VDI Vs VPN | 7 Differences between VDI and VPN

Even though most of the applications today are relatively easy to access from your home network, still there can be other business applications that can be hard to get inside. When this happens it can severely impact the company's productivity. 

As the trend to work from home increases, many business organizations look for a reputed solutions for their employee. Even though there are many cloud apps those can be used for this, still there are many security concerns. In this scenario, it is a must to look for a Remote Access Solution. Speaking of remote access solution there are 2 well known of them, those are the Virtual Private Network (VPN) and the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). So how can you choose the best among them ? Over many years VPN has been the primary option for accessing internal networks. Then came the rise of VDI. What makes it difficult for the business is choosing one of them. 

In this post, I will be focusing on VDI Vs VPN | 7 Differences between VDI and VPN. Finally from this post you will know which is better remote access solution for performance. 

Let's get started,

1. Connection

A VPN creates a secure connection (in the form of tunneling) between the device and the network. Most at times in this case a firewall acts as a VPN terminator. While in a VDI there is a pre-configured desktop that sits on top of a data center. Through this image, the VDI delivers all desktops and applications.

Winner : Draw

2. Cost

In general VPN solutions are offered for a lower cost. This is because there are no extra hardware required for VPN. Moreover all users can use their existing devices. But for a VDI, there should be a extra software needed for hosting the VDI system. This makes it expensive compared to a VPN solution. 

Winner : VPN

3. Maintenance

A VDI setup requires different virtual machines in order for them for functioning. This can be often challenging for a user as he needs to support and maintain these machines. However in the case of VPN, the management can be fully done through the existing hardwares. Therefore, it needs least number of maintenance. But still the offside resource management can be difficult. 

Winner : VPN

4. Speed

The user experience in VDI solutions are faster compared to a VPN. This is because of the resources those are shared and adjusted to each other. As a result the overall experience when using the system is quicker. It is obviously be the best choice for all the people out there working with graphics intensive applications. But the VPN completely depends on the speed of the internet connection and the hardware. Moreover the data sent through a VPN connection is encrypted. This makes the process of sending large files to be actually slower.

Winner : VDI

5. Security

Since the data is encrypted in VPN, then obviously the data sent from the user to its destination is secured. But still the data has to be moved as the employee wants. Hence, extra precautions needed to be taken for security. But in the VDI there is nothing that can be done except restricting the data flow. Therefore, the VDI has to be configured to a way that it never leaves the corporate network. 

Winner : VPN

6. Hardware

All the processing of the applications takes place from the server in VPN. Hence, the hardware used by the user is not important here. Exactly opposite to this the user hardware is very important, since it is where the processing is being done. 

Winner : VPN

7. Data Storage

VPN uses a secure desktop for storing the data. The desktop used here is kept isolated from the endpoint. Hence, there is no connection between the data and the endpoint. In the case of VDI, the data present is directly stored in the endpoint. 

Winner : VPN