VMware Horizon : Deploy and Manage (V8.8)

The VMware Horizon : Deploy and Manage (V8.8) course is designed to provide learners with the skills and knowledge to deploy and manage a VMware Horizon environment. This comprehensive course covers everything from the basics of virtualization and vSphere to the advanced management of Horizon desktop pools and applications. Participants will gain insight into the features and benefits of Horizon, understand its architecture, and learn how to convert customer requirements into practical use cases. They'll delve into creating and managing both Windows and Linux virtual desktops, setting up automated pools of Instant clones, and managing remote desktop session host (RDSH) farms. The course also covers Horizon Connection Server installation and configuration, User authentication, Certificate management, and the importance of security within a Horizon environment. Through lessons on Scalability, the use of Workspace ONE Access for Identity and access management, and the configuration of Display protocols and graphics cards, learners will become adept at optimizing the Horizon experience. Monitoring tools and techniques are also discussed to ensure ongoing performance and availability. By the end of the course, students will be well-equipped with the ability to deploy, manage, and secure a VMware Horizon infrastructure, making them valuable assets in the field of virtual desktop and application virtualization.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Understand the features and benefits of VMware Horizon.

• Define use cases for virtual desktops and applications.

• Create and optimize Windows VMs for VMware Horizon.

• Install and configure Horizon Agent on desktops.

• Manage desktop pools, Horizon Clients, and instant-clone desktops.

• Set up and manage Remote Desktop Services (RDS) desktops and applications.

• Monitor the Horizon environment using built-in tools.

• Understand VMware Horizon Connection Server architecture and requirements.

• Explore authentication, certificates, and security options for Horizon.

• Integrate Horizon with Workspace ONE® Access™.

• Compare remote display protocols and 3D rendering options.

• Understand scalability options in Horizon 8.

Who Can Benefit

• Tier 1 operators, administrators, and architects working with VMware Horizon.

Prerequisites
Customers attending this course should have, at a minimum, the following skills:

• Use VMware vSphere® Web Client to view the state of virtual machines, datastores, and networks

• Open a virtual machine console on VMware vCenter Server® and access the guest operating system

• Create snapshots of virtual machines

• Configure guest customization specifications

• Modify virtual machine properties

• Convert a virtual machine into a template

• Deploy a virtual machine from a template

Attendees should also have the following Microsoft Windows system administration experience:

• Configure Active Directory services, including DNS, DHCP, and time synchronization

• Restrict user activities by implementing Group Policy objects

• Configure Windows systems to enable Remote Desktop Connections

• Build an ODBC connection to an SQL Server database

VMware vSphere Skills:

• Basic knowledge of managing virtual machines and datastores.

• Experience with virtual machine templates and snapshots.

Windows Administration Skills:

• Experience configuring Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, and Group Policy Objects.

• Knowledge of enabling Remote Desktop and setting up SQL Server connections.

Course Outline:

1. Course Introduction

• Introductions and course logistics

• Course objectives

2. Introduction to VMware Horizon

• Recognize the features and benefits of VMware Horizon

• Describe the conceptual and logical architecture of Horizon

3. Introduction to Use Case

• Convert customer requirements to use-case attributes

• Define a use case for virtual desktop and application infrastructure

4. vSphere for VMware Horizon

• Explain basic virtualization concepts

• Use VMware vSphere® Client™ to access VMware vCenter and VMware ESXi™ hosts

• Create a Windows virtual machine using vSphere

5. Create Windows Desktops

• Outline steps to install Horizon Agent on Windows virtual machines

• Install Horizon Agent on a Windows virtual machine

• Optimize and prepare Windows virtual machines for Horizon desktop VMs

6. Create Linux Desktops

• Create a Linux virtual machine for Horizon

• Install Horizon Agent on a Linux virtual machine

• Optimize and prepare Linux virtual machines for Horizon desktop VMs

7. Creating and Managing Desktop Pools

• Identify the steps to set up a template for desktop pool deployment

• Add desktops to the VMware Horizon® Connection Server™ inventory

• Compare dedicated-assignment and floating-assignment pools

• Outline the steps to create an automated pool

• Define user entitlement

• Explain the hierarchy of global, pool-level, and user-level policies

8. VMware Horizon Client Options

• Describe the different clients and their benefits

• Access Horizon desktops using various clients and HTML

• Configure integrated printing, USB redirection, and shared folders

• Configure session collaboration and media optimization for Microsoft Teams

9. Creating and Managing Instant-Clone Desktop Pools

• List the advantages of instant clones

• Explain the provisioning technology used for instant clone desktop pools

• Set up an automated pool of instant clones

• Push updated images to instant clone desktop pools

10. Creating RDS Desktop and Application Pools

• Explain the difference between an RDS desktop pool and an automated pool

• Compare an RDS session host pool, a farm, and an application pool

• Create an RDS desktop pool and an application pool

• Access RDS desktops and applications from Horizon Client

• Use instant clone technology to automate RDS Host farms

• Configure load balancing for RDSHs on a farm

11. Monitoring VMware Horizon

• Monitor the status of Horizon components using the Horizon Administrator console dashboard

• Monitor desktop sessions using the HelpDesk tool

• Monitor performance using Horizon Performance Tracker

12. Horizon Connection Server

• Recognize the VMware Horizon reference architecture

• Identify Horizon Connection Server supported features

• Identify recommended system requirements for Horizon Connection Server

• Configure the Horizon event database

• Outline the steps for initial configuration of Horizon Connection Server

• Discuss the AD LDS database as a critical component of Horizon Connection Server installation

13. Horizon Protocols

• Compare remote display protocols available in VMware Horizon

• Describe BLAST Display Protocol Codecs

• Summarize BLAST Codec options and ideal applications for each codec

• Describe BLAST and PCoIP ADMX GPO common configurations

14. Graphics in Horizon

• Describe 3D rendering options available in Horizon 8

• Compare vSGA and vDGA

• List the steps to configure graphics cards for Horizon

15. Securing Connections: Network

• Compare tunnels and direct connections for client access

• Discuss the benefits of using Unified Access Gateway

• List Unified Access Gateway firewall rules

• Configure TLS certificates in Horizon

16. Securing Connections: Authentication

• Compare authentication options supported by Horizon Connection Server

• Restrict access using restricted entitlements

• Describe smart card authentication methods supported by Horizon

• Explain permissions, roles, and privileges in Horizon

• Create custom roles

17. Horizon Scalability

• Describe the purpose of a replica connection server

• Explain how multiple Horizon Connection Servers in a pod maintain synchronization

• Configure graphics cards for Horizon

• Configure load balancers for Horizon

• Explain Horizon Cloud Pod Architecture LDAP replication and scalability options

18. Horizon Cloud and Universal Broker

• Recognize the features and benefits of Horizon Cloud Service

• Use Universal Broker to connect to a Horizon Cloud instance

• Configure and pair the Horizon Cloud Connector appliance with Horizon Connection Server

19. Workspace ONE Access and Virtual Application Management

• Recognize the features and benefits of Workspace ONE Access

• Explain identity and access management in Workspace ONE Access

• Describe requirements for installing and configuring True SSO in a Horizon environment

• Describe Workspace ONE Access directory integration

• Deploy virtual applications with Workspace services