5.2

Table Of Contents
View Connection Server
This software service acts as a broker for client connections. View Connection Server authenticates users
through Windows Active Directory and directs the request to the appropriate virtual machine, physical or
blade PC, or Windows Terminal Services server.
View Connection Server provides the following management capabilities:
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Authenticating users
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Entitling users to specific desktops and pools
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Assigning applications packaged with VMware ThinApp to specific desktops and pools
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Managing local and remote desktop sessions
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Establishing secure connections between users and desktops
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Enabling single sign-on
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Setting and applying policies
Inside the corporate firewall, you install and configure a group of two or more View Connection Server
instances. Their configuration data is stored in an embedded LDAP directory and is replicated among members
of the group.
Outside the corporate firewall, in the DMZ, you can install and configure View Connection Server as a security
server. Security servers in the DMZ communicate with View Connection Servers inside the corporate firewall.
Security servers ensure that the only remote desktop traffic that can enter the corporate data center is traffic
on behalf of a strongly authenticated user. Users can access only the desktop resources that they are authorized
to access.
Security servers offer a subset of functionality and are not required to be in an Active Directory domain. You
install View Connection Server in a Windows Server 2008 server, preferably on a VMware virtual machine.
View Client
The client software for accessing View desktops can run on a tablet, a Windows, Linux, or Mac PC or laptop,
a thin client, and more.
After logging in, users select from a list of virtual desktops that they are authorized to use. Authorization can
require Active Directory credentials, a UPN, a smart card PIN, or an RSA SecurID or other two-factor
authentication token.
An administrator can configure View Client to allow end users to select a display protocol. Protocols include
PCoIP and Microsoft RDP. The speed and display quality of PCoIP rival that of a physical PC.
View Client with Local Mode (formerly called Offline Desktop) is a version of View Client that has been
extended to allow end users to download virtual machines and use them on their local Windows systems
regardless of whether they have a network connection.
Features differ according to which View Client you use. This guide focuses on View Client for Windows. The
following types of clients are not described in detail in this guide:
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Details about View Client for tablets, Linux clients, and Mac clients. See the Horizon View clients
documentation at https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.
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Details about the View Web Client, available with the HTML Access feature, which allows you to open a
View desktop inside a browser. No View Client application is installed on the client system or device. See
the Horizon View clients documentation at
https://www.vmware.com/support/viewclients/doc/viewclients_pubs.html.
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Various third-party thin clients and zero clients, available only through certified partners.
VMware Horizon View Architecture Planning
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