This five-day course gives you the hands-on skills to deliver virtual desktops and applications through a single virtual desktop infrastructure platform. You build on your skills in configuring and managing Horizon® 8 through a combination of lecture and hands-on labs. You learn how to configure and deploy pools of virtual machines and how to provide a customized desktop environment to end-users. Additionally, you learn how to install and configure a virtual desktop infrastructure platform. You learn how to install and configure Horizon® Connection Server™ Unified Access Gateway™ how to configure a load balancer for use with Horizon, and how to establish Cloud Pod Architecture.

By the end of this session, attendees should be able to:

    Recognize the features and benefits of Horizon
    Use vSphere to create VMs to be used as desktops for Horizon
    Create and optimize Windows VMs to create Horizon desktops
    Install and Configure Horizon Agent on a Horizon desktop
    Configure, manage, and entitle desktop pools of full VMs
    Configure and manage the Horizon Client systems and connect the client to a Horizon desktop
    Configure, manage, and entitle pools of instant-clone desktops
    Create and use Remote Desktop Services (RDS) desktops and application pools
    Monitor the Horizon environment using the Horizon Console Dashboard and Horizon Help Desk Tool
    Identify Horizon Connection Server installation, architecture, and requirements
    Describe the authentication and certificate options for the Horizon environment
    Recognize the integration process and benefits of Omnissa® Access™ and Horizon 8
    Compare the remote display protocols that are available in Horizon
    Describe the 3D rendering options available in Horizon 8
    Discuss scalability options available in Horizon 8
    Describe different security options for the Horizon environment.

    Tier 1 Operators, administrators, and architects, responsible for the creation, maintenance, and or delivery of remote and virtual desktop services
    Additional duties can include the implementation, support, and administration of an organization's end-user computing infrastructure.

Before attending this course, you must have the following skills:

    Use vSphere Web Client
    Create snapshots of virtual machines
    Configure guest customization specifications
    Modify virtual machine properties
    Convert a virtual machine to a template
    Microsoft Windows system administration experience:
    Configure Active Directory services, including DNS, DHCP, and time synchronization
    Restrict user activities by implementing Group Policy Objects
    Configure Windows systems to enable Remote Desktop Connections

1 Course Introduction

    Introductions and course logistics
    Course objectives

2 Introduction to Horizon

    Recognize the features and benefits of Horizon
    Describe the conceptual and logical architecture of Horizon

3 vSphere for Horizon

    Explain basic virtualization concepts
    Use vSphere Client™ to access your vCenter Server system and ESXi hosts
    Create, provision, and remove a virtual machine

4 Create Windows Desktops

    Outline the steps to install Horizon Agent on Windows virtual machines
    Install Horizon Agent on a Windows virtual Machine
    Optimize and prepare Windows virtual machines to set up Horizon desktop VMs

5 Create Linux Desktops

    Create a Linux VM for Horizon
    Install Horizon Agent on a Linux virtual machine
    Optimize and prepare Linux virtual machines to set up Horizon desktop VMs

6 Creating and Managing Desktop Pools

    Identify the steps to set up a template for desktop pool deployment
    List the steps to add desktops to the Horizon® Connection Server™ inventory
    Compare dedicated-assignment and floating-assignment pools
    Outline the steps to create an automated pool
    Define user entitlement
    Explain the hierarchy of global, pool-level, and user-level policies

7 Horizon Client Options

    Describe the different clients and their benefits
    Access Horizon desktop using various Horizon clients and HTML
    Configure integrated printing, USB redirection, and the shared folders option
    Configure session collaboration and media optimization for Microsoft Teams

8 Creating and Managing Instant-Clone Desktops

    List the advantages of instant clones
    Explain the provisioning technology used for instant clone desktop pools
    Set up an automated pool of instant clones
    Push updated images to instant clone desktop pools

9 Creating RDS Desktop and Application Pools

    Explain the difference between an RDS desktop pool and an automated pool
    Compare and contrast an RDS session host pool, a farm, and an application pool
    Create an RDS desktop pool and an application pool
    Access RDS desktops and application from Horizon Client
    Use the instant clone technology to automate the buildout of RDSH farms
    Configure load-balancing for RDSHs on a farm

10 Monitoring Horizon

    Monitor the status of the Horizon components using the Horizon Administrator console dashboard
    Monitor desktop sessions using the HelpDesk tool
    Monitor the performance of the remote desktop using the Horizon Performance Tracker

11 Horizon Connection Server

    Recognize Horizon reference architecture
    Identify the Horizon Connection Server supported features
    Identify the recommended system requirements for Horizon Connection Server
    Configure Horizon event database
    Outline the steps for the initial configuration of Horizon Connection Server
    Discuss the AD LDS database as a critical component of Horizon Connection Server installation

12 Horizon Protocols

    Compare the remote display protocols that are available in Horizon
    Describe BLAST
    Summarize BLAST Codec options
    List ideal applications for each BLAST codec
    Describe BLAST and PCoIP ADMX GPO common configurations

13 Graphics in Horizon

    Describe the 3D rendering options available in Horizon 8
    Compare vSGA and vDGA
    List the steps to configure graphics cards for use in a Horizon environment

14 Securing Connections: Network

    Compare tunnels and direct connections for client access to desktops
    Discuss the benefits of using Unified Access Gateway
    List the Unified Access Gateway firewall rules
    Configure TLS certificates in Horizons

15 Securing Connections: Authentication

    Compare the authentication options that Horizon Connection Server supports
    Restrict access to the Horizon remote desktops using restricted entitlements
    Describe the smart card authentication methods that Horizon Connection Server supports
    Explain the purpose of permissions, roles, and privileges in Horizon
    Create custom roles

16 Horizon Scalability

    Describe the purpose of a replica connection server
    Explain how multiple Horizon Connection Server instances in a pod maintain synchronization
    List the steps to configure graphics cards for use in a Horizon environment
    Configure a load balancer for use in a Horizon environment
    Explain Horizon Cloud Pod Architecture LDAP replication and VIPA
    Explain Horizon Cloud Pod Architecture scalability options

17 Horizon Cloud and Universal Broker

    Recognize the features and benefits of Horizon Cloud Service
    Use Universal broker to connect to a Horizon Cloud instance
    Configure and pair the Horizon Cloud Connector appliance with Horizon Connection Server

18 Omnissa Access and Virtual Application Management

    Recognize the features and benefits of Workspace ONE Access
    Recognize the Workspace ONE Access console features
    Explain identity management in Workspace ONE Access
    Explain access management in Workspace ONE Access
    Describe the Workspace ONE Access directory integration
    Deploy virtual applications with Workspace services

Omnissa Certified Professional Desktop (OCPD)