Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) makes remote working easier and more straightforward for your teams. But there are a few common mistakes you can avoid to make your remote session seamless, secure and efficient:
1. Your security's not tight enough
IT security is a hot topic. And, something you'll want to keep on top of to ensure you're minimising risks. Azure Virtual Desktop provides robust built-in security, but there are a few ways you can tighten those settings so all users on your network are secure.
Use multi-factor authentication
You can require your users to authenticate their logins with another device or one-time-passcode. This way, you’ll be safeguarding your identity management and ensuring sensitive data is only accessed by authorised users. Microsoft are confident on this one, reporting that 99.9 percent of cyber attacks are blocked by setting up multi-factor authentication.
Put up your firewalls
With virtual machines running on a network as key end-points, it's critical that your firewalls are up and running.
You should start off by configuring a Network Security Group, which will lay the ground rules for incoming and outgoing traffic. An NSG is a firewall at its base level, where you can augment the rules to suit your network. To take your security a little further, take a browse through the Azure Marketplace to find third-party solutions that best suit your network's requirements.
Also, don't forget to keep all devices and software on your network up to date to avoid vulnerabilities and potential security risks.
2. Slow performance is affecting usability
Keep your latency low
We all get frustrated when high latency affects our work. Remote workers want a smooth user experience, without the frustrations of slow-loading assets. The distance between servers and users will determine this. Make sure you're connecting to an Azure region that's close to you.
Speed up your systems
Removing unneeded applications from Windows 10/11 can help speed up your Azure Virtual Desktop by making session hosts run more efficiently.
3. Your costs aren't optimised
Don't leave your virtual machines on
As you're getting billed for what you use, an easy place to start is to ensure your VM's are being switched off outside of work hours. You'll still be paying for virtual disk usage, but it'll cut out those unproductive hours from your bills.
Delete virtual disks that aren't needed
Unused disks might be hanging around after you've migrated or made backups, so you'll want to ensure you delete these so you're not still paying for the storage space.
It's also worth checking that vdisks aren't left 'orphaned' after deleting their associated virtual machine. When you remove a VM, the disk isn't automatically deleted with it, so you'll need to double-check you remove them, too.
Want to find out more tips and secrets for making the most of Azure Virtual Desktop? Head over to our blog to read more.
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