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Azure Virtual Desktop gets markup and single sign-on insights
Microsoft this week announced some previews for organizations using the Azure Virtual Desktop virtual desktop infrastructure service.
There is a new Microsoft Cost Management tagging capability that organizations can use to estimate host pool costs, according to this Microsoft announcement. Additionally, the Azure Virtual Desktop service now has a single sign-on (SSO) feature that is in preview as described here.
SSO Overview
The SSO preview feature allows end users to authenticate without having to use the session host credential prompt, according to Microsoft’s document description. “Without SSO, the client will prompt users for their session host credentials for each connection,” the document explains.
Instead, users can authenticate using Microsoft’s Windows Hello biometric authentication feature, such as a face scan. They can also use a FIDO key, such as a card or key fob, for authentication using Windows desktop clients.
The SSO preview for Azure Virtual Desktop service offers the following options, according to the announcement:
- Enable single sign-on experience for Azure AD-joined and Hybrid Azure AD-joined session hosts when using Windows and web clients
- Use passwordless authentication to connect to host using Azure AD
- Use in-session passwordless authentication when using Windows client
- Use third-party identity providers (IdPs) that integrate with Azure AD to connect to the host
Organizations can use SSO Preview, which “is not recommended for production workloads”, with single or multi-session Windows 11 or Windows 10 clients or with Windows Server 2022. SSO Preview requires install “September Cumulative Update Preview,” the announcement reads. .
Enabling SSO preview is rated “easy,” according to this Azure Academy video demo.
Overview of Cost Management markup
The Azure Virtual Desktop service also received a new Microsoft Cost Management markup feature in preview this week. Markup is an existing Azure services feature that is being previewed for use with the Azure Virtual Desktop service.
IT pros can tag Azure services using the “Azure portal or via PowerShell,” Microsoft explains in this document. Tags are just text in the format of a “key-value pair”. Tag information is passed to Azure Cost Management, which “displays organizational costs and usage patterns with advanced analytics.”
Marking can be tricky though. Here is the description of the document for this purpose:
Tags only report usage and cost data for the Azure resources to which they are directly assigned. If you tagged a resource without tagging the other resources it contains, Azure Virtual Desktop will only report activity related to the top-level tagged resource. You will also need to tag each resource under this top level resource if you want your billing data to be accurate.
Microsoft recommends tagging Azure Virtual Desktop resources such as “resource groups, virtual machines, disks, and network interface cards (NICs),” per the document.
It’s also possible to use beacons to help automate processes, such as monthly VM cleanup tasks, according to this Azure Academy video.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media’s Converge360 group.