RingCube Delivers Virtual Desktop NAS Software Solution

RingCube Technologies, Inc., provider of
managed virtual workspace, announced vDesk version
2.1,
a high-performance enterprise desktop virtualization solution that
simplifies the creation, access and management of Windows desktops
through Workspace Virtualization.

vDesk version 2.1 delivers new networking technology that enables users
to stream their desktop from any Network Attached Storage (NAS)
appliance or file server that supports the CIFS protocol from a virtual
hard drive (VHD) container.

“Many Enterprises are simply priced out of desktop virtualization by
the infrastructure requirements and related up front capital expenses
especially from many VDI-based offerings,” said Chris Wolf, senior
analyst, Burton Group. “Virtual Desktop NAS solutions help customers
simply drop in a single box that serves up virtual desktops, while
providing much of the centralized image management you want to get out
of desktop virtualization.”

RingCube has built significant enhancements into vDesk 2.1 including
networking technology that provides broader support to any CIFS-based
storage device with superior performance and resiliency in the event of
temporary network connectivity loss. With the new VHD container format,
vDesk customers receive improved security and storage utilization
benefits with dynamically sizable virtual drives when deploying over
the network. RingCube will be showcasing vDesk 2.1 at VMworld 2009 held
Aug 31-Sep 4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Virtual Desktop NAS Solution
vDesk over the network (a.k.a. Virtual Desktop NAS) is one of the four
vDesk deployment methods. This method enables organizations to store
personalized virtual desktops on a network attached storage (NAS)
appliance or file server. Users access their virtual desktop over the
LAN using the on-demand vDesk client that is automatically downloaded
via a web-based client portal. When the user runs their virtual
desktop, the personalized vDesk workspace is streamed to the user’s PC
and executed locally, allowing data, applications, and settings to be
stored centrally. When the user shuts down their vDesk workspace, the
changes that were made during the session are preserved on the NAS
appliance for the user to access in the future from any PC on the LAN
without leaving data behind on the host PC from the virtual workspace.

“The Virtual Desktop NAS offers the potential of a more cost-effective
alternative to our current VDI deployment,” said Ryan Borey, IT
specialist, SouthCoast Bank. “We can achieve the centralization and
management we need while using the computing power of our existing PCs,
eliminating the need to purchase new hardware both on the client and
server side.”

NAS Offerings Simplify Deployments
and Save Cost on Desktop Virtualization
In June 2009, RingCube announced interoperability between vDesk and the
desktop virtualization products of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun’s
leadership in both the virtualization and storage industries allows
them to uniquely utilize the new vDesk 2.1 offering to help business
customers simplify deployments and save cost on desktop virtualization.
“Sun continues to deliver innovative and complete end-to-end desktop
virtualization solutions through our open approach and broad ecosystem
of technology partnerships,” said Bob Gianni, Senior Director, Desktop
Virtualization Group, Sun Microsystems, Inc. “The combination of Sun
technologies with RingCube vDesk 2.1 helps our customers rapidly deploy
desktop virtualization in their LAN environments and significantly
reduces the cost of traditional desktop management.”

In addition, RingCube has tested vDesk 2.1 to run on both Sun Open
Storage and Sun Unified Storage Systems. “Virtual Desktop NAS is yet
another example of the innovation RingCube is bringing to the desktop
virtualization market,” said Doug Dooley, vice president of marketing,
RingCube. “Partners like SUN help extend the availability of vDesk to
customers in ways that make sense for simple and cost-effective desktop
virtualization deployments.”

Pricing and Availability:
vDesk 2.1 is available immediately through RingCube. Pricing starts at $200 per user.