The VMware View infrastructure includes VMware View Composer as an optional component. View Composer runs as a Windows service on the vCenter Server(s) or on a standalone server (cannot run on the View server) and enables View Manager to rapidly clone and deploy multiple virtual desktops from a single centralized standard base image. View Composer was originally designed to reduce the total storage required in VDI deployments; however, today View Composer also provides essential management features such as the Refresh and Recompose operations.

View Composer uses linked clone technology. Unlike a traditional virtual machine model wherein each VM exists as an independent entity with dedicated virtual disks, View Composer creates dependent VMs all linked to a master VM. This master VM is called the parent VM in VMware terminology.

The parent VM is used as a base image; a snapshot and copy are taken from the parent VM to create the replica image, which will serve as the master...