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Windows Virtual Desktop#

Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) is a managed, secure Windows Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution. A Windows Virtual Desktop enables users to access their DSL private subnet via a desktop client (instead of using a Bastion host or a VPN connection).

WVD comes with a standard set of data science tools pre-installed such as:

  • Python
  • Anaconda
  • R
  • Rstudio
  • KNIME Analytics Platform
  • Azure Storage Explorer
  • PowerBI
  • MySQL Shell, MySQL Workbench, MYSQL connectors, etc. included in the MySQL community installer
  • .Net Framework
  • Edge, Chrome and Firefox webbrowsers
  • Azure CLI
  • Azure Powershell module "Az"
  • MS SQL Server Management Studio
  • Azure Data Studio

Additionally, WVDs can be configured with an additional network share, which allows the sharing of documents and files between all users in the same Data Science Labs.

Interfaces#

There are multiple ways to interface with Windows Virtual Desktop: - Using the browser: more information can be found here, but all latest browser version are supported. - Installing the Windows Virtual Desktop client on your local computer: if you prefer the RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) way of working, you can download the Windows Virtual Desktop client and use this interface to connect with your Windows Virtual Desktop. More information can be found here. Next to downloading it from an executable, there is also an option to download it from the Microsoft Store. - Finally, there also options for when you're using Android, macOS,iOS, or Linux. For more information, please have a look at the Microsoft documentation.

Shared hosts and scaling#

When requesting the Windows Virtual Desktop service, you have the option to share the underlying compute hosts over multiple virtual desktops.

Additionally, when opting for the shared hosts, an autoscaling script can be enabled that starts and stops machines based on the number of people that are active and, optionally, the business hours. A maximum number of hosts should be provided to make sure costs are under control.

Both capabilities are provided to allow you to make efficient use of the underlying hardware.

Hardware configuration#

For the hardware of your Windows Virtual Desktop, you can choose between all available compute instance types that Azure offers. A good rule-of-thumb, to make sure the virtual desktop is performant, is to have at least 2 vCPUs per user with a minimum of 4 vCPUs per machine. We recommend to use the General Purpose "D" series.

For an updated list of all available instance types, please visit the Microsoft documentation.