invest the same provisioning effort as on-premises systems. Often, IT teams must manually install applications, sysprep golden images, configure internal VPNs for domain joining, and add machines to Active Directory, among other tasks. This process can be both burdensome and time-consuming.
To address this challenge, Softdrive developed a management layer called Softnet, designed to simplify and streamline these tasks.
Softnet simplifies IT deployment, making it so intuitive that even a non-technical individual or CEO can set it up effortlessly. The result is an 80% reduction in setup time compared to traditional on-prem VDI. IT administrators can now establish a production-ready environment in just an afternoon—a process that typically takes weeks or even months. Admins can now upload golden images like VMDK or WIM, enable IP-sec tunnel creation on the VNIC level to domain join and add machines to their Active Directory, all while being able to automate the deployment process. Softnet transforms Cloud VDI deployment by streamlining complex tasks; reducing setup time by making it so intuitive that even non-technical users can establish a production-ready environment in hours.
How Cloud VDI Affects Asset Depreciation
Cloud VDI and traditional legacy VDI differ with regards to asset depreciation. Legacy VDI operates under a capital expenditure (CapEx) model; where the cost of the physical hardware and servers are amortized over a period of time. The cloud VDI model doesn’t involve burdensome capital expenditures and therefore isn’t amortized over time. Cloud VDI, on the other hand, operates under an operating expenditure (OpEx) model; where costs are incurred as they arise. With cloud VDI, companies don’t need to purchase or store physical hardware, therefore cloud VDI operates on a pay-as-you-go or subscription model. Organizations using cloud VDI can eliminate the need to purchase physical hardware, servers, or end-user devices for employees or contractors, as all computing power, applications, and storage are hosted in the cloud. This approach extends the lifespan of existing devices, removes the expense of 3-5 year hardware refresh cycles, and enables the implementation of bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies.
Summary
Cloud VDI provides a powerful solution for organizations prioritizing performance, scalability, and cost efficiency. Traditional on-prem VDI often demands substantial upfront investments, ongoing maintenance, and complex deployments. Alternatively, cloud VDI simplifies IT management, lowers costs, and offers businesses greater flexibility in scaling resources up and down. This approach frees companies from expensive hardware refresh cycles, rigid deployments, and geographically limited data centers, enabling organizations to embrace a modern workplace built for global collaboration, significant cost savings, and seamless scalability.
Softdrive’s thoughtful and methodical approach to developing our cloud VDI solution has redefined industry standards by prioritizing end-user performance. Softdrive established a new benchmark for speed and quality by delivering 4K resolution at 100 FPS with ultra-low latency streaming; 5x faster than leading RDP solutions. With performance that dramatically outpaces competitors like AWS and Azure at half the cost, Softdrive combines its advanced VDI suite—Softstream, Softvirt, and Softnet—to ensure a seamless, user-friendly deployment process that simplifies operations and drives efficiency.