As you prepare to take the AZ-140 Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop exam, understanding how to plan storage for Azure Virtual Desktop user data is essential. Azure Virtual Desktop provides plenty ways to store user data, so choosing the right solution for your needs is key.
Azure Virtual Desktop Session Hosts
The primary storage location for user data in Azure Virtual Desktop is the Session Hosts. These virtual machines run the Remote Desktop Session Host role service that hosts user sessions. You can choose between options such as personal desktop and pooled desktop, depending on your needs.
Personal desktops are dedicated to a single user, meaning all data is stored on a single VM. On the other hand, pooled desktops are shared among multiple users, though all user-specific data is stored on the user’s personal network drive.
Azure Files
One method to store user data is with Azure Files, which provides managed file shares that can be accessed by using the standard Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. This method offers various benefits such as easy recovery of lost files, and integration with Azure Backup and Azure AD Domain Services. Azure Files is also flexible, allowing shares to be created and deleted as needed, and it is accessible from anywhere at any time.
However, while Azure Files is a good option for some businesses, it may not be the best choice for businesses that require large, high-performance file shares due to potential latency issues.
Azure NetApp Files
Azure NetApp Files is another option for storing user data. This fully managed cloud file storage solution delivers high-performance file shares, making it a great choice for applications and workloads requiring high throughput and low latency. Here is a comparison of Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files:
| Azure Files | Azure NetApp Files | |
| Performance | Standard and premium | High |
| Protocol | SMB | NFS and SMB |
| Scalability | Lower | High |
| Cost | Lower | Higher |
| Geographical Availability | Higher | Lower |
FSLogix Profile Containers
FSLogix Profile Containers are the recommended user profile solution for Azure Virtual Desktop. With FSLogix, you can mount a VHD on session login, which contains the user’s full profile. This enables the high-performance of local profiles, yet it can be stored on a network file share.
OneDrive for Business with Files On-Demand
OneDrive for Business provides a solution for desktop users to access files on demand. As long as users have access to the internet, they can access their files from anywhere and from any device. Files On-Demand also helps to save storage space on the user’s device by storing files online and making them available locally only when needed.
Conclusion
Planning storage for Azure Virtual Desktop user data requires a deep understanding of the business needs, the performance requirements, and the cost limitations. Eventually, the environment and the nature of the applications and workloads will dictate the choice between Azure Files, Azure NetApp Files, FSLogix Profile Containers, and OneDrive for Business. By understanding these options, you’ll be better prepared to ace the AZ-140 Configuring and Operating Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop exam.
Practice Test
True or False: Azure Virtual Desktop can not replicate data across Azure regions.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Azure Virtual Desktop leverages Azure’s global infrastructure to ensure that data is replicated across Azure regions, enhancing data durability and availability.
What primary storage option typically used to store user profile data in Azure Virtual Desktop environment?
- a) Blob Storage
- b) Azure Files
- c) Table Storage
- d) Queue Storage
Answer: b) Azure Files
Explanation: Azure Files, a service that provides managed file shares, is commonly used to store user profile data within Azure Virtual Desktop environments.
True or False: The data stored in Azure Virtual Desktop can be encrypted.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Azure Virtual Desktop supports disk encryption. This helps to protect the data and maintain compliance.
Which storage redundancy option delivers the highest availability in Azure?
- a) Locally redundant storage
- b) Geo-redundant storage
- c) Zone-redundant storage
- d) Read-access geo-redundant storage
Answer: d) Read-access geo-redundant storage
Explanation: Read-access geo-redundant storage (RA-GRS) maximizes availability by replicating your data to a secondary region and providing read access.
True or False: It’s not possible to back up Azure Virtual Desktop data.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Azure Virtual Desktop supports backup capabilities, ensuring data persistence and recovery.
Which of these are commonly used ways to manage user data storage on Azure Virtual Desktop? (Select all that apply)
- a) FSLogix
- b) Azure NetApp Files
- c) Azure Blob Storage
- d) Azure Queue Storage
Answer: a) FSLogix and b) Azure NetApp Files
Explanation: FSLogix is commonly used for profile containerization, while Azure NetApp Files provides high-performance file data services for Azure Virtual Desktop.
True or False: Azure Netapp Files is best suited for performance-intensive and latency-sensitive workloads.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Azure Netapp Files provides high-performance file data services, which makes it suitable for performance-intensive and latency-sensitive workloads.
What does a storage account represent in Azure?
- a) A single physical disk drive
- b) A set of network interfaces
- c) All data of a single application
- d) A namespace for data objects
Answer: d) A namespace for data objects
Explanation: In Azure, a storage account provides a unique namespace for Azure Storage data accessible from anywhere in the world over HTTP or HTTPS.
True or False: Azure Virtual Desktop does not support hot, cool, and archive access tiers for Azure blob data.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: Azure Virtual Desktop supports all these access tiers for Azure blob data, enabling cost efficiency in data storage.
In Azure Virtual Desktop, what kind of data does FSLogix typically manage?
- a) Application data
- b) User profile data
- c) Database data
- d) Temporary data
Answer: b) User profile data
Explanation: FSLogix is a set of solutions that enhance, enable, and simplify non-persistent Windows computing environments. It mainly manages user profile data.
Interview Questions
What is Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)?
Azure Virtual Desktop is a desktop and app virtualization service that runs on the cloud. It allows you to create, deploy, and scale Windows desktops and apps on Azure in minutes, with built-in security and compliance.
What storage options does Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) support?
AVD supports Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files. It also supports other Azure storage resources like Blob Storage and Azure Data Lake Storage.
What is Azure Files?
Azure Files is a managed file share solution that uses the SMB protocol. You can mount these file shares concurrently on cloud or on-premises deployments of Windows, Linux, and macOS.
What are the benefits of storing AVD user data in Azure Files?
Azure Files offers multiple benefits like seamless integration with Azure Backup, secure access over SMB 3.0, and the possibility to cache file shares on Windows Servers with Azure File Sync for faster access.
What is Azure NetApp Files?
Azure NetApp Files is an Azure native service delivered directly through the Azure portal. It provides a fully managed, simple, secure, and powerful service to handle the most demanding Azure workloads.
What are the advantages of storing AVD user data in Azure NetApp Files?
Azure NetApp Files offer high-performance, multiple protocol support, data management, security, and compliance.
What SMB versions do Azure Files support?
Azure Files supports SMB 2.1, SMB 3.0, and SMB 3.1.1 protocols.
How do Azure Virtual Desktop users access their data?
User data can be accessed from virtual machines through standard protocols such as SMB for Azure Files and NFS for Azure NetApp Files.
Do Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files offer data redundancy?
Yes, both Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files offer redundant storage (RAID) which replicates your data within the same region or across different regions for disaster recovery.
Can you use Azure Backup with Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files?
Yes, Azure Backup is directly integrated with Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files, providing a built-in disaster recovery solution.
How can Azure File Sync enhance the performance of Azure Files?
Azure File Sync transforms Azure Files into a cache of your on-premises file shares, ensuring that the hottest and most recently accessed files are available locally, thereby significantly improving the file access performance.
How is user data isolated in Azure Virtual Desktop?
Each user is assigned a unique, persistent disk for their data to ensure data isolation. This is referred to as the User Disk and is separate from the temporary disk used by the OS.
What kind of data is stored on the User Disk in Azure Virtual Desktop?
The User Disk in AVD stores user profile data, personal user files, and the user registry.
Is it necessary to back up Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files?
It is not mandatory but strongly recommended, as backups protect against accidental or malicious deletions, modifications, and malware attacks.
What is Azure Blob Storage and can it be used with AVD?
Azure Blob Storage is Microsoft’s object storage solution for the cloud where you can store massive amounts of unstructured data. However, it’s not typically used for AVD user data storage as it doesn’t support SMB or NFS protocols which are required for file system access by AVD.
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