Should You Use A Persistent or Non-Persistent VDI Desktop?

A few years back, before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was revealed by a study that the VDI market will grow at a 27% CAGR from 2016 to 2023. However, the pandemic happened and VDI adoption increased drastically.

Ever since this increase in VDI adoption, there’s been an ongoing debate on persistent vs non-persistent VDI desktops.

Are you asking the same question about your VDI architecture?

If so, then we have explained the differences between persistent and non-persistent VDI desktops. Understand how both types are beneficial for different office settings.

Mapping the Difference Between Persistent and Non-Persistent Virtual Desktops

Most organizations use a hybrid approach by implementing persistent VDI for some departments and non-persistent VDI for other job roles. Let’s see why this is more feasible.

Functioning

Persistent desktops are virtual desktops that allow end-users to personalize settings. Here, one particular virtual machine has its own storage and resources. When the end-users make changes in the look-and-feel or they store data on the virtual desktop, it remains there unless manually deleted by the admin or the user.

Non-persistent VDI desktops are different because they allow the end-users to use the available features only. If the end-user makes some changes on the virtual machine, the changes are not retained once the virtual desktop is turned off.

Therefore, we can say that in the case of persistent VDI, every employee has a personal image of the desktop, which you can use in a customized manner. But, in the case of non-persistent desktops, the user can only use the virtual machine for a designated purpose.

Management

Non-persistent desktops are easy to manage. Since there’s no personalization, you can manage multiple units without hassle. Your IT admin can update, patch, and replicate these units quite easily.

Persistent desktops require consistent updates and patching. The end-users of these desktops modify the logical drive, which means we can’t update and patch every unit at once. Therefore, the complete functioning of these desktops becomes a bit complicated.

However, you can manage both types of desktops with ease if you use cloud VDI services.

Security

In a non-persistent VDI, the security is managed by the IT team or cloud service provider. This is because the configuration of these desktops is fixed by the admins and it can be altered by the admins only. Therefore, your IT team can reboot the virtual machine whenever feasible.

Ideally, persistent desktops are also secure. The IT admins can still reboot or refresh the system during a virus attack. On the cloud, users only get a virtual copy of the persistent desktops through the Internet. Even when they use an infected device to open a virtual desktop, your data is safe.

But, this security depends on your cloud service provider and how well they handle data security and virtualization.

Storage

Non-persistent virtual desktops remove the OS from the configuration settings. This means that the IT admins can easily use different types of storage tech, such as block-based image sharing. Due to this, we need less storage for non-persistent VDI desktops.

In the case of persistent desktops, the storage capacity of every unit is separately configured. Now, this can be beneficial or harmful in different scenarios. If you need minimal working capacity, what would you do with all the storage? In that case, non-persistent VDI desktops are beneficial. However, when you need dedicated storage for high-performance, persistent desktops, and their storage methodology help.

Deployment

Non-persistent virtual desktops can be easily deployed on the cloud server and cloned multiple times. Every user uses the same desktop which doesn’t have a personalization barrier, so the deployment process is quick.

In the case of persistent desktops, you need to customize desktops for every department or user type. For example, your accounting team may require different apps than your marketing team.

However, the deployment of persistent and non-persistent desktops on the cloud is easier and quicker than on-premise VDI implementation in general.

Personalization

In the case of non-persistent desktops, users can personalize their desktops. However, the changes made in the virtual image are reverted as soon as you turn off the desktop.

Persistent desktops can be fully personalized. From desktop shortcuts to your screensaver, employees can also use it as their own laptops or computers to access the VDI. Ideally, persistent desktops are very much similar to physical desktop units.

Use Cases

With persistent desktops, you can allow your end-users (read: employees) to customize their desktops. Therefore, almost every job role inside your organization can benefit from this type of desktop infrastructure.

For example, your marketing team can use persistent desktops as the employees need personalized settings according to their usage. They will have apps dedicated to marketing automation and sensitive marketing data in storage.

Now, if we use the same example, then you can use non-persistent VDI for job roles that only involve support.

In every department, there are some roles related to call center, support services, or data entry work. These roles can use non-persistent VDI for simple and rapid functioning.

Let’s explore some use-cases of when to use non-persistent VDI desktops:

• Simple task-based working
• Kiosks involving data entry, check-ins, etc.
• Low-performance computing requirements, classrooms, or training rooms
• Call centers or online support centers

Some use-cases of when to use persistent desktops:

• Professional workers, such as marketers, engineers, graphic designers, etc can use persistent VDI.
• Healthcare workers use desktops to enter details.
• Workers who need GPU-based working features.
• Classrooms offer personalized computers to every student.

Conclusion

Are you implementing cloud VDI in your organization?

Understand the differences between persistent and non-persistent VDI. Similar to many other organizations, you can also adopt a hybrid strategy and use a relevant type of VDI desktop for suitable job roles. This will help you mitigate the drawbacks of both types of VDI to a great extent.

Remember to find the right cloud VDI solution to ensure seamless VDI services, high uptime, and enhanced operational efficiency.