Horizon 8 Reviews

We use this solution for virtual desktop infrastructure and remote desktop connections on client sites with 18 clients or end-user devices.

It is stable and easily scalable. 

The remote connection, bandwidth usage, and error connection can be improved. Working with the load balancer sites should also be improved. For example, with Horizon, we can use two clients with a one megabit connection, but with Citrix, we can use four or five clients with the same bandwidth through ICA protocol. VMware must improve remote connection, connection stability, and load balancing.

I have been using this solution for five or six years. 

VMware is stable. We don't need to switch after installation, but for one area, the connection stability is currently lower than other solutions. We tested it, and one connection from the load balancer or the firewall needs to be improved.

It is easily and quickly scalable and expandable. 

We are also Citrix Platinum partners. We are using Citrix solutions and desktop. When we create a project, we give our clients options and considerations between Citrix and VMWare. They choose after that.

For one building or two buildings that are nearby, or one local site, we prefer Horizon Seven. If end users are connected to VDI desktops or other Citrix services or if they are using a load balancer like NetScaler, for coming from outside to the inside of corporate, we are using Citrix VDI because of the ITA protocol.

The initial setup is quick and easy, but after that, you must configure user groups, machine groups, and delivery groups. It also requires some scripting and other tweaks, but the initial setup is easy for VMware Horizon.

The deployment duration depends on the number of users. For example, for 1,000 end users, you need redundancy servers for VMWare Horizon, and you need other servers for connecting to vCenter. Load balancing depends upon the client's sites. For example, for 10 users, I can make a connection locally in 45 minutes to one hour, but for 1,000 end users from different sites, it can take two to four days. If the complexity is high, it can take one month.

In terms of the staff required for deployment and maintenance, it depends on the end users and requirements on the customer site. I can complete installation myself, for example, of up to 100 users on one site. If more sites and more configurations are needs, it is a team job. It depends on the end users and customer expectations.

I would rate VMware Horizon 7 a seven out of ten. If it becomes stronger like the Citrix ICA protocol, it would easily be a ten.

Horizon actually has been working well in the current pandemic situation. Originally, we had clients deployed in our infrastructure. Now, once working from home or remote working has been imposed, we deployed a Unified Gateway. It's simply one more component of Horizon, and it allows us to give access over the public IP so that those people at home get the same environment itself as they work from their home without causing any user experience problems. There were no additional licenses required for that job either, which was nice.

I would love to see so they can actually allow the use of Linux, from a hosting environment as well as from a VDI client environment. If I can actually host Linux instances as VDIs with the same features as what I get on Windows and have all the key components, like the Composer, database, or the connection services, that would be ideal. Often, ransomware and attacks usually target Windows, therefore, if I'm on Linux, at least I'll have some level of comfort or a buffer against danger.

VMware Horizon was deployed around one and a half years ago in my infrastructure.

We do not have any problems with the stability part of it. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's not buggy and it doesn't have any glitches. It's reliable.

VMware is a hyper-converged infrastructure model. Therefore, for scaling it you just add more servers to it in the inputs. It's rather straightforward. 

We've had a couple of calls with technical support. They're very good, from what I have experienced. We are quite satisfied with their level of knowledge and responsiveness.

The initial setup is somewhat okay. They're not too complex. There are various components that have to be installed and configured, and therefore a little bit of expertise is required. It's not dead simple. You do need some background.

Ours was a smaller deployment and it's supposed to host around 800 different current virtual instances. Starting from the backend stack to going live, it took approximately two weeks overall.

It is more economical than purchasing each license individually. If you purchase vSphere Enterprise plus vSAN, then vROps, and then Horizon, it's going to be a large cost. If you do this logic, it will be very cheaper, because they did not charge us separately for the vSphere or vSAN or vROps with this. You buy the number of seats irrespective to how much hardware you run on, they will not charge you more. That's the benefit.

We aren't on the latest version of the solution. We're at minus one right now. The final upgrade has not been done due to the pandemic situation.

In our kind of environment, it's just more of a media use case, so we used it and it made sense. If you have variable workloads, not a uniform workload, then it might not go under the licensing for just VDIs, asVDIs specifically cover your operating system instances as well as uniform with the VDI clients. If it is a uniform VDI client, such as all Windows 10 systems for users to log in, like on host environment, or it's all a server farm, etc., for those kinds of environments, Horizon is a no brainer. 

A company should go for it. I'd recommend it. It is a good solution to work with.

Overall, I would rate the solution eight out of ten. For the most part, we've been quite satisfied with the results.

VMware Horizon 7 has its proprietary Elastic streaming protocol, which is very good for delivering VDI. It helps with graphic-intensive applications.

The experience is seamless for graphic-intensive applications using this particular protocol.

It's difficult to recall any areas that need improvement. 

They are growing now, in particular with this VDI domain. VMware is now introducing new products and features, and they are onboarding new customers.

There are many competitors in the market. All of the Media in Apple products delivery is seamless. 

They need to advertise the product well and focus on their core features. 

They need to market accordingly and they will have a good future and a good experience for the end customers.

I would like to see seamless integration with the cloud because right now, the dependency is on the cloud providers. I would like to see them have their own cloud environment on any public cloud. Right now, it is split between the public cloud and the VMware cloud environment. If they could deliver a solution that integrated all of the components then it would be great. They would not have to manage two different consoles but rather, a single implementation and a single console.

I have been working with VMware Horizon 7 for more than one year.

It's a stable solution.

It's easy to scale. Once you have it in your environment it's can be easily scaled.

Technical support is good.

The initial setup is straightforward.

If the customer already has a VMware virtualized platform then it's a seamless deployment.

Even the ordering and packaging is simple because it can be combined with the server virtualizing platform. You just order a one-part code that includes everything in that solution, including the VDI platform.

It can take approximately one week to deploy if it is on-premises, and if on the cloud, depending not the workload, it can take a day or two.

They have both options of deployment models. If it is on-premises, it's as per their proprietary prerequisite. With the cloud, they have AWS and Microsoft Azure.

I would recommend VMware Horizon 7 if the customer already has the VMware virtualized environment in place.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

I am a system engineer and this is one of the products that I assist people with by providing support.

The most valuable features are Instant Clones and AppStacks.

Sometimes when we log on, there are applications that are not visible.

Technical support is only average and can be improved.

In general, there are many things that can be improved.

I have been using VMware Horizon View for about three months.

As much as I have used this product, the stability looks good. We don't have many issues that require support.

I feel that Horizon is more for a small business, rather than a large organization.

In our organization with 250 users, it works fine but if you're talking about 10,000 to 15,000 users then I don't know whether it would support a scale at that size.

Technical support from VMware is all right, although I would not say that they're great. Overall, they are average.

I am much more familiar with Citrix and work with it regularly. I have only been working with Horizon View for fine-tuning. I also use a similar product from Microsoft.

Ranking these, I would say that Citrix is first with a mark of 80%, Microsoft is second with a mark of 60%, and VMware is third with a mark of 50%.

The installation process is really fast.

We use a team that sets up solutions and then moves on. They remain only for the deployment.

In my short experience, I would say that this is a really good product that can be installed quickly for a small scale organization with not many users.

I would rate this solution a six out of ten.

We use VMware Horizon View for remote accessibility of all the legacy apps.

VMware Horizon View is an easy-to-use solution. VMware Horizon View allows us to access and manage any type of client.

The solution’s stability and initial setup could be improved.

I have been using VMware Horizon View for four years.

I rate VMware Horizon View a nine out of ten for stability.

VMware Horizon View is a scalable solution. Around 800 users regularly use the solution in our organization.

VMware Horizon View's technical support is fairly good.

Neutral

We previously used Citrix. We switched to VMware Horizon View because it offered better features.

VMware Horizon View's initial setup is complex and takes several days.

I would recommend an integrator to install VMware Horizon View.

We have seen a return on investment with VMware Horizon View.

VMware Horizon View's licensing cost is not expensive.

You must understand your users before deploying VMware Horizon View.

Overall, I rate VMware Horizon View an eight out of ten.

We use VMware Horizon to provide remote access for remote users.

VMware Horizon's initial setup is fairly complex.

I have been using VMware Horizon for three years.

I rate VMware Horizon a nine out of ten for stability.

VMware Horizon is a scalable solution. Around 800 users use the solution in our organization, and we have plans to increase the usage.

I am not happy with VMware Horizon's technical support.

We previously used Citrix. We switched to VMware Horizon because it is a more efficient solution.

VMware Horizon's deployment takes a few days. We implemented the solution through a consultant or integrator.

We pay a monthly licensing fee for VMware Horizon. The solution is reasonably priced, but it could always be cheaper.

Overall, rate VMware Horizon a nine out of ten.

We don't have to pay for HyperFlex. The solution's speed gives a nice user experience. 

The majority of things in VMware Horizon can be done only in Windows and not in Linux. There are Linux customers who would like to use VMware Horizon's features. 

I have been working with the solution for five years. 

The solution is scalable and you need to add a load balancer to add desktops. Once it is configured, you can add as many desktops as you want to add. 

I would rate the solution's setup an eight or nine out of ten since it is easy. 

VMware Horizon is expensive and I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

The solution is useful for call centers and banks and I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

It is a powerful application platform for virtual isolation. 

The application delivery is it's most valuable feature. 

The support team's technicalities and the pricing of the solution need improvement. 

I have been using the solution for three years. 

It is a stable solution. I rate it a seven out of ten.

Horizon is a scalable solution and it depends on the hardware. Around 45 users use the solution.

I have an open ticket with VMware. I rate the support an eight out of ten. 

Positive

Horizon's initial setup is easy. Sometimes I can do the integration myself and sometimes I need an integrator. 

The solution is more expensive in comparison to Citrix but when comparing the technicalities VMware Horizon, is worth the money.

Between Citrix and Horizon, I would recommend Horizon for its management and availability.

I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.