Preface

When we talk about end-user computing, we are typically referring to the virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), where desktop operating systems are virtualized and hosted centrally in a data center, and users connect remotely to them using some form of client endpoint device over an optimized network delivery protocol. But what about the applications?

Deploying VDI decouples the OS from the local hardware, making the OS portable. However, the applications still remain wedded to the OS, meaning you have to continually manage multiple OS images just to manage applications. After all, the only reason you have the OS in the first place is to run applications.

With the introduction of VMware App Volumes, you now have a solution that allows you to abstract applications from the OS of the virtual desktop and deliver them back individually and on demand to the end users' virtual desktop machine. This approach is now more commonly referred to as application layering. Application layering allows you to separate applications from the underlying OS and then deliver them back into the OS, merging the application files and the OS files together or layering the application in.

By doing this, you can not only manage applications independently of the OS, but also get one step closer to deploying the nirvanic solution of a truly stateless virtual desktop infrastructure.