Hardware: The Old-Fashioned Approach
In the past, adding computers to your organization was easy. It normally involved spec’ing out new hardware, purchasing it, installing it into your network, and then getting belittled by users who were unhappy with the machine’s capabilities. Like any decision, adding new computers is always a compromise: budget vs. tech vs. amount of time till obsolescence. It’s a balance that’s never perfect, especially when scaled up to an organizational level.
Once you have your computers though, you’re chained to them for quite some time. Often, they determine where your organization can operate (i.e., desktop computers predicate staying in office, while laptops allow for more freedom to travel) which, in some respects, dictates how your organization can operate. If your organization, however, needs to function all over the world, if it needs the flexibility to adapt dynamically to mission specifications, then you need to explore the benefits of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Benefits
First, we must note: VDIs don’t replace all hardware as they need hardware on which to function. But they can provide a myriad of benefits to organizations who use them to their fullest. The easiest benefit to highlight is the cost savings. As mentioned in a ComputerWeekly.com article, VDIs use an estimated “60-70% less power than existing physical environments.” On top of that, VDIs offer cost (and time) savings when updates are required. No longer do you have to go to each physical machine and run updates. VDIs update through their software, meaning they all update at once. Some call this “future proof”.
Another key VDI benefit is its sandboxed nature. Open a browser in a VDI, for example, and if some malicious code gets through, it’s trapped inside the framework of the VDI. This protects the host computer from a wide variety of attacks, but it’s not perfect. If you save files on a VDI, they go to the host computer. This can store files in unintended (or unwanted) places or expose the host computer (and, by extension, your entire network) to malware, viruses, and other nefarious bits of programming.
There is a VDI solution out there that goes above and beyond—one that takes everything good about standard VDIs and adds some hearty doses of superpowers. If you need a VDI solution created with total mission success in mind, then you need a VDI powered by Fognigma.
Fognigma’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Added Benefits
Fognigma VDIs have all the features of a standard VDI (sandboxed, cost savings, etc.), but add capabilities not found anywhere else. Let’s explore some of the most important capabilities and prove why VDIs powered by Fognigma is the best choice for your organization.
Unlike standard VDIs, Fognigma VDIs have the ability to save and move files without involving the host computer. Files can transfer to and from USB drives and the VDI and the host computer will never retain a record of anything. VDI audio is filtered to ensure no IP leaks occur. In short (and to paraphrase a slogan), what exists in a Fognigma VDI stays in a Fognigma VDI.
There are even more special ways Fognigma VDIs can interact with files. Using our Nomadic Profile ability, files will follow authenticated users from VDI instance to VDI instance. Launch and log into a VDI and save files to the VDI’s desktop. The next time you launch a VDI and log in, your files will be on that desktop, too! As a complement to this Nomadic ability, Fognigma VDIs can use a shared server folder which adds drag-and-drop file sharing between multiple concurrent VDI instances. Take your files with you and share with your team all from the safety of a VDI.
Fognigma VDIs can also be tailored to the organization and individual user. Install custom apps if needed or limit the access of apps or features users can employ. Perhaps your organization has a squad that just needs to collect information—let them access a VDI with just a file share attached. Basically, VDIs allow for de facto Identity and Access Management by allowing admins to select the exact type of VDI (and, therefore, accessible apps) each user is able to launch.
The biggest unique feature of a Fognigma VDI, however, is the ability of anonymous world travel and web browsing. This is actually a fun way to describe a bunch of related features. Fognigma VDIs allow you to explore the Internet fully anonymous and appear to be in almost any location on the planet. So, if you need to look like a user in Germany, you can launch a VDI with an exit point (i.e., where the IP address appears to be) in Germany. But Fognigma VDI exit points are dynamically switchable, so in a few mice clicks that same VDI can now appear to exist in, for example, Japan. Plus, you can launch VDIs from almost any device anywhere in the world. These features all work together to allow your users to become part of any web-landscape in any geographic region, without raising suspicion.
As you can see, Fognigma VDIs strive to be the pinnacle of virtual desktop technology and they are always evolving (one of the latest updates sped our VDIs to almost 50% faster than standard VDIs). To learn more about our amazing VDI solutions or to schedule a demonstration, please contact us today.