In the era of affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) for servers and 1 GbE for desktops, I realize that bandwidth within a single site is typically not a concern. The following information is something to keep in mind for clients who are connecting to their Horizon desktop remotely, either from over the internet or over a WAN from another company site. Ensuring that sufficient bandwidth is available is just another part of making sure your Horizon clients have an acceptable experience when connecting to the Horizon infrastructure.
The VMware document Horizon 7 Architecture Planning (https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Horizon-7/index.html) provides some information about how to determine Horizon Client bandwidth requirements. The following table is built upon information obtained from that document as well as other VMware documentation:
| User type | Workload characteristics | Bandwidth in Kilobits per second (Kbps) |
| Basic office productivity desktop | 2D display, typical office applications, no video, default Windows and Horizon 7 settings | 100-150 Kbps |
| Optimized basic office productivity desktop | 2D display, typical office applications, no video, optimized Windows and Horizon 7 settings | 50-100 Kbps |
| Knowledge Worker (3D) | 3D display (Windows Aero), multiple monitors, and office applications | 400-600 Kbps |
| Knowledge Worker (3D) - High Change Rate | 3D display (Windows Aero), multiple monitors, office applications, and frequent screen changes caused by basic video or similar | 500 Kbps - 1 Megabits per second (Mbps) |
| Power User | 3D display (Windows Aero), multiple monitors, 480P video, and frequent screen changes | 2 Mbps |
Bandwidth utilization is heavily dependent on a number of factors, many of which can be controlled with the Horizon PCoIP and Blast GPO settings. Additionally, Windows OS settings, such as display resolution and quality, can also affect bandwidth utilization. Actual bandwidth utilization will vary based on the client usage pattern, the protocol being used, and your GPO settings.
Even with a careful analysis of user desktop usage patterns, it is important to remember that there will be spikes in usage from time to time. A Knowledge Worker or Task Worker who has a need to use an application with a large number of screen changes, such as viewing images in succession or watching a video, may cause a brief bandwidth spike of between 500 Kbps and 1 Mbps or more. Preparing for these spikes in bandwidth utilization is important in order to preserve the quality of service for all of the Horizon Client connections.
Refer to Chapter 10, Creating a Master Horizon Desktop Image, for information regarding optimal settings for a Windows desktop, an important topic for those new to virtualizing desktops.