This document discusses strategies for implementing business continuity and disaster recovery for Windows Virtual Desktop environments. It recommends: - For personal desktops, replicate the entire VM using Azure Site Recovery or separate profiles from VMs and replicate profiles using FSLogix. - For pooled desktops, use FSLogix to separate profiles, OneDrive for user folders, and replicate profiles rather than VMs. Replicate images using Shared Image Gallery. - Automate deployment and management using Azure DevOps pipelines for infrastructure as code and continuous integration/deployment.

1. Microsoft Windows
Virtual Desktop
Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery
Jim Moyle - WVD Global Black Belt
Twitter.com/JimMoyle
YouTube.com/JimMoyle
Github.com/JimMoyle
Strava.com/athletes/JimMoyle

2. • Can connect to on-premises resources via
ExpressRoute or VPN
• User authentication using Azure Active Directory
identities
• Integrates with Systems Center Configuration
Manager and Microsoft Intune
• Supports devices running non-Windows operating
systems with Linux thin-client SDK and other tools
• What is managed by Microsoft is protected by
Microsoft
• Make Microsoft do a much work as possible
An optimized computing platform
High-level service architecture
Your subscription—your control
Managed by Microsoft
Clients
Management
Diagnostics Gateway
Broker Load balancing
Windows Virtual Desktop Service
Compute Storage Networking
Infrastructure
Windows 7 Enterprise
Full Desktop
RemoteApp
Windows 10 Enterprise
Windows Server
2012 R2 and newer
Windows 10 Enterprise
multi-session
Desktops and remote apps
User management and
identity
Image, app, and profile
management
Networking policies
User density, VM sizing,
and scaling policies
Management and policies
Full Desktop

3. Simplify
Your subscription—your control
Windows 7 Enterprise Full Desktop
RemoteApp
Windows 10 Enterprise
Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer
Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session
Desktops and remote apps
User management and identity
Image, app, and profile management
Networking policies
User density, VM sizing, and
Management and policies
Full Desktop
scaling policies

4. Simplify again
Single Session Pooled
My advice is to use Windows 10 Multi-
Session and limit the VM to a single
user
This again simplifies to Personal Win10
VM and Pooled Multi Session

5. BCDR the easy way
Don’t bother
Architect your solution
so you have to protect
the fewest services,
data and objects to be
able to provide BCDR.

6. Main considerations
App Config Applications Image Documents

7. Documents

8. Personal Pooled

9. Personal

10. One User – Their Own VM
Everything* about personal is more
expensive

11. VM replication with Azure Site Recovery
You can self contain
everything inside the VM
In personal its common for
the user to have elevated
privileges
Just replicate everything -
local profile, user installed
apps etc.
Seamless recovery

12. Personal option 2
Separate profile to FSLogix
Replicate VM (ASR)
Replicate Profile (Active-Passive)
Gains you nothing over option 1, but
might give you options later.

13. Personal option 3
Separate profile to FSLogix
Do Not Replicate VM
Replicate Profile (Active-Passive)
Use Shared Image Gallery (SIG) for
Image
No protection for user installed apps

14. Pooled

15. Pooled Universal Tech
OneDrive for Well Known Folders
FSLogix
Shared Image Gallery (SIG)

16. FSLogix Options
1. Native Azure Replication i.e. Azure
Files Standard storage account
replication / Azure NetApp Files
Replication, Azure Files Sync for File
servers
2. FSLogix Cloud Cache (automatic
failover)
3. Only setup DR for app config data and
not for Office cache or docs

17. Use FSLogix O365 disk
If you are implementing BCDR keep
your recovery time to a minimum.
Commonly the majority of data is
cache: Outlook, OneDrive, Teams etc.
Office data is stored in Azure, no need
to back it up (Microsoft managed)
Do not back up or replicate Office
caches, re-download in DR situation

18. Back up profile weekly
If the Docs are in OneDrive and the
Office Cache is in the FSLogix O365
disk. What’s left should just be
application configuration information.
Essentially %AppData%.
App config data is pretty static
This is very organisation and
application dependent!

19. Keeping FSLogix Healthy
• Jim Moyle CTP
• Ex Fslogix Chief Technical Evangelist
• Current WVD Global Black Belt
• twitter.com/JimMoyle
• YouTube.com/JimMoyle
• GitHub.com/JimMoyle
• Strava.com/athletes/JimMoyle

21. Storage Options for FSLogix
Azure NetApp Files
Azure Files Premium
Azure Files ‘Transaction
Optimised’/’Hot’ (standard)
IaaS storage

22. FSLogix replication options
Cloud Cache
Storage Based replication

23. Azure Files Redundancy Options
For Azure Files Standard with no Large File support enabled, GRS is recommended.
For Standard with Large File support enabled and Premium, it is not possible to automatically
replicate in a secondary region, then in this case CloudCache mechanism should be evaluated.

24. Azure NetApp Files cross region replication

25. FSLogix Cloud cache
Cloud Cache is Write Back
It is fast
Can replicate between any SMB
storage
Will give you Fault Tolerance for
Storage loss
Requires additional backup in case of
VM reset.

26. Profile container backup
Azure Backup is the recommended
solution for data protection for Azure Files
(Standard, Premium, etc.),
NetApp snaphots should be used for
Azure NetApp Files.

27. Shared Image Gallery
Gives you built-in global replication for
images
Gives you versioning for images
Ability to use ‘latest’ version

28. Azure Site Recovery for Pooled
Only if you really, really, really have to
If you never re-deploy your pooled
servers and update in place, ASR is
what’s needed.

29. Availability Zone for Host Pools
Great Idea, can’t be deployed using
portal GUI
Get familiar with ARM templates

30. Secondary location
Large organisations should have VMs
pre-deployed and switched off
Smaller organisations can deploy at
DR time if they wish to save money on
storage costs
Small < 100 VMs

31. Active-Active
Cloud makes Active-Active less attractive.
A single Host Pool can have VMs from
multiple regions
Cloud Cache is required
Do not need to do DR testing

32. DevOps (Stretch Goal)
Azure DevOps pipelines should be
used for everything apart from
FSLogix.
Automation built in from the start
Your infrastructure should be stored in
GitHub
Cheapest, most effective DR solution
Beyond many orgs right now

33. Developers
Developers are a special case, half way
between personal and pooled

34. • Use Personal as little as possible
• Use Azure Site Recovery
• Backup and/or replicate FSLogix Profile disks
Conclusion
Personal
• Replicate images using SIG
• Backup and/or replicate FSLogix Profile disks
• Don’t protect O365 Disks
• Have cold VMs ready in secondary location
• Automate all the things
Pooled

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