Resilient, secure desktop services from Omnissa and F5

Virtual desktop and application service delivery

The Omnissa portfolio enables IT teams to deliver virtual desktops and applications, as well as local or native applications, from the data center to the cloud. This provides users with a unified digital workspace in a familiar environment accessible from any device or location. As organizations continue to expand their use of these delivery models to support secure hybrid work, they place increasing demands on supporting network infrastructure.

F5 and Omnissa have a long history of strategic integrations, specifically with Horizon Omnissa Access and Workspace ONE. The F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (F5 ADSP) enhances the Omnissa portfolio with greater reliability, scalability, and security across complex hybrid multicloud environments.

Secure remote access for Omnissa Horizon

With multi-vendor solutions for the demilitarized zone (DMZ), each product often requires its own gateway or proxy, compounding complexity.

Figure 1. Legacy DMZ requires multiple proxies to support multiple protocols and traffic types.

F5 BIG-IP Zero Trust Access (formerly APM) can serve as a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and application proxy so admins can consolidate DMZ architectures under one platform, enabling robust security for modern and legacy apps that can include physical hardware and virtualized solutions in the DMZ.

Figure 2. F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Management and BIG-IP Zero Trust Access for Horizon.

Load balancing for Horizon UAG and Connection Servers

Horizon Unified Access Gateway (UAG) and Connection Servers work together in a secure, tiered architecture to provide remote access. UAGs are deployed in the DMZ to serve as a secure ingress point, while Connection Servers reside within the trusted internal network to manage desktop and application brokering.

When UAGs are deployed, integrating F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) provides essential load‑balancing capabilities, including high availability, traffic distribution, and a consistent access endpoint. This approach supports resilient UAG deployments while maintaining a seamless user experience and operational continuity.

Figure 3. Local traffic management for Horizon services.

Global server load balancing and failover

Enterprises operating across multiple sites and data centers can simplify namespace management and implement intelligent, availability‑aware service continuity strategies with F5 BIG-IP DNS. By aggregating multiple sites under a single namespace, BIG‑IP DNS enables global traffic steering based on location and availability, supporting business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) models such as Active/Active or Active/Standby.

This approach allows organizations to maintain application availability during site outages or planned maintenance, significantly reducing business impact by enabling automated failover in minutes rather than hours.

Figure 4. Single namespace and BC/DR for Horizon using Cloud Pod Architecture.

Integrations with Omnissa Access

Omnissa Access provides a centralized access portal for delivering Horizon desktops and applications. When integrated with F5 BIG-IP Zero Trust Access, organizations gain a differentiated access architecture that supports multi‑site and multi‑pod Horizon deployments through the Omnissa Access portal.

This integration enables secure access to Horizon desktops and applications across distributed environments. Together, F5 BIG-IP Zero Trust Access and Omnissa Access deliver a seamless single sign‑on experience with the scalability, resiliency, and policy control required for enterprise environments.

Figure 5. Integration with BIG-IP Zero Trust Access and Omnissa Access; numbers show flow of connectivity.

Learn more about our technolgy partnership.

Key benefits

Secure access with reduced DMZ sprawl

Simplify DMZ management with a VDI and application proxy that consolidates DMZ architectures under one platform for reduced complexity.

Intelligently steer UAG and Connection Server traffic

Ensure high availability, traffic distribution, and seamless scalability for Horizon access functions to simplify access and eliminate single points of failure.

Improved security

Deploy full proxy for end-to-end protection, defenses against application and network DDoS and multi-vector attacks.

Stronger resiliency

Enable global server load balancing and seamless failover to keep virtual desktop applications available and performing.

Extend services to cloud

F5 supports both on-premises deployments and expansion to cloud.