What's the difference between desktop as a service (DaaS) and a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)?
I want to know the basic difference between DaaS and VDI. Which one is better for small and medium-sized businesses? Can both be hosted in the cloud and/or on-premise?
Expert Answers
Sort by Date
Sort by Votes
Mar 23, 2020
Desktop as a Service is a Multi-tenant environment where VM’s are either hosted in the cloud or on-premise while the control plane where user creation and policy definition and billing is centralized in a Cloud based portal. Desktops are charged on a tiered and pay-per-use model. Gold,silver, bronze tier is determined by installed apps and operating system combination and usage is measured on daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis.
Hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure is primarily on premise hosing and virtual desktops and management software for single entity/organization. It is typically unmetered all you you can use setup.
Regards,
Akshay
Mar 13, 2020
Both are virtual desktop applications that allow users access on remote or mobile devices (laptops, tablets, or even smartphones). VDI can be hosted on premises or in the cloud, where DaaS is hosted in the cloud by a third party. The main difference is that with VDI, you are responsible for all IT issues such as hardware replacement and upgrades (which requires trained IT staff). If you need total control and single tenant hosting, VDI is the answer. On the other hand, DaaS is hosted and managed by a third party service provider, removing that burdon from you. DaaS is multi-tenant hosting where several different businesses share the servers (they are still secure though). There are more upfront costs involved in setting up a VDI (CapEx), where DaaS is normally just an ongoing monthly expense (OpEx).