VMware Horizon
VMware Horizon
Overview
VMware Horizon is a powerful, enterprise-grade platform designed to deliver virtual desktops and applications through a modern, cloud-ready architecture.
Built to integrate deeply with the VMware ecosystem — especially vSphere, vCenter, and ESXi — Horizon offers organizations a highly flexible, secure, and optimized VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) experience.
With Horizon, businesses can deploy desktops and apps on-premises, in a hybrid setup, or fully in the cloud while maintaining centralized control, strong security, and exceptional performance.
Who Is It For?
VMware Horizon
Key Features
VMware Horizon provides a modern, secure, scalable, and high-performance virtualization platform built around the VMware ecosystem.
From cloud-ready VDI to graphics-intensive workloads and enterprise-level security, Horizon is a leading choice for organizations that rely on VMware technologies and need a flexible virtual desktop infrastructure.
High-Performance Graphics (Blast Extreme)
Horizon uses the Blast Extreme display protocol to deliver:
- Smooth graphics
- Low-latency connections
- Optimized multimedia
- High responsiveness on low bandwidth
Ideal for teams using CAD, 3D tools, design applications, or video-heavy workflows.
Deep Integration with VMware Infrastructure
Horizon is built to work seamlessly with:
- VMware vSphere
- vCenter Server
- ESXi hypervisors
- NSX for network virtualization
- vSAN for hyper-converged storage
This creates an efficient, unified, and high-performing data center for VDI environments.
Enterprise-Level Security
Horizon integrates with:
- Active Directory
- MFA systems
- Zero Trust security frameworks
- NSX micro-segmentation
- Encrypted protocols
Result: A secure environment suitable even for regulated industries.
Flexible Deployment (On-Prem, Cloud, Hybrid)
You can deploy Horizon:
- On your own datacenter
- On VMware Cloud on AWS
- In hybrid environments
- Or as part of Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) models
This flexibility helps businesses scale and modernize without replacing existing infrastructure.
Centralized Management
Through Horizon Console and vCenter, administrators can manage:
- User sessions
- Virtual desktops
- Application pools
- Policies and permissions
- Resource usage
All in a single, streamlined interface.
Instant Clone Technology
VMware Horizon’s Instant Clone technology enables:
- Rapid desktop provisioning
- Lower resource consumption
- Faster updates and patching
- Improved scalability
This makes managing thousands of desktops easier than ever.
VMware Horizon
VMware’s desktop software runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and macOS. VMware ESXi, its enterprise software hypervisor, is an operating system that runs on server hardware.
Benefits of VMware Horizon
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Unified VMware ecosystem | Ideal for customers already using vSphere |
| High performance | Blast Extreme protocol optimized for graphics |
| Scalable architecture | Suitable for both small and enterprise deployments |
| Flexible deployment | On-prem, cloud, or hybrid |
| Streamlined operations | Centralized management and instant cloning |
Real-World Example
A large design firm using GPU-intensive 3D modeling tools adopted VM-Horizon with Blast Extreme and NVIDIA vGPU support.
The result:
- Lower hardware and operational costs
- Designers access powerful virtual workstations remotely
- No need for expensive physical PCs
- Centralized backup, updates, and security
VMware Horizon / Parallels Remote Application Server / Citrix Virtual Apps
Comparison Snapshot
| Solution | Focus | Complexity | Cost | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VMware Horizon | VMware-integrated VDI | Medium–High | High | VMware-based enterprises |
| Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops | Enterprise scalability | Very High | Very High | Large global organizations |
| Parallels RAS | Simplicity & lower cost | Low | Affordable | SMBs & mid-sized companies |
Compare VMware Horizon with Citrix and Parallels RAS on our Comparisons page
Or explore real-world scenarios in the Use Cases section.