Three Ways to Improve Security and Data Integrity with VDI

IT managers have been bombarded with marketing messages saying that VDI is the logical next step in the desktop revolution. These same executives are also hearing how cloud technologies can simplify their environments and make their workforce more mobile. A recent Cisco report even said that by 2019, more than 86% of workloads will run in cloud data centers. Amid all of these conversations, security remains at the top of the list when it comes to infrastructure deployment concerns.

Your data is valuable and the bad guys are constantly looking for ways to get inside and steal it. There are direct economies around the hacking industry where the value of information continues to grow. Juniper Research pointed out that the rapid digitization of consumers’ lives and enterprise records will increase the cost of data breaches to $2.1 trillion globally by 2019, almost four times the estimated cost of breaches in 2015.

Security and data integrity have always been a concern for IT administrators. Throw in some regulations as well as compliance standards and you’ve got a complicated security environment to manage. So, for those organizations aiming to deploy VDI in the cloud, there are a few key considerations when it comes to centralizing resources and creating better security solutions.

1. Enabling cloud integration with VDI. Using secure applications in the cloud is one solution. But what about VDI in the cloud? With VDI, all of the company’s sensitive data is controlled and protected on a server rather than sitting on unprotected desktops, which might end up roaming around public spaces like the commuter train, the local coffee shop or an airport terminal. By establishing proper access to critical information, a centralized cloud-based VDI model can help meet requirements subject to government-imposed standards such as SOX or HIPAA. Delivering full desktops in the cloud doesn’t have to be a regulatory nightmare. Users can sign in using Active Directory to Web portals or interfaces, which gives them access to their own personal section of a corporate cloud. From there, users can launch applications, reconnect to other sessions or use virtual desktops.

2. Supporting a diverse workforce. In the past, certain types of users simply could not use a VDI solution. This could have been because of resource constraints or because of the type of application in use. In those scenarios, organizations had to segment users, allowing some to access a virtual ecosystem, while others still had valuable data stored locally on their own PC or laptop. Now, VDI allows an organization to control its resources more effectively, while also intelligently managing users and their workspaces. Users accessing resource-intensive applications can benefit from the very same security options being offered to more traditional users. From the data center, you can provision powerful graphics processing unit (GPU) applications from hardware components using VDI technology, making life easier for engineers and designers. By creating better resource controls, graphics optimization, and workload delivery, you can allow a more diverse workforce to access a centralized, secure virtual ecosystem at the data center.

3. Enabling secure multi-tenancy. Secure multi-tenancy is critical for today’s ever-evolving business architecture. This means proper virtual machine segmentation, and the isolation of sensitive data points. VDI helps combine those critical components to allow for this kind of delivery. Graphics, server, and virtualization technologies are creating a powerful ecosystem capable of resource controls, user optimization, and business agility. Most of all, these systems also enable direct security integration by enabling resource control and data segmentation policies. In the past, this was much more challenging to accomplish. Now, organizations can create powerful, cloud-ready, multi-tenant ecosystems.

Today, new concepts around VDI and resource optimization also create real-world security solutions. Moving forward, these technologies will act as direct enablers for your business and your data center.

Underwritten by HPE, NVIDIA and VMware.