VMware VIEW 4.5 - ARCHITECTURE PLANNING EN-000350-00 Manual page 10

VMware View Architecture Planning Guide
Figure 1-2. High-Level Example of a VMware View Environment
Windows
View Client
Microsoft
Active Directory
non-vCenter VMs
physical PCs
View Agent
app
Client Devices
A major advantage of using VMware View is that desktops follow the end user regardless of device or location.
Users can access their personalized virtual desktop from a company laptop, their home PC, a thin client device,
or a Mac.
From Mac and Windows laptops and PCs, end users open View Client to display their View desktop. Thin
client devices use View thin client software and can be configured so that the only application that users can
launch directly on the device is View Thin Client. Repurposing a legacy PC into a thin client desktop can extend
the life of the hardware by three to five years. For example, by using VMware View on a thin desktop, you can
use a newer operating system such as Windows Vista on older desktop hardware.
View Connection Server
This software service acts as a broker for client connections. View Connection Server authenticates users
through Windows Active Directory and directs the request to the appropriate virtual machine, physical or
blade PC, or Windows Terminal Services server.
View Connection Server provides the following management capabilities:
Authenticating users
n
Entitling users to specific desktops and pools
n
10
Windows View Client
with Local Mode
View
Administrator
(browser)
View
Transfer Server
VM
blade PCs
Terminal Servers
virtual desktops
VM
desktop OS
VM
app app
View Agent
virtual machine
Mac
View Client
ThinApp
ESX hosts running
Virtual Desktop virtual machines
VM VM
VM VM
ESX host
Thin Client
network
View
Connection
Server
VMware vCenter Server
with View Composer
VMware, Inc.