Important Information about VDI for Employees

Important Information about VDI for Employees

Latest Update - 07/06/2016

Overview The PGCC Virtual Desktop Infrastructure for Employees system (aka VDI for Employees) provides access to a remote desktop with the Windows 7 operating system and the applications that are standard for all office computers on campus including Microsoft Office 2013, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Adobe PDF.

Governing Policy All College policies and guidelines applicable to on-campus technology are also applicable to the VDI for Employees technology and the use thereof. In particular, ? Act responsibly so as to ensure the integrity and ethical use of computing and information resources. ? Use of college computing resources and user accounts only for appropriate college activities. ? Acknowledge the right of the college to restrict or rescind computing privileges for cause. ? College Data and Documents are to remain on the College network and not to be transferred/saved to non-college

owned devices.

End-User Computer and Network Requirements The computer used to access the VDI for Employees system must be a PC running Windows 7 or later or a Mac running Mac OS X 10.9 or later. Mobile devices (such as iPads and iPhones) cannot be used to access the VDI for Employees system. The VDI system requires a broadband network such as that provided by Comcast, Verizon FIOS and many public and private Wi-Fi systems. A dial-up Internet connection is not sufficient.

Getting Started The remote desktop can be accessed in two ways ? by downloading and installing the VMWare Horizon Client software on your PC or Mac or by using a web browser (without installing software on your PC or Mac).

If you want to access the remote desktop from a home computer, we strongly recommend that you download and install the VMware Horizon Client software because the performance is noticeably better than the web browser method.

If you want to access the remote desktop from a public computer (such as a computer at a public library), you should use the web browser access method because it does not require the download and installation of software onto the public computer. The performance of the web browser access method is slower (than the performance of the installed software method (discussed above). Also, some audio and video functions may not work as well as it would with the installed client.

Detailed Instructions for downloading the software and using the VDI for Employees system are available at the following College web site:

Access to Network Files VDI for Employees provides remote access to network files. You will be able to access your files if they were saved on a network drive including H, S, and other network drives that you use when on campus. You can use Microsoft Office, Adobe PDF and other software applications to open, edit, and save existing files on the network drives. You can also create and save new files to the network drives. However, files stored on the Desktop or C: drive of your College computer are NOT be accessible through this service.

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Access to College systems that are Browser-based All College systems that are accessible from a browser such as the College website, Colleague, myPGCC, Owl Link, Blackboard and the College email system will be accessible using the browser(s) in the remote desktop.

Printing You should be able to print to the printers that are attached to your PC or Mac computer. There is no support available if your printer is not recognized.

Availability and Access This service can be used by all College employees and is available during all standard Technology Services operating hours (meaning anytime except 12:00 am to 7:00 am EST, 7 days per week).

FAQs and Limitations about the VDI for Employees System 35 employees can use the service concurrently (meaning at the same time). If there are already 35 users, you will receive a message saying, "The desktop sources for this desktop are not responding. Please try connecting to this desktop again later, or contact your system administrator." You should wait for a later time to use the VDI for Employees system. The limit of 35 concurrent users is driven by budget limitations.

Because VDI for Employees is intended to be used from a home office or other off-campus location, performance depends upon a) the speed of the user's computer, b) the speed of the wired or wireless network, c) the speed of the Internet service provided by Comcast or FIOS or other provider and d) other factors beyond the control of the College.

The remote desktop can take up to 5 (or more) minutes to start up (i.e. boot up). Once started, it should perform reasonably.

The performance of the VDI Desktop may be slower than a standard physical computer. Web browsing, especially browsing with video content, will be slower.

If the remote desktop starts up but your network drives are not accessible, you should Log Off and Disconnect from the remote desktop and start up another remote desktop.

Lock-Out ? after 10 minutes of inactivity, the remote desktop will lock. To unlock the remote desktop, please refer to the VDI instructions.

Time-Out ? 20 minutes after the session disconnects, either due to a user intentionally disconnecting or an Internet connectivity problem, the remote desktop will log out, and any work not saved will be lost.

VDI for Employees does NOT enable ALL College operations to be performed from off-campus. Specialized software applications are not included in the remote desktop such as SPSS, ImageNow, QuickBooks, Adobe Creative Suite, and other applications that are used by only selected employees.

Outlook 2013 (desktop email application) is NOT included in the remote desktop because it would download all the mail in your email account to the remote desktop. To access your email, use a web browser and go to or double click the Outlook Web Access icon on the remote desktop.

Use of a USB flash drive has been disabled in the remote desktop for security reasons.

For security reasons, you cannot use Cut and Paste to transfer data or document content from the remote desktop to your physical computer.

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A note about VDI-in-a-Box (an older remote access system) The previous remote desktop service (known as VDI-in-a-Box or Citrix Receiver), which was used by some faculty members during FY2015, has been shut down because the product was discontinued by the manufacturer. All users of VDI-in-a-Box should change over to the VDI for Employees service. Limitations on Technology Services Help Desk support The Technology Services Help Desk provides limited support services for the VDI for Employees system. Assistance is available for use of the system and clarification of the instructions. However, Help Desk support for technical issues associated with employee-owned technology including computers, software, home networking and home-based Internet services is unavailable. Additionally, regarding the VMWare Horizon View clients, only the HTML, Windows and Mac clients are supported. There is no support for use of the Linux client, or Mobile Devices (Such as iOS or Android phones or tablets).

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