Azure Virtual Desktop

Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), formerly known as Windows Virtual Desktop, is a cloud-hosted desktop and application virtualisation service running on Azure. It enables users to access a full Windows desktop experience — or individual published applications — from any device with an internet connection and a browser or RDP client: laptops, tablets, thin clients, or smartphones. The compute runs entirely in Azure; the user's device only handles the display and input, making endpoint management dramatically simpler.

Azure Virtual Desktop consists of several layers: Session hosts are Azure VMs (Windows 10/11 multi-session or Windows Server) that run users' desktop sessions. A host pool is a collection of session hosts of the same configuration. App groups define what users see — either a full desktop or a set of published Remote App applications. Workspaces group app groups for presentation to users. Microsoft manages the control plane (connection broker, gateway, web access) as a fully managed PaaS component, so you only manage the session host VMs.