RingCube's vDesk 3.0 Takes On Desktop Virtualization Heavies
When RingCube's vDesk 2.0 came out last September, our reviewer Chris Wolf of the Burton Group called it a "massive improvement" over 1.0. He lauded the workspace virtualization product for its Active Directory integration, its ability to join vDesks to a domain, and its "straightforward, policy-based management" capabilities.
Eager to move to the next level, RingCube has now unveiled vDesk 3.0, which the company says "simplifies the creation, access and management of Windows desktops" by introducing management functionality that delivers global scalability, adds faster MobileSync to the equation and provides Windows 7 support. The company also says that as a result of its collaboration with Intel, it is offering hardware-assisted isolation control with Intel vPro technology.
RingCube is taking on the Citrix XenDesktops and VMware Views of the desktop virtualization world via its ability to deliver virtual workspaces to large enterprises, delegate IT management and efficiently distribute storage. In order to nail down that claim, the company quotes Mike Prepelica, director of information technology, Revere Electric Supply Company, who praises vDesk 3.0 by saying that after he looked at solutions from "large VDI vendors" he favored the product's simple, cost-efficient deployment of vDesk to remote employees.
According to Doug Dooley, RingCube VP of marketing and product development, "We virtualize on top of Windows, there's no second OS and it runs extremely fast--99.8 percent of what the host can deliver. It's centrally managed and stored, and locally executed." He goes on to say that vDesk 3.0 employs a hybrid approach, wherein virtual desktops are stored on file servers and streamed across the network to local endpoints.
The hardware-assisted isolation control in 3.0 provides increased workspace security when running on PCs with vPro virtualization technology. Of the collaboration with Intel, Dooley declares, "Intel gave us full access to their engineering department."
vDesk 3.0 is available immediately from RingCube, and pricing starts at $200 USD per user for the Standard edition and $300 per user for the Enterprise edition.
Posted by Bruce Hoard on 03/31/2010 at 12:48 PM