Microsoft AVD Logon Simulator - An Overview

For years, slow logons and login failures have been the most common complaint in Microsoft AVD infrastructures. For a Microsoft AVD user, slow logons can lead to frustration, lower productivity and efficiency. For a Microsoft AVD administrator, logon slowness is a complex problem that takes a long time to resolve. There are dozens of steps involved in the logon process and they involve multiple components – AVD Web Client, Microsoft AVD Broker, Microsoft AVD Host Pool, Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Azure AD Connect server, Microsoft Azure and so on. Identifying exactly what is causing the slowdown is often time consuming and laborious.

To ensure great Microsoft AVD user experience, administrators need to monitor their infrastructure proactively and be alerted to issues in advance, before users notice and complain. In order to do so, administrators need a consistent measure of Microsoft AVD logon performance – one that is available 24x7, even when there are no users accessing the farm. Collecting logon metrics of real user activity is challenging. Metrics have to be collected from different tiers involved. Even then, it is difficult to get a consistent assessment of VMware Horizon logon performance because different users have different profiles and policies associated with them. Furthermore, there will be times when no one is logging in to Microsoft AVD infrastructure , and at those times, it is important to know if Microsoft AVD logon is working and whether users can launch their applications and desktops successfully.

The eG Logon Simulator, a part of the eG Enterprise, is a purpose-built solution for delivering proactive visibility into the logon performance in Microsoft AVD infrastructures. Using an agentless approach, the eG Microsoft AVD Logon Simulator simulates a user logging in to an AVD Web Client through a browser, reviewing the list of applications/desktops accessible, clicking on a selected application or desktop, launching Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop by initiating a session and then logging off. By emulating the exact same process that users go through when they logon to AVD Web Client, the eG Microsoft AVD Logon Simulator provides a realistic measure of the user experience during logon. Since every simulation tests the entire Microsoft AVD infrastructure (AVD Web Client, Microsoft AVD Broker, Microsoft AVD Host Pool, Microsoft Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Azure AD Connect server, Microsoft Azure etc.), the results represent the cumulative health of all of the tiers supporting logons.

Unlike traditional simulation tools that require recording of a script that captures the typical steps a user performs, the eG Microsoft AVD Logon Simulator requires no recording and hence, is simple to implement. Installed on any desktop that has the Chrome browser configured, the simulator targets the configured AVD Web Client logon URL and launches applications/desktops 24x7 at pre-configured intervals and tests the Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop logon availability and performance. When a problem is detected, the offending step is clearly highlighted, so administrators can start working on a resolution immediately.

The simulation can be configured to run from different remote locations, to understand the logon performance from each location. By testing the simulated session from different locations and at different times, administrators can diagnose and resolve logon issues before users experience them and call up the helpdesk. Licensing is based on number of simulation locations, not on the number of logons simulated.