Sector
Enterprise
Environment
Azure Cloud Infrastructure
Engagement Type
Proof of Concept
Technologies
Engagement Overview
Cybernerds was engaged to design and deliver a proof-of-concept Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) environment for an enterprise client evaluating cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure as a replacement for their legacy VDI platform. The engagement followed the Platform Design Specification (PDS) framework to ensure a structured, validated deployment that could serve as the foundation for production-scale rollout.
Initial State
The organization operated a legacy VDI environment that was approaching end-of-life. Key conditions observed during the discovery phase included:
- ✓Aging on-premises VDI infrastructure with increasing maintenance costs
- ✓Limited scalability — adding capacity required hardware procurement and lead times
- ✓No Azure landing zone or cloud infrastructure in place
- ✓Remote workforce growing, requiring flexible desktop access from any location
- ✓No experience with Azure Virtual Desktop or modern cloud VDI platforms
- ✓Licensing and cost model for legacy VDI becoming unsustainable
Key Challenges
- ✓Infrastructure: No existing Azure foundation — landing zone, networking, and identity required from scratch
- ✓Performance: AVD needed to match or exceed legacy VDI user experience
- ✓Security: Zero Trust access controls required for virtual desktop sessions
- ✓Profile Management: User profiles needed to persist across sessions without performance degradation
- ✓Cost: POC needed to validate cost-efficiency compared to legacy VDI renewal
- ✓Scale: Architecture had to support future production rollout without redesign
Solution Design — PDS Framework
- ✓Landing Zone: Azure subscription with management group hierarchy, RBAC, and resource naming conventions
- ✓Networking: Hub-spoke VNet topology with NSG rules, Azure Firewall, and Private Endpoints for storage
- ✓Identity: Entra ID integration with Conditional Access policies enforcing MFA and compliant device requirements
- ✓Host Pools: Multi-session Windows 11 host pool with auto-scaling configured for business hours
- ✓Profile Management: FSLogix profile containers on Azure Files with Private Endpoint access
- ✓Image Management: Custom golden image with pre-installed applications and security baselines
- ✓Monitoring: Azure Monitor and Log Analytics workspace for session performance, host health, and capacity tracking
- ✓Governance: Azure Policy assignments for resource compliance, tagging standards, and cost alerts
Implementation — PDS Execution
All work was executed remotely using the PDS lifecycle with validation gates at each phase before progressing.
- ✓Provisioned Azure landing zone with subscription structure and RBAC assignments
- ✓Deployed hub-spoke network topology with Azure Firewall and DNS resolution
- ✓Configured Entra ID integration with Conditional Access for AVD sessions
- ✓Created multi-session Windows 11 host pool with session load balancing
- ✓Deployed FSLogix profile containers on Azure Files with Private Endpoint
- ✓Built and optimized custom golden image with security baselines and corporate applications
- ✓Configured auto-scaling rules based on user demand and business hours
- ✓Deployed Azure Monitor dashboards for session metrics, host performance, and capacity planning
- ✓Applied Azure Policy for resource tagging, allowed regions, and cost management alerts
Validation — PDS Validation Phase
- ✓User sessions connected successfully via web, Windows client, and mobile
- ✓FSLogix profiles loaded within acceptable performance thresholds
- ✓Conditional Access policies enforced MFA and device compliance for all sessions
- ✓Auto-scaling responded correctly to simulated load — hosts scaled up and down as designed
- ✓Network segmentation validated — AVD traffic isolated from other Azure workloads
- ✓Azure Monitor dashboards confirmed session performance, host health, and resource utilization
- ✓Cost projections validated — AVD POC costs aligned with or below legacy VDI renewal estimates
- ✓Golden image deployment verified with all applications and security baselines intact
Outcome
- ✓Fully functional Azure Virtual Desktop proof of concept validated for production readiness
- ✓Complete Azure infrastructure stack — landing zone, networking, identity, and governance — built from scratch
- ✓FSLogix profile management delivering consistent user experience across sessions
- ✓Zero Trust access model enforced via Conditional Access and Entra ID
- ✓Auto-scaling architecture ready for production workloads without redesign
- ✓Cost model validated — competitive with legacy VDI at lower operational overhead
- ✓Full documentation and knowledge transfer delivered to client team
Strategic Value
This engagement validated Azure Virtual Desktop as a production-ready replacement for legacy VDI, demonstrating that a properly architected AVD environment — with landing zone, network segmentation, identity integration, profile management, and monitoring — could deliver equivalent or better user experience at lower total cost of ownership. The architecture was designed for production scale from day one, enabling the client to move directly from POC to rollout without re-engineering.
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