Manage desktop pools

About desktop pools

A desktop pool is a group of desktop resources that have the same attributes. You can bulk deploy desktops from a desktop pool with ease. Depending on the used desktop virtualization technology, a desktop pool can be one of the following types:

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) desktop pool—Allows you to bulk create cloud desktops that use the same system configuration and assign the desktops to users. You can configure a VDI desktop pool to provide static, dynamic, manual, shared desktops, or application servers, depending on the desktop persistence requirement.
Intelligent desktop virtualization (IDV) desktop pool—Allows you to bulk deploy a desktop image to IDV desktop clients for users. You can configure an IDV desktop pool to deploy clients that are each accessible to a single user, multiple users, or anonymous users.

Virtual OS infrastructure (VOI)/TCI desktop pool—Allows you to bulk deploy a desktop image to VOI/TCI clients for desktop users. You can configure a VOI/TCI desktop pool to deploy clients that are each accessible to a single user, multiple users, or anonymous users.

When you configure IDV or VOI/TCI desktop pools for anonymous users, follow these restrictions:

Do not select remote roaming for data management policies. Otherwise, data confusion might occur.
After data management policies are configured, if user B deletes a file belonging to user A, user A cannot retrieve the deleted file upon next login.

Physical host desktop pool—Allows you to assign physical hosts to a desktop pool for central management. A user can access a managed physical host remotely from a Workspace client installed on an endpoint. Based on the application scenario, physical host desktop pools are divided into static desktop pools and application server pools. Only local, LDAP, and domain users can access a physical host desktop pool.

VDI desktop pool

Figure-1 shows the supported types of VDI desktop pool. For a comparison of these VDI desktop pools, see Table-1.

Figure-1 Types of VDI desktop pools by authorization type (1)

Figure-2 Types of VDI desktop pools by authorization type (2)

Table-1 Comparison of VDI desktop pools

Pool type	Access control	Data storage	Applicable scenarios
Static	Each desktop in a static desktop pool is assigned to only one user for exclusive use. These desktops are called static desktops. You can assign one or multiple static desktops to a user.	Static desktops are persistent. They save user data and preference settings in the operating system. The saved data and settings will persist through a restart. This persistence feature makes static desktops a good option for business use in offices.
Dynamic	The desktops in a dynamic desktop pool are called dynamic desktops. They are dynamically assigned to users in a preauthorization list. When the system receives a request from a preauthorized user, the system randomly selects a desktop from the dynamic desktop pool for the user. The system releases the dynamic desktop assigned to a user if that user disconnects from the desktop and fails to reconnect to the desktop within the graceful period. Then, the system can assign the released desktop to any other user.	Dynamic desktops are not persistent. When the desktop reboots, any data and previous user settings saved on it are lost.	Dynamic desktop pools are applicable to public service facilities such as public training and teaching and reading rooms in libraries.
Manual	A manual desktop pool is analogous to a dynamic desktop pool except that the administrator can set restore points for future data and configuration restoration. The desktops in a manual desktop pool are called manual desktops. The system releases the manual desktop assigned to a user if that user disconnects from the desktop and fails to reconnect to the desktop within the graceful period. Then, the system can assign the released desktop to any other user.	A manual desktop can be administratively restored to the state when the most recent restore point was created. The data and settings saved on a manual desktop are not cleared when the manual desktop is released. The administrator must restore the desktop to a restore point as needed before assigning the desktop to a new user.	This type of desktop pool is applicable to volatile scenarios that require system rollback.
Shared	Each desktop in a shared desktop pool can be assigned to multiple users for simultaneous use and collaboration. These desktops are called shared desktops. You can assign one or multiple shared desktops to a user.	Each user logs in to a shared desktop with an account name identical to the login username. On a shared desktop, all users use the same C drive and can access only their respective user files in the C:\Users folder. The users share the data disks on the shared desktop. Shared desktops are persistent. They save user data and preference settings in the operating system. The saved data and settings will persist through a restart.	This type of desktop pool is applicable to collaboration between multiple users on a Windows endpoint in the office scenario.
Application server	An application sever desktop pool is used to bulk deploy application servers for providing virtual applications. The processes of the virtual applications run on the application servers, and the application servers are not bound to any users. When you are adding application servers, you can select an application server desktop pool to accommodate the application servers.	When a user uses a virtual application, its local disk is mapped to the related application server, and the virtual application can directly access the data in the local disk. The user can save its data and configuration on the application server. The data and configuration can survive a server reboot.	This type of desktop pool is used to provide application servers that host virtual applications.

IDV desktop pool

Figure-3 shows the supported types of IDV desktop pool by authorization type. For a comparison of these IDV desktop pools, see Table-2.

Figure-3 Types of IDV desktop pool by authorization type

Table-2 Comparison of IDV desktop pools by authorization type

Authorization type	Access control	Data storage	Applicable scenarios
Single (dedicated) user	Each IDV client is accessible to only one user.	The user has access to all drives available on the physical client and the cloud disk assigned to the user at the server end.	This type of desktop pool is applicable to privacy-sensitive scenarios such as home offices, personal desktops, and financial data processing.
Multiple users	All IDV clients in the pool are shared by the specified users or user groups. Any one of the specified users can access an IDV client in the pool to obtain desktop services as long as that client is idle.	The users have access only to the system disk (the C drive) on the client endpoint and the cloud disk assigned to each of them.	This type of desktop pool is applicable to client sharing scenarios such as reading rooms or office lobbies.
Anonymous users	Allows anyone to access an IDV desktop as a guest without providing user account information.	Anonymous users do not have cloud disks. They can use only the storage on the client endpoints.	Anonymous access is applicable to public service scenarios such as government service centers, libraries, and nurse stations.

VOI/TCI desktop pool

Figure-4 shows the supported types of VOI/TCI desktop pool by authorization type. For a comparison of these IDV desktop pools, see Table-3.

Figure-4 Types of VOI desktop pool by desktop authorization type

Table-3 Comparison of VOI/TCI desktop pools by authorization type

Authorization type	Access control	Data storage	Applicable scenarios
Single (dedicated) user	Each VOI/TCI client is accessible to only one user.	The user has access to all drives available on the physical client and the cloud disk assigned to the user at the server end.	This type of desktop pool is applicable to privacy-sensitive scenarios such as home offices, personal desktops, and financial data processing.
Multiple users	All VOI/TCI clients in the pool are shared by the specified users or user groups. Any one of the specified users can access a VOI/TCI client in the pool to obtain desktop services as long as that client is idle.	The users have access only to the system disk (the C drive) on the client endpoint and the cloud disk assigned to each of them.	This type of desktop pool is applicable to client sharing scenarios such as reading rooms or office lobbies.
Anonymous access	Allows anyone to access a VOI/TCI desktop as a guest without providing user account information.	Anonymous users do not have cloud disks. They can use only the storage on the client endpoints.	Anonymous access is applicable to public service scenarios such as government service centers, libraries, and nurse stations.

Physical host desktop pool

Figure-5 shows how Space Console manages physical host desktop pools.

Figure-5 Physical host desktop pool management

You can assign physical hosts to a desktop pool for central management, including host boot, host shutdown, host reboot, remote assistance, and user authorization. The local users configured on a managed physical host can access it as usual. On Space Console, you also can authorize users to remotely access the physical hosts in a physical host desktop pool by using a client installed on endpoints. You can use physical host desktop pools as application server pools to provide virtual applications. Only local, LDAP, and domain users can access a physical host desktop pool.

The following table shows the support of physical hosts for Workspace features:

Items	Description
Operating system	Windows 7, Windows 10, and Windows Server.
Policies	Software denylist and allowlist. Watermarking policies. Non-blind watermarking: Supports configuring the account, IP address, MAC address, time stamp, computer name, username, color, font size, transparency, rotation angle, and custom content of the watermark. Blind watermarking: Supports configuring the account, IP address, MAC address, time stamp, computer name, username, and the custom content of the watermark.
Management actions	Remote shutdown and restart.
Security gateway	Connecting a physical host to Space Console through the security gateway. Connecting the client to the physical host through the security gateway.
Remote desktop	Remote desktop connection.
VNC remote O&M	Remote O&M through VNC.
Users	Physical hosts assigned to domains are available for domain users. Physical hosts not assigned to domains are available for local users and LDAP users.
USB device access control	Management of USB devices connected to a physical host.
Local network access management	Network access management based on firewalls of Windows, such as the IP addresses, subnet masks, and port denylist.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have completed the following tasks in Space Console:

Add hosts and cluster resources.
Add users.
Create desktop images.