When VMware Horizon 7 was introduced to the market just a few months ago, it represented a shift in the way virtual desktops and apps could be delivered and managed. Several new capabilities highlighted the innovations in Horizon 7, including Smart Policies and Blast Extreme. One of the most exciting features introduced was the concept of Instant Clone technology.

Instant Clone capability comes from our vision of helping customers deliver a Software-Defined Data Center, and cloning virtual desktops (VDI) happens to be a great use case in using that capability. This technology shifts the traditional VDI deployment model from a somewhat cumbersome and time-consuming process to a rapid and fully-customizable process. Instead of using traditional virtual desktop cloning methods, which require power cycle and reconfiguration calls, Instant Clone technology allows IT to clone virtual desktops in memory from an existing running virtual desktop, resulting in desktops that can be created in seconds rather than hours!

As if that’s not exciting enough, imagine what you can do when you combine Instant Clone technology with VMware App Volumes. App Volumes helps deliver applications to users and desktops in real-time, simplifying the lifecycle management of apps that helps reduce costs associated with managing images and storage capacity by 70%. Many customers are taking advantage of App Volumes for their Horizon, Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop and RDSH environments today—and doing it at scale. Continue reading →