On a general note, the terms “VDI” and “DaaS” might sound synonymous in providing virtual desktop services to organizations, which reduce the risks of physical installations and infrastructure. But, technically, they are quite different from each other. Knowing their differences in terms of deployment, efficiency, scalability, and the cost is required to choose which one to apply and when to apply.
What is VDI?
VDI stands for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. It is a pool of virtual desktops that are found on a single server. These desktops run on a virtual machine and are pulled from the client’s end whenever required. When a user desires to have a single dedicated virtual desktop just like a personal PC, then a persistent VDI is used.
Jobs completed on this persistent VDI are saved to a specific storage system. The saved work can be continued when the user logs in any number of times. This is quite expensive as well. In a non-persistent VDI, random virtual desktops are pulled when a user logs in. This is less expensive and is widely used in businesses that regularly undergo scaling.
What is DaaS?
DaaS stands for Desktop as a Service. DaaS is a form of VDI where service providers offer virtual desktops based on a licence or a subscription. A small business organization might find it difficult to create its own Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.
DaaS is the savior here. DaaS is also divided into persistent and non-persistent DaaS, just like VDI. The service providers will take care of maintenance and updates and handle the system’s security.
Key differences between VDI and DaaS
- The Virtual Desktop Infrastructure allows end users to access the applications that the organization hosts on the centralized servers. All the data that is residing in the data center should be maintained and serviced by a high-level IT team. The return on this is expensive. In DaaS, the Cloud will bear the maintenance and infrastructure costs. Skilled staff is not required to handle DaaS specifically. When a company operates on a small volume, DaaS is ideal.
- A VDI is a single-tenant model where it’s designated for a single organization. On the other hand, DaaS is a multi-tenant model where organizations share the resources. Being private and securing certain resources is not possible using a DaaS.
- In DaaS, the service provider will be responsible for managing, updating, and securing the desktop infrastructure. They also provide technical support. This is not possible in VDI. The service providers are not responsible for maintaining all the above jobs. A separate IT team must be employed to look after them.
- VDI requires a huge capital investment. But for large-scale companies with rapid growth, VDI is cheaper to use when compared to DaaS. DaaS is the best option to go for when the organization gets scaled down and up since no initial capital investment is required.
- Deployment in VDI is tedious and time-consuming. They become costly in case of upscaling because of server restrictions. DaaS deployment and update are relatively simple for deploying and requesting additional services.
- DaaS works on the internet and is more vulnerable to threats and security issues when compared to VDI. Also, a service provider is responsible for the services, and so access to a few services is restricted in DaaS. In VDI, since it is a single-tenant model, full authority is under the organization’s control.
