Skip to main content
VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

$248.00
How you learn:
Self-paced • Lifetime updates
Your guarantee:
30-day money-back guarantee — no questions asked
Toolkit Included:
Includes a practical, ready-to-use toolkit containing implementation templates, worksheets, checklists, and decision-support materials used to accelerate real-world application and reduce setup time.
When you get access:
Course access is prepared after purchase and delivered via email
Who trusts this:
Trusted by professionals in 160+ countries
Adding to cart… The item has been added

What does the VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure course cover?

VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is covered here in 8 modules: Architecture Design and Sizing, Image Management and Golden Image Lifecycle, Storage Optimization and Performance Engineering and 5 more. The outline lists 48 specific topics, opening with selecting between persistent and non-persistent desktop pools based on user profile complexity and data retention requirements.

How do you approach VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure step by step?

The work is sequenced in 8 stages. It starts with Architecture Design and Sizing, moves through Image Management and Golden Image Lifecycle and Storage Optimization and Performance Engineering, and ends at Cost Management and License Optimization. Each stage carries its own topic list, so the sequence is followed rather than summarised.

What is in Module 1 of the VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure course?

Module 1 is Architecture Design and Sizing. It works through selecting between persistent and non-persistent desktop pools based on user profile complexity and data retention requirements., calculating vCPU-to-user ratios while accounting for peak concurrency and application CPU bursts in knowledge worker environments., determining storage IOPS requirements using boot, logon, and steady-state workload profiles across user personas. and 3 more.

How is the VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure course delivered?

The VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure course is fully self-paced with immediate online access after enrolment. Access does not expire and future updates are included at no cost. It can be taken on any device, and a certificate of completion is issued by The Art of Service when you finish.

How much does the VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure course cost?

The VDI Best Practices in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure course is $251 as a one time payment. There is no subscription, no per seat licence and no hidden fee. Enrolment carries a 30 day satisfied or refunded guarantee, so it can be assessed in full before you commit.

Closely related courses: VDI Compliance in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, VDI Management in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Cloud VDI in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, VDI Migration in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

More answers: what you get with every course, refund policy, all help answers.

This curriculum spans the technical and operational rigor of a multi-workshop infrastructure modernization program, addressing the same architectural, security, and performance challenges encountered in large-scale VDI deployments across hybrid environments.

Module 1: Architecture Design and Sizing

  • Selecting between persistent and non-persistent desktop pools based on user profile complexity and data retention requirements.
  • Calculating vCPU-to-user ratios while accounting for peak concurrency and application CPU bursts in knowledge worker environments.
  • Determining storage IOPS requirements using boot, logon, and steady-state workload profiles across user personas.
  • Choosing between full clone, linked clone, and instant clone provisioning based on scalability, patching frequency, and storage efficiency.
  • Designing network segmentation for management, user, and storage traffic to isolate latency-sensitive protocols like PCoIP or Blast Extreme.
  • Integrating load balancer placement and SSL offloading strategies for connection brokers in multi-datacenter deployments.

Module 2: Image Management and Golden Image Lifecycle

  • Establishing a change control process for golden image updates that includes regression testing for critical line-of-business applications.
  • Implementing layered image architectures using App Layering or FSLogix to decouple OS, platform, and application updates.
  • Scheduling recompose operations during maintenance windows to minimize user disruption in non-persistent environments.
  • Managing driver injection for diverse endpoint hardware while avoiding image bloat from unnecessary drivers.
  • Enforcing antivirus and patch compliance within the base image before deployment to downstream pools.
  • Version-controlling golden images using automated build pipelines and hash verification to ensure consistency across regions.

Module 3: Storage Optimization and Performance Engineering

  • Allocating tiered storage (SSD/HDD) based on read/write intensity of user workloads and profile behavior.
  • Configuring storage replication and deduplication ratios without introducing latency that impacts login storms.
  • Implementing write-cache sizing on shared storage to absorb burst I/O during peak logon periods.
  • Monitoring and tuning storage queue depths to prevent bottlenecks in all-flash arrays supporting VDI workloads.
  • Deploying host-based caching (e.g., VMware vSphere Flash Read Cache) with capacity planning for cache miss scenarios.
  • Aligning VM virtual disk types (thick vs. thin) with storage array capabilities and overprovisioning policies.

Module 4: User Experience and Profile Management

  • Choosing between roaming profiles, UE-V, and FSLogix based on application compatibility and mailbox integration needs.
  • Configuring folder redirection for Documents, Desktop, and AppData to reduce profile size and improve logon times.
  • Setting up FSLogix profile container size limits and exclusion rules to prevent container bloat from temporary files.
  • Monitoring and troubleshooting profile corruption events through event log correlation and container health checks.
  • Optimizing logon duration by pre-loading commonly used applications during idle periods using group policy or scripts.
  • Managing application-specific settings synchronization conflicts in multi-session environments using exclusion lists.

Module 5: Security, Compliance, and Access Control

  • Enforcing multi-factor authentication for external access to Horizon or Citrix Gateway with conditional access policies.
  • Implementing role-based access control (RBAC) for VDI admin consoles to separate provisioning, monitoring, and support functions.
  • Configuring antivirus exclusions for hypervisor and broker processes without compromising endpoint protection.
  • Applying Just Enough Administration (JEA) principles to limit local admin rights on virtual desktops.
  • Encrypting desktop VMs at rest using VM-level encryption or storage array-based mechanisms in regulated environments.
  • Auditing user access and session activity through SIEM integration with connection broker and hypervisor logs.

Module 6: Monitoring, Troubleshooting, and Performance Tuning

  • Deploying synthetic transactions to simulate user logons and detect performance degradation before end-user impact.
  • Correlating hypervisor CPU ready time with desktop responsiveness metrics to identify resource contention.
  • Using protocol-specific analytics (e.g., Citrix HDX Monitor, VMware PCoIP logs) to isolate network or rendering issues.
  • Establishing baseline thresholds for logon duration, frame rate, and latency to trigger proactive alerts.
  • Diagnosing storage latency spikes by analyzing datastore latency metrics alongside VM-level disk queue lengths.
  • Documenting root cause analysis workflows for common issues such as black screen, session drops, or printer mapping failures.

Module 7: Business Continuity and Scalability Planning

  • Designing cross-site broker failover with DNS or GSLB to maintain connection broker availability during outages.
  • Replicating desktop VMs between data centers using asynchronous replication while managing RPO and storage overhead.
  • Testing disaster recovery runbooks that include recomposing desktop pools from golden images at the recovery site.
  • Scaling connection brokers horizontally with health checks and dynamic registration to handle increased connection loads.
  • Planning for surge capacity using cloud-hosted desktops (e.g., Azure Virtual Desktop) with hybrid identity integration.
  • Validating backup strategies for user profile containers and application data with recovery time objectives (RTO) testing.

Module 8: Cost Management and License Optimization

  • Negotiating Microsoft Windows VDA and RDS CAL licensing based on user count versus device count models.
  • Tracking VMware Horizon or Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops license consumption to avoid over-deployment.
  • Right-sizing VMs using performance telemetry to reclaim underutilized CPU and memory allocations.
  • Implementing power policy schedules to power off idle desktops during non-business hours.
  • Comparing on-premises TCO with cloud-hosted VDI using reserved instances versus pay-as-you-go pricing models.
  • Enforcing desktop session timeouts and disconnect policies to reduce active VM count and associated licensing costs.
!