Architecture Planning

Table Of Contents
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Details about the HTML Access Web client, which allows you to open a remote desktop inside a
browser. No Horizon Client application is installed on the client system or device. See the
Horizon Client documentation at
https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.
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Various third-party thin clients and zero clients, available only through certified partners.
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View Open Client, which supports the VMware partner certification program. View Open Client is not
an official client application and is not supported as such.
VMware Horizon User Web Portal
From a Web browser on a client device, end users can connect to remote desktops and applications through
the browser, automatically start Horizon Client if it is installed, or download the Horizon Client installer.
When you open a browser and enter the URL of a View Connection Server instance, the Web page that
appears contains links to the VMware Downloads site for downloading Horizon Client. The links on the
Web page are configurable, however. For example, you can configure the links to point to an internal Web
server, or you can limit which client versions are available on your own View Connection Server.
If you use the HTML Access feature, the Web page also displays a link for accessing remote desktops inside
a supported browser. With this feature, no Horizon Client application is installed on the client system or
device. For more information, see the Horizon Client documentation at
https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.
View Agent
You install the View Agent service on all virtual machines, physical systems, and Microsoft RDS hosts that
you use as sources for remote desktops and applications. On virtual machines, this agent communicates
with Horizon Client to provide features such as connection monitoring, virtual printing, View Persona
Management, and access to locally connected USB devices.
If the desktop source is a virtual machine, you first install the View Agent service on that virtual machine
and then use the virtual machine as a template or as a parent of linked clones. When you create a pool from
this virtual machine, the agent is automatically installed on every remote desktop.
You can install the agent with an option for single sign-on. With single sign-on, users are prompted to log in
only when they connect to View Connection Server and are not prompted a second time to connect to a
remote desktop or application.
View Administrator
This Web-based application allows administrators to configure View Connection Server, deploy and
manage remote desktops and applications, control user authentication, and troubleshoot end user issues.
When you install a View Connection Server instance, the View Administrator application is also installed.
This application allows administrators to manage View Connection Server instances from anywhere
without having to install an application on their local computer.
View Composer
You can install this software service on a vCenter Server instance that manages virtual machines or on a
separate server. View Composer can then create a pool of linked clones from a specified parent virtual
machine. This strategy reduces storage costs by up to 90 percent.
Each linked clone acts like an independent desktop, with a unique host name and IP address, yet the linked
clone requires significantly less storage because it shares a base image with the parent. Because linked-clone
desktop pools share a base image, you can quickly deploy updates and patches by updating only the parent
virtual machine. End users' settings, data, and applications are not affected.
View Architecture Planning
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