Persistent VDI vs. Non-Persistent VDI: Which one to choose for your business?

Virtualization is the cornerstone of the current digital era. From automobile to accounting, almost every industry today heavily relies on virtual desktops to carry out organizational operations. 

63% of high-growth companies have implemented hybrid work models. The idea behind this hybrid work model is that they have implemented an ‘anywhere productivity’ approach for their workforce. The problem they face is having access to resources on multiple devices anytime. This makes us realize that a traditional desktop setup is not reliable and easy to maintain when it comes to the contemporary work scenario. First, there’s considerable financial investment. Second, they carry a high-maintenance liability. And with the BYOD trend since the past few years, more employees look to work remotely with their devices. 

Businesses are now moving towards a more flexible and cost-effective desktop environment, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). It is a technological innovation that allows you to remotely access your virtual desktop that is stored on a central server. 

While an organization can establish its own VDI environment, there is also an option to avail it from a third-party service provider. However, before you decide to implement a VDI solution within your organization, you must understand its two basic types—persistent and non-persistent VDI. 

Persistent VDI is more suitable for companies with a need for tremendous personalization with the one-user-one-desktop requirements. In contrast, Non-persistent VDI is ideal for environments with a need for a low-maintenance VDI solution with limited customization. 

Recommended Reading: Hosted VDI Pricing Model & Plans 

What Is Persistent VDI?

As the name suggests, persistent VDI offers virtual desktops in which the users can repeatedly access their uniquely customized Virtual Desktop (VD) without any loss of previously stored data. Every time you log into the system, you can access their last-saved data and work with the configurations you used in their previous sessions. Hence, it offers complete freedom and data storage with a configurational setup to virtual desktop users. Since these virtual desktops maintain the user’s customized user settings and remain in that state even after repeated logins, they are also known as the “Stateful VDI.”

What Is Non-Persistent VDI?

On the other hand, non-persistent VDI doesn’t save data and settings from the previous sessions. Every time a user logs into the system, a fresh virtual desktop awaits. It is like managing a pool of virtual desktops which revert to their original configuration after session termination. This implies that whenever you end your session or log out, the desktop settings will go back to default mode. Hence, this also gives them the name “Stateless VDI.” 

Non-persistent Vs. Persistent VDI 

Persistent and non-persistent VDI have a common setup. Desktop virtualization is done using a software known as Hypervisor in which the hardware and software are separated into different layers. After their separation, Hypervisor creates virtual instances, which are then used to set up virtual desktops. 

Since persistent VDI must essentially manage the post-session changes, a connection broker (after authentication) always directs the users to their particular virtual desktop. Whereas, in non-persistent VDI, all the virtual instances are clones of a single golden/master image. Therefore, with each login, the connection broker redirects the users to these linked clones and reverts to their original master configuration after every logout. 

Like every technological innovation, persistent and non-persistent VDI have individual use cases and suitability. Let’s explore them in detail: 

Why You Should go for Persistent VDI? 

As mentioned above, Persistent VDI is known for the benefit of personalization. The primary benefit it offers to the users is easy personalization with every change, data, shortcuts, and configurational settings being maintained as per the last session.  

Persistent VDI is the ideal choice for users who want a first-hand experience of their desktop with any time, anywhere accessibility. However, persistent VDI has more storage requirements than non-persistent VDI, as you must maintain a separate database for each virtual desktop. Due to this, companies must have a considerable IT budget to withstand the associated financial expenditure. 

As a result, managed VDI solutions with a list of benefits like security, costs, performance, customization, and ease of management is the recommended option. Additionally, the VDI provider handles individual patchwork and updates. 

Why You Should go for Non-persistent VDI? 

While persistent VDI comes with significant financial requirements, non-persistent VDI is the go-to for organizations that want a cost-effective VDI solution. In a non-persistent VDI, the IT staff needs to manage a single “golden image.” So, instead of working on updates and patches of multiple virtual desktops, they need to fix the primary configuration. However, since all the changes revert to the original condition, non-persistent VDI offers marginal personalization and limited application support. 

Use case scenarios: Persistent VDI vs. Non-persistent VDI 

With the fundamental features of the two types of VDI differing considerably, their usage extends to varying professional spheres.  

• Call centers/BPOs

In BPO/call centers, an employee doesn’t need a personalized desktop and only needs to access the same set of applications and software, such as customer service representatives. 

In such a case, Persistent VDI can be quite an expensive liability where the users don’t need personalization. Who would want multiple users to customize the dashboard, make objectionable changes, and leave it there? As a new end-user needs an ongoing session, for the time being, they don’t need customization. 

• Full-time staff workers 

A persistent VDI is ideal in environments where users must regularly access a personalized virtual desktop without a compromise on basic settings. Hence, for areas like software development, research, and healthcare, persistent VDI is the preferred choice. 

• Client Desktops 

Client desktops are used like a new desktop that doesn’t save user history, just like a browser’s incognito mode. Moreover, they have minimal time for user operations. Instances are: 

• Airline check-in stations 
• Medical data entry 
• Classrooms/libraries 
• Customer self-service 

In cases where the user has to log in once using their credentials for accessing a service, non-persistent or stateless desktops are preferred for reasons of security and privacy. 

Get Best-in-Class Persistent and Non-persistent VDI With ACE 

Persistent and non-persistent VDI offer different benefits to users. With their use-cases being different as well, choose the one that responds the most to your individual requirements. 

ACE offers you the best persistent and non-persistent virtual desktops that are high on performance, security, and storage. With ACE, there’s no need to worry about security as we deploy virtual desktops in locked-down security MODE, be it data centers or networks. We bring you virtual desktops powered by Citrix that work for SMEs due to high performance and low costs. Also, you can get fully managed customized desktops tailored to real-life requirements. 

If you’re still confused about which one to choose, call on 855-980-2150 to get in touch with our Solutions Consultant. 

Or get a free trial to experience ACE’s VDI offering in real time! 

Update: This article was last updated on 10th June 2022 to reflect the accuracy and up-to-date information on the page.

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