Implementing Horizon Connection Server

The VMware Horizon Connection Server is a key component of the VMware Horizon infrastructure. In addition to acting as a connection broker between Horizon clients and desktops or Microsoft Windows RDS servers, it also hosts the Horizon Administrator console.

This chapter will discuss multiple topics surrounding the design, deployment, configuration, backup, and recovery of a Horizon Connection Server instance. We will also discuss how to install additional Horizon Connection Server instances, which are known as replicas.

In this chapter, we will look at the following topics:

• An overview of a Horizon Connection Server instance
• The virtual machine and OS requirements of a Horizon Connection Server instance
• The connection limits of a Horizon Connection Server instance
• How to determine the number of Horizon Connection Server instances required
• Infrastructure and vCenter installation prerequisites
• How to install the first Horizon Connection Server instance in a Pod
• The initial configuration of a Horizon Connection Server instance
• The configuration of the Instant Clone Engine Domain Administrator account
• How to install additional Horizon Replica Connection Server instances in a Pod
• The Horizon Connection Server upgrade process
• How to back up components of a Horizon Connection Server instance and which components to back up
• How to restore a Horizon Connection Server instance from backups or in response to a server failure