F5 Enhances VDI Offerings From Citrix, VMware, Microsoft

F5 Networks, Inc., the Application Delivery Networking (ADN) solution provider, has announced support for leading virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions, including Citrix XenDesktop, VMware View, Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, and others. For customers using VDI technologies, F5 offers a unified and comprehensive approach to manage and accelerate network traffic, optimise performance, and centralise access and security policies.

VDI solutions offer an alternative to the increasing cost, maintenance, and security concerns associated with company-supplied PCs. However, VDI solutions can also increase infrastructure costs, introduce scaling challenges in large deployments, and reduce performance due to the inherent latency of wide area networks (WANs). Unlike other proprietary solutions, F5 BIG-IP products do not require changes to the delivery infrastructure, thus offering the perfect complement to all VDI deployments.

“Many organisations aren’t aware that they can overcome the most significant challenges of VDI deployments by leveraging their existing network infrastructure, specifically, their BIG-IP advanced application delivery controllers,” said Anil Pochiraju, Managing Director at F5 Networks India. “BIG-IP products are unique in that they integrate authentication, directory services, SSL offloading, and other services throughout the desktop infrastructure so organisations can optimise virtual desktop delivery with fewer resources, while also supporting network and application access control for non-VDI enabled applications. Unlike the current alternatives, BIG-IP gives organisations the flexibility to implement a VDI solution that best meets their needs today, as well as tomorrow, while keeping infrastructure costs down.”