Give users access to their desktop from anywhere on any device.
Hosting desktops in the cloud goes by many names (VDI, DAAS -Desktop as a
Service, Remote Desktop, Virtual Desktops, Hosted Desktops, Cloud Desktops) and can be setup in several methods
depending on your needs.
Why use Riptide's hosted Desktops as a Service
- Access your desktop and applications from any computer / device
- Increased uptime (8 internet providers, backup generators)
- Easy to add and remove users
- Single location for users files
- Single Windows Operating system (to keep secure and patched)
- Single server (or cluster) to install programs and manage users
- Simple Backup of all files - (Single server or cluster)
- No hardware cost for purchase or to upgrade (no more server in the office)
- Month to Month contract
- Try before you buy to ensure your programs will run smoothly!
And you would choose different options based on your needs such as:
- Number of users
- Licensing requirements - Licenses Owned / Needed (rent monthly MS licenses with us)
- Amount of data storage needed
- Intensity of users and applications (some are hungry requiring more ram/cpu)
- Needs of users (sharing programs - applications)
- Administration requirements - complexity
Have a Question? Give us a call at 1.888.282.1883 or emails us @ [email protected]
Microsoft licensing requirements are different depending on the option you
choose.
In the options below, you will see
that Windows Server with RDS for individual user desktop sessions can be a very
cost effective solution for companies with a smaller number of users. This
option provides users with a customizable desktop session and
ability to share applications between users.
Some companies want each employee to have a completely isolated virtual machine
for each user. This option requires
Windows Desktop (Windows 7,8,10) licensing. Your company may already own the
licensing necessary for this.
Option 1: Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server – You can utilize a Windows
Server OS (we provide) (versions 2022 or Server 2019) with Remote Desktop Services (RDS) to provide each user
their own customizable desktop session.
Applications such as an access databases,
accounting applications, business software, and MS Office can be installed on the
server once and accessible by each user session simultaneously. Users have access
to both a private folder (i.e. my documents) and a public folder to easily share
documents between users. A Remote Desktop server is often the cheapest method for providing desktop sessions.
At Riptide, a VM with licensing for Windows 2022 or 2019 starts at $90 plus RDS user licenses
at $9.99 each.
Click here to price a remote desktop server with the popular windows software.
Option 2: An individual virtual machine for each users
(Approximate cost is $50 per user). This option provides Windows virtual
machines with a desktop operating system (7, 8.1 or the newest 10) . You may be able to utilize your own licensing
or purchase Volume Licensing. (Let us know if you need to purchase Volume
Licensing).
This option uses more resources (disk space, memory and CPU) since each user has
a copy of the operating system running along with a separate operating system
(So only choose if the benefits outweigh the cost.
If you are looking to provide individual (isolated) VMs to each user with
a Windows Desktop OS, an option is to use one or more Dedicated Servers upon which
to install your own Volume Licensed version of Windows Server OS along with
the “virtual machine based desktop” deployment method of RDS where each hyper-V
VM utilizes a Windows desktop OS. Licensing in this scenario requires that each user or
device accessing the VM have either the Windows Desktop Enterprise License with
Software Assurance or a Windows Virtual Desktop Access (VDA) license. VDA device
licenses are approximately $100/device/year. Many users do not have the Windows
Enterprise license because it is available in Volume Licensing and not OEM/Retail
and requires Windows Professional or better. Typically this is much more costly
or cost prohibitive versus option 1 above. The rights to utilize the Desktop OS
VM cease when either the Software Assurance or VDA license expires. For a client
to use their own Volume Licensing, it must be on a fully Dedicated Server and must
have the proper type of licensing. Here is a link to a good article on Microsoft
licensing.
Click Here for some dedicated server pricing to use for individual Virtual Desktops
Option 3: individual VMs on Windows Server OS – if you want isolated VMs without
the ability to share programs/documents between users, another option is to use
Windows Server with individual hyper-V VMs with a Server OS instead of a desktop
OS. This would allow you to license the underlying host machine/server with Windows
Server Datacenter licensing which provides unlimited VMs on a Windows server OS. In some
cases this would be cheaper than option 2 above but likely more expensive
than option 1 of Windows Server with RDS desktop sessions. With this option you have dedicated
server(s) for your hosted virtual desktops.
Click Here for some dedicated server pricing to use for individual Virtual Desktops
Points to Consider:
- Do you want a Desktop OS (operating system) or Server OS / Server OS with Desktop Experience?
- Who is providing the Microsoft licensing?
- Do you have Desktop Enterprise with Software Assurance
or VDA Licenses?
- Use Server OS and Remote Desktop Services licensing provided by us.
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