Manage providers (Azure Virtual Desktop)

An Azure Virtual Desktop provider in Parallels RAS is a collection of IDs and other properties that give you access to Azure resources. Properties include Tenant ID and Subscription ID, among others. Normally, an organization is given one Tenant ID by Microsoft, but there could be multiple subscription IDs owned by the same organization. For each Tenant ID and subscription ID combination, a provider must be configured in Parallels RAS.

To manage Azure Virtual Desktop providers, navigate to Farm > Site > Providers and select the Providers tab.

To add a new provider, click Tasks > Add and select Azure Virtual Desktop. For the information on how to complete the wizard, please see Add Microsoft Azure as a VDI Host. To view and modify some of the existing provider properties, right-click a provider in the list and choose Properties.

Other provider management tasks can be accessed from the Tasks menu, including:

• Checking provider status: Tasks > Troubleshooting > Check status.
• Configure and manage logging: Tasks > Troubleshooting > Logging.

Choosing the Active Directory Domain Services type

Parallels RAS 18.3 supports virtual machines joined to Windows Server Active Directory Domain Services and Azure Active Directory Domain Services. By default, Parallels RAS is configured to work with Windows Server Active Directory Domain Services, but you can change this if needed.

To choose the type of Active Directory Domain Services for a provider:

1. Right-click a provider in the list and choose Properties.
2. In the provider properties window, select the Credentials tab.
3. In the Active Directory Domain Services type drop-down list, select the type of Active Directory Domain Services:
   • If your users are created with Windows Server Active Directory and your virtual machines are joined to Windows Server Active Directory Domain Services, select Windows Server AD DS (selected by default).
   • If your users are created with Windows Server Active Directory and your virtual machines are joined to Azure Active Directory Domain Services, select Azure AD DS.
   • If your users are created with Microsoft Entra ID and your virtual machines are joined to Azure Active Directory Domain Services, select Azure AD DS.

Disk storage cost optimization

You can configure an Azure Virtual Desktop provider to automatically change the type of the used managed disk to Standard HDD for AVD hosts that are not currently in use. When an AVD hosts is started, the managed disk is automatically changed to the original type. This feature allows you to reduce the cost of maintaining AVD hosts.

To enable disk storage cost optimization:

1. Right-click a provider in the list and choose Properties.
2. In the provider properties window, select the Advanced tab.
3. Select the Enable disk storage cost optimization option.
4. Select the desired option in the Set timeout before enabling storage cost optimization drop-down list.