Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


VMware Horizon 8 Adds Instant Cloning, More Cloud Support

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/24/20

VMware has introduced updates to its flagship virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) platform with the introduction of Horizon 8, as well as new additions to its VMware Workspace ONE, its digital workspace platform.

VMware Horizon 8 is designed to help IT organizations more efficiently manage and scale virtual desktop and application delivery across public and private clouds from a single control panel. The company said that new capabilities would include:

  • More hybrid and multi-cloud deployment options, covering Google Cloud VMware Engine, Horizon on VMware Cloud on Dell EMC and Horizon on Azure VMware Solution.

  • New instant clone capabilities previously only available in pricier editions of Horizon 7. This kind of provisioning helps IT directly provision "instant" clones without requiring a parent virtual machine, thereby freeing up memory resources and increasing the number of desktops possible per host, reducing costs.

  • New RESTful APIs, to help IT in automating capabilities of Horizon 8, including monitoring, entitlements, and user and machine management.

  • Optimized support for Microsoft Teams video and audio, and continued support for Zoom and Cisco WebEx, to deliver a better user experience from virtual desktops.

  • The ability to publish Linux applications directly from a Linux server in the Horizon platform, reducing the costs associated with licenses from other operating systems.

The company said that Horizon 8 would help IT "deliver more secure virtual workspaces," by letting them establish and verify end user identity with built-in multi-factor authentication and enabling conditional access policies for virtual desktops and applications.

IDC Research Manager Shannon Kalvar said in a press release that "unifying physical device management (including PCs, Chromebooks and phones), digital workspace creation/operations and client workspace security into the overall platform is an attractive proposition for customers that are already invested in it."

At West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District in New Jersey, which is using VMware Horizon for virtual desktops for remote learning, students, faculty and staff can get "the same experience at home as they would have on site," said Harry Doctor, technology manager. "In response to COVID-19, it was crucial to support 1:1 computing with Chromebooks for every student in grades 5-12," he noted. "With Horizon, we’re able to keep students engaged with a robust array of teaching and learning tools that would be difficult to access using Chromebooks alone."

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Businessman using laptop analyzing data and growth graph chart

    Report: AI Budgets in Education Show No Sign of Decline

    The vast majority of education organizations (98%) expect their AI infrastructure budgets to either increase or hold steady over the next year, according to a report from cloud storage provider Wasabi.

  • abstract smartphone translucent screen displaying AI interface

    Apple Unveils Redesigned Siri AI

    At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced Siri AI, a redesigned version of its voice assistant that Apple describes in its own announcement as "a profoundly more capable and personal assistant." The update is intended to make Siri more conversational, more context-aware, and more useful across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro.

  • abstract agentic ai data streams

    Rubrik Brings Agentic AI to Its Flagship Cyber Resilience Platform

    Rubrik has introduced Rubrik AI, positioning the company's cyber resilience platform around agentic operations across data, identity, and AI infrastructure.

  • circuit patterns

    Anthropic Intros Lower-Cost Claude Sonnet 5

    Anthropic has launched Claude Sonnet 5, positioning the model as its most autonomous mid-tier offering to date and a lower-cost alternative to its flagship Opus 4.8 system. The company said the model can plan multi-step tasks, operate tools such as browsers and terminals, and complete agentic work at a level that previously required larger and more expensive models.