May 1st, 2009
RingCube vDesk
Doug Dooley of RingCube introduced me to the newest version, version 2, of the company’s vDesk product line. Doug also introduced me to a catch phrase the company is going to flog when talking up this product. The phrase is “virtual workspace.”
For those of you keeping track, I’ve written about RingCube in the past (see RingCube - taking your mojo with you and Ceedo: Application Virtualization for the Desktop).
Here’s what RingCube has to say about vDesk 2.0
RingCube vDesk 2.0 delivers the industry’s first Workspace Virtualization Engine (WVE) which provides a lightweight and complete virtual desktop that can join an enterprise domain, has an isolated network stack and supports applications such as endpoint security, databases, and PC management software that require drivers and security services. Below is a listing of key components of the Workspace Virtualization Engine (WVE):
- Virtual Networking, called vDeskNet, allows the virtual workspace to separate and isolate network traffic from the host PC including VPN clients running within the virtual workspace.
- Virtual User Management allows the virtual workspace to have a unique set of user accounts separate from the host PC. Also, vDesk users within the virtual workspace can add/join an Active Directory domain independent of the user authentication and authorization rights of the host PC.
- Virtual Security Store provides a separate protected storage area within the virtual workspace where items like certificates are kept isolated from the host PC.
- Virtual Windows Services allows greater process and application isolation from the host PC. Virtualized services within the virtual workspace include LSA (local security authority), Microsoft TCP/IP networking, and NTFS volumes. These virtualized services help to increase the number of kernel-mode applications that can be supported within the virtual workspace.
- Generic Driver Support provides a virtualized framework for the installation of drivers within the virtual workspace which includes a virtualized Plug-n-Play service. The generic driver framework increases application support particularly when new drivers are required.
Snapshot analysis
The Kusnetzky Group Model (see Sorting out the different layers of virtualization for a description of the model) has served well as a tool to help KG clients understand virtualization technology and the role of different products. On more than one ocassion, suppliers have introduced me to products that sit at the boundary later of one or more categories and make the attempt to integrate these functions. RingCube’s vDesk 2.0 is an example of this approach. vDesk 2.0 appears to contain a bit of access virtualization, a bit of application virtualization all combined with virtual machine technology.
Often, these boundary sitters try to declare a new industry catch phrase to describe their “take a bit of this and a bit of that” product strategy. Seldom, however, does the name stick, however. This time, the newly proposed catch phrase is “Virtual Workspace.” If one would take the desktop virtualization messages coming from Neocleus, Virtual Computer, VMware, Citrix and one or two other suppliers, such as Wyse or ClearCube, and toss ‘em into a food processor, the resulting “mixture” would be similar to messages presented by RingCube.
The problem with this approach is that it becomes very difficult for a small company to capture the attention of decision makers over the stronger and louder voices of bigger companies even when the technology itself is the best thing since pockets, far better than canned beer.
RingCube’s technology, by the way, does appear interesting. What is not clear to me is why one would select RingCube’s technology over that offered by a number of other companies.
That being said, if your organization is looking for a way to deliver optimized, desktop experiences to groups of individuals within the company, RingCube certainly appears to be able to fulfill the requirements. It appears to me, however, that Virtual Computer’s management capabilities, Neocleus’ security and isolation and Citrix’s whole desktop virtualization strategy might be worth examining as well.
Unasked for shoot-from-the-hip advice
RingCube, I’m sure that your product lives up to your glowing description. May I suggest letting your customers speak for you in this case? Short videos could be produced that let a customer state his/her problem, what solutions were considered for that problem, why RingCube was selected out of all of the others and, finally, what benefits the customer attributes to the use of RingCube that couldn’t have been gotten in any other way. These videos, podcasts based upon the soundtrack and even short papers presenting the same information in a text format could be placed on your website, on the customer’s website and in other places around the Internet.
Daniel Kusnetzky is a member of the senior management team of The 451 Group. He is responsible for research and publications on a broad array of technology topics. He examines emerging technology trends, vendor strategies, research and development issues, and end-user integration requirements. You can follow Dan on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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