I recently talked with Guy Yardeni, Partner/Principal Consultant with Convergent Computing. Guy has been implementing MokaFive Suite and shared with me some best practices he has developed. I asked him if he would put together some recommendations for other MokaFive customers and partners who are implementing large scale deployments. Guy was describing his experience setting up MokaFive for 2,000 endpoints. He has prepared his set of best practices which he is graciously sharing with us.

Purnima: Guy, can you describe how you have approached Mokafive virtual desktop deployments?

Guy: Many considerations go into designing a scalable robust application infrastructure. Those considerations vary quite a bit from application to application and organization to organization. In fact, agreeing on the goals and constraints of the proposed system is typically the most important task in ensuring an efficient, relevant architecture.

When considering a MokaFive deployment, the following goals are typical and will be used to drive the example design covered in this post:

• Minimize WAN traffic
• Minimize user wait times for initial deployment and updates
• Meet 4 hour SLA in the event of a server failure
• Meet 24 hour SLA in the event of a site failure
• Eliminate single points of failure within application
• Support up to 2000 users

Purnima: How do you design the system to meet these goals?

Guy: Meeting these goals will be achieved using the following system design components:

• Dedicated database servers
• Geographically distributed image store infrastructure
• High availability configuration
• Disaster recovery configuration

The result is focused on classifying each data source within the MokaFive system based on the amount of data it typically carries. Since the policy and reporting data transferred between management servers and client as well as between management servers and database servers is of a small size, those systems will be centralized with multiple systems provided for redundancy only. On the other hand the image stores carry, replicate and deliver larger amounts of data and are therefore designed with a distributed approach to minimize WAN traffic and delivery times in addition to providing disaster recovery and high availability.

Purnima: You have emphasized business continuity planning design as a major consideration before deployment, can you describe your approach?

Guy: Before digging into the design, let me define the terms as I’m using them (these terms tend to be used to mean different things by different people):

• Business continuity planning (BCP) – a process that creates a design taking into account a variety of potential risks and identifying approaches to mitigate as many of the risks as possible. The BCP guidelines are typically provided by the business in the form of required uptime and allowed downtime during incidents for different systems and data sources.
• Disaster recovery (DR) – a configuration created to meet BCP requirements that supports risk mitigation during a significant incident, typically involving the temporary or permanent deactivation of a data center or site.
• High availability (HA) – a configuration created to meet BCP requirements and provides rapid service resumption in the event of a local outage such as a server or component failure.

In the case of a MokaFive system, the ability for the system to recover from a local server or component failure (HA) or a site failure (DR) relates to the configuration of each of the following components:

Database – MokaFive uses a Microsoft SQL database to store policy, client and configuration data which is used to drive the implementation and management of clients and images.

Application server – all communication with the platform is managed by the application server. It is the primary contact point for clients, administration consoles and automation scripts.

Image stores – delivering the content of virtual images is performed by the image stores. Both primary and replica image stores are supported by MokaFive with the former being a read/write copy that is used for authoring and staging while the latter is a read-only copy typically used as a distribution point for clients.

The design of each of these components to support the hybrid centralized/distributed model will be covered in the following sections:

Database design

Database redundancy for both HA and DR leverages capabilities built into the MS SQL product. In order to keep costs down, this configuration is designed with the standard edition of SQL in mind.

High availability is achieved using a two node database cluster. This configuration does increase cost due to the need for shared storage but ensures minimal downtime in the event of a SQL server or component failure.

Disaster recovery to a second data center is achieved using log shipping which allows SQL to replay back copied logs on a stand-by database server. This choice avoids the need for SQL Enterprise edition, which is required to support asynchronous database mirroring, the other alternative for database redundancy across a WAN link.

Application server design

The application server component doesn’t store any data and as a result, very little needs to be staged in advance to support failover either locally within a data center or across data centers in a site failure scenario.

The installation media can be used to deploy the software on a warm server, which should be patched regularly and ready for the application deployment. The deployment does require manual intervention but is very simple to execute and should be configured to use the active database server and image store during installation.

Access to the application server by clients is provided using an alias DNS record (a CNAME) which is also used for the SSL certificate and configured within the MokaFive console. This configuration requires a simple additional step of manually modifying the DNS record in order to complete the failover process. This action can also be scripted.

In order to make sure that clients and replicas are deployed using this alias rather than the server FQDN, we simply need to modify the server’s DNS name entry in the iConfig administration console under the General tab in the Network section. The value should match the alias stored in DNS and used in the SSL certificates protecting the system.

Image store design

Configuring redundancy for the image store is primarily an exercise in file replication. The image stores – both primary and replica, are just a set of files that need to be available to clients and to the application server. There are two components that must work together to ensure the redundancy – availability of the primary image store and the ability of replicas and the Creator application to access the required information from the correct location as needed.

Maintaining availability of the primary image store can be accomplished with any file replication tool. I typically use Microsoft’s Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) because it’s built into the server I use and is efficient, secure and easy to configure. The latest version of MokaFive as of this writing, version 3.5, includes a new primary image store replication option that will likely provide the required functionality for most organizations without the need for a separate replication tool.

The built in replication mechanism is very easy to configure within the iconfig administration console. The first step is to enable incoming replication on each primary store under the General tab, Sync page. Once the option is enabled, enter the URL for the target primary store.

If for any reason, the application mechanism isn’t suitable, DFSR or another replication tool should do the trick just fine. Make sure to select a tool that supports replicating changes only because the image store tends to contain very large files that are only changed a little bit at a time.

Replicating the primary store to a second server within the same data center and a third server in the DR data center will create a topology that mirrors the database and application servers (in fact, the application server is often used for the primary image store).

Once the primary image store is redundant, we just need to make sure that the replicas and Creator can find their primary. This is achieved using the same alias based mechanism that ensures access to the application servers. If the primary image store is stored on the application server (my typical best practice), then no additional configuration is required. If the primary image store is on a dedicated server, it must be registered in the administration console using the alias name (in this case you will need a total of two aliases, one for the application server and one for the primary image store)

One big note: a lot of this configuration can be simplified when using a global application level load balancer but since many organizations do not have those, this approach serves as a better general best practice that can be used anywhere.

Guy Yardeni, Partner/Principal Consultant with Convergent Computing-With over 15 years experience designing and deploying infrastructure solutions, Guy Yardeni has extensive experience delivering Microsoft IT solutions. Solving business problems using IT technologies, including directory, messaging, management and security solutions is the core of Guy’s expertise.

If you would like to contribute to the MokaFive blog, please contact Purnima via email and get introduced! ppadmanabhan@mokafive.com

Yesterday, I was having a chat with MokaFive’s CTO, John Whaley, and Burt Toma, our Director of Products, about the just-announced MokaFive BareMetal.  Where, we wondered, does BareMetal fit into the architectural ecosystem?

As we deconstructed the issue, we found ourselves replaying one of computer science’s most notorious debates: monolithic versus microkernel architectures.

Linus vs Tanenbaum

The infamous debate began almost 20 years ago, with Linus Torvald, the originator of Linux, arguing the benefits of a monolithic approach, and  Andrew Tanenbaum, a computer science professor and founder of MINIX, arguing for a microkernel approach.

In the end, although each side acknowledged the merits of the other, nearly all of today’s popular OSs—Linux, OS X, Windows–uses the monolithic approach.  Its inherent simplicity, performance and portability are better suited for real world.

MokaFive BareMetal also employs the tried and tested monolithic model.  In contrast, Xen uses the microkernel approach, which is sometimes touted as a more elegant one.  Just like the debate from 20 years ago, you may hear arguments on both sides of the table.

But at the end of the day, we all agreed—and we think you would too—that the answers must be informed by the business problems that we are trying to address.

First principles

MokaFive’s goal has always been to simplify desktop management—making IT’s job easier, saving money, and keeping users happy—all without sacrificing security.

But we understood that these problems must be addressed in a holistic fashion, or we’d risk developing a substandard solution.

For example, if management wasn’t an issue, you’d need nothing more than a standard OS that could be dropped onto any hardware and then be completely locked down.  If performance were the only issue, you could easily use a host’s native OS, fine tuning it for performance, and go home for the day. And if security wasn’t an issue, you could let users bring any old PC to work without worrying about compromising the security of the entire enterprise.

The bottom line is that you need *all* of it.  Hardware independence, performance, security and centralized management are all critical to your enterprise.

Best of all worlds

Which brings us back to BareMetal.

BareMetal installs directly onto the hardware, so it doesn’t require an existing OS.  It uses a thin service OS, based on a hardened, fast-booting Linux kernel, with an embedded hypervisor.  The Linux base and the hypervisor are in the same address space (monolithic) which allows BareMetal Player to leverage the large universe of Linux drivers and drive nearly any enterprise desktop or laptop hardware.

BareMetal also has a strong management engine that can update the VMs (LivePCs) as well as the underlying BareMetal stack.  Even better, since the image is virtualized, IT can deploy a single golden image to any hardware—giving organizations hardware independence.

The lightweight, hardened BareMetal is only 350 MB, so it presents a very small attack surface and minimizes drain on the CPU.  This offers tight security and near native performance.

The full picture

Unlike anyone else in the industry, MokaFive with BareMetal provides the same management console and the same levels of quality and security to Type 1, Type 2, Mac, PC, Windows, Linux . . . whatever you’re running. Furthermore, we’ve added a set of unique features and capabilities that Citrix XenClient does not have, many of which are not included in Virtual Computer’s NxTop, including:

• Zero-touch update process
• Dynamic driver installation at boot
• Image compression and encryption
• Remote support through any network connection
• Fast start up / early authentication
• Optimized TRIM support for SSD drives
• Image updates without disrupting user customizations
• Off-network AD domain join
• Single sign-on to images
• Auto-lock of images when host sleeps

At the end of the day, we dropped the debate.  Because purist arguments about monolithic vs microkernel architectures, or Type 1 vs Type 2 for that matter, really don’t matter.  You just need to solve your business problems.

BareMetal tackles all the key business problems we heard from our customers. Take that, Torvald and Tanenbaum—MokaFive has your answer.

Interested in learning more?  Check out BareMetal. You can sign up for a free trial here.

Cheers,

Purnima Padmanabhan, VP Product and Marketing, MokaFive

Earlier this morning, Quest announced a partnership with MokaFive to bring a joint solution to the market that will bring tremendous benefits to our collective customers and to our organizations.

Often when partnerships are announced, you are left with the feeling that maybe one of the companies in the agreement got a raw deal. Not in this case. This is a true win- win partnership. Here’s why. 

Quest gains a huge competitive advantage over the big guys

Through its vWorkspace product line, Quest has been able to deliver Windows desktops and applications to a tremendous array of computing devices in a virtual environment, but they will now be able to extend their offering to mobile / disconnected users. By adding MokaFive to the existing Quest vWorkspace product line, Quest now offers the most complete set of desktop virtualization solutions for an enterprise.

At the end of the day, more and more companies are looking to implement desktop virtualization programs that can benefit all types of workers. This might include the full spectrum of user classes from: task workers who are always connected but needs a limited number of applications to complete their work effectively, to road warriors who are frequently offline, loosely-managed and need highly mobile computing power with a centrally maintained and secured working environment on whatever device they choose. Needless to say an offline virtualization solution like MokaFive becomes very critical.

With this partnership Quest now offers a full spectrum of hosted (Terminal Services, Server based desktop) and local (Type2, BareMetal) VDI solutions to cater to every computing need within an organization.

MokaFive gets a force multiplier for its sales reach

From our vantage point, the ability for Quest to offer this solution to 100,000+ customers is both tremendous and exciting. It opens MokaFive up to entirely new distribution channels that only a partner like Quest can bring to the table. By expanding our reach through the channel we can continue to stay ahead of the innovation cycle by keeping a razor sharp focus on bringing world-class desktop virtualization solutions to the market.

In addition, this partnership provides further validation of our approach and the value of our solution. Quest was very rigorous in its selection process, and we’re proud that Quest selected MokaFive as the one solution that could meet all of their needs from a deployment, technology and ease of manageability perspective, and well beyond.

Not just fluff

Unlike many other fluffy partnership announcements that you often hear,  we have a customer win– Gateway Business Bank – right out of the gate. 

I am also excited to be working with Jon Rolls at Quest to build out a solid integration roadmap that will deliver unparalleled value to both our customers. Jon and I will be presenting more on this at Briforum Europe.

Bottom line – Quest has the industry traction and reputation to put this type of solution in front of those who can benefit from it the most, while MokaFive is bringing our deep technology acumen to the table and offering something that is completely unique and needed in the industry. It’s a win-win relationship in every sense, and we’re excited to see the dividends begin paying off for organizations worldwide.

 - Purnima Padmanabhan, VP of Products and Marketing

Earlier this year, we received an overwhelming response to our CTO John Whaley’s session on securely implementing BYOC at RSA, and this got us thinking: what else would you like to hear about from MokaFive?

 As we’re gearing up to submit a speaking proposal for VMworld 2011, we  would like to hear from YOU what sort  of topics you find interesting. Please leave a comment to let us know your ideas. Our goal is to create a submission and presentation that most applies to you and your organization by the end of the week, so chime in and let us know!

In my previous blog, I wrote about today’s Mac revolution that has been spawned by the popularity of the iPad and propelled by the more recent success of the MacBook Air. Mac has historically been a consumer device of choice, but it’s clear from talking to our customers that the consumerization of IT is upon us and Mac is the driving force behind this transformation. In addition to their iPads,  the workforce wants their MacBook Air and MacBook Pros for work and for play, and IT is tasked with trying to support Mac, whether they like it or not.

So why doesn’t IT jump at the opportunity to make their employees happy by granting their Mac wishes? Following are some of the key reasons we most often hear at MokaFive:

1. Skills & Knowledge – The skills and knowledge needed to support Macs simply don’t exist in today’s IT organizations. The ability to support Mac is often viewed as somewhat complex, especially given today’s corporate Windows ecosystem.                                                                                                                                                                                                    
2. App Support – Many enterprise applications don’t work on Mac. Even when utilizing Boot Camp or a client hypervisor like Parallels or Fusion, it’s just not the same seamless user experience. In addition, Windows applications – from Word to Excel to PowerPoint – are still highly critical in today’s business world.
3.  Security – The enterprise doesn’t really know how to secure Macs. Some brush it aside by assuming Macs are safe. The security tools IT trusts are typically Windows-based, and securing Mac to standard security guidelines appears daunting from a risk versus reward standpoint.

While these issues have all been barriers of entry to date, I have news for enterprise IT faced with a revolt from their end-user community. With MokaFive, finally, Mac in the enterprise is a reality. MokaFive provides a simple solution that lets IT support Macs in a snap. We simply  place the virtualized corporate Windows desktop, called LivePC, on a Mac in a secure bubble. This provides users with all of the business apps, data and productivity tools they need to get their work done. At the same time IT can centrally manage, secure and update the LivePC (Windows image) on multiple user machines, including Macs.

MokaFive enables IT to:

1. Support Macs at no additional costs. IT can easily provision a Windows container, LivePC,  to an employee’s Mac.  No need for enterprise IT admins to have specialized Mac skills. They simply control and apply updates to the LivePC Windows image without incurring incremental costs or needing any additional skill sets.                           
2. Give employees choice (their Mac). With MokaFive, employees can choose the hardware they want (Mac or PC) and IT can feel 100 percent confident in managing and securing these devices.                                                          
3.  Support work flexibility. Employees can have access to both their personal and their corporate environment on one device. Employees use the secure MokaFive LivePC to run their corporate applications.  When the work is done, employees can switch to using the Mac apps they love, from iTunes to Safari.

Bottom line: we’ve created a world where employees and IT both win, without the need for any “give and take” when it comes to using great devices at work versus the need to manage and secure them effectively. For more on the topic, we put together a  case study with our customer—Wilson Sonini Goodrich & Rosati—that dives a bit deeper. It’s worth a read and be sure to check it out.

 - Purnima Padmanabhan, VP of Products and Marketing

Last month came the moment that most desktop admins dread: the release of a new Windows service pack.  Service packs are multi-gigabyte behemoths that routinely fail to install, break applications, and generally tick off users everywhere.

This morning, our IT guy pushed out SP1 to our company using the standard MokaFive update process.  To pace the deployment for bandwidth reasons and to make sure everything is going smoothly, he broke the rollout into chunks of users.  He targeted the new version to an AD group that contained a bunch of users, including me:

For me, as an end user, the 1.8 GB update silently and gradually downloaded in the background.  I didn’t even know it was happening.  When it was fully downloaded, a little flag popped up in my virtual desktop informing me that I had an update:

A new world

I clicked the note and let MokaFive perform a shutdown to accept the update.  Once the virtual desktop is off, the update itself took literally 2 seconds.  Maybe less, I wasn’t really timing it.

How is this done?  MokaFive updates are delivered as a compressed disk-level differentials.  When a virtual desktop with an update is shutdown, MokaFive simply moves a pointer to the blocks of the new version, performs a quick validation, and it’s ready to go.

Sure enough, I pushed the “play” button to start my desktop, and I was up and running again.  Because my new desktop is a bit-accurate copy of the golden image that IT tested, it worked flawlessly.

Wow, this really is a new world.  A nearly 2 GB service pack update that completes super fast, and is as smooth as any other update.

And get this: you can roll it back!

If something does go wrong, our IT guy can roll back to the last good version, which of course comes down as another bit-accurate “update”.

I think we’re going to like this new world.

- Burt Toma, Director of Products

I had the chance to make the short trip up to San Francisco last week for the RSA Conference. I had some terrific meetings lined up, and also had some downtime scheduled in between a few of them. Being the “exemplary” 21st century executive that I always strive to be, I figured I could catch up on email, edit a number of documents and otherwise stay connected to help keep the fires burning back at the office during my breaks.

A funny thing happened as I was packing my work bag for the first day of the show. While I’ve been glued to my iPad as the “don’t leave home without it” device for the past year, I suddenly felt the urge to leave it behind this time around. Maybe it was having the foresight of the type of work I needed to tackle that day. After all, it certainly required some heavy lifting. Regardless, I felt myself grabbing for my shiny new MacBook Air, thinking to myself, this really is the one and only device I need to get the job done right today.

Don’t get me wrong. I love my iPad and it has certainly been a great companion device for keeping up on email, reading books and even keeping my child entertained while we’re on the road. The very notion of the iPad is certainly an intriguing one with its brilliant touch screen and countless apps, and I know many would say it works just fine as a productivity device. However, I think at this point I beg to differ and my experience at RSA helped to cement my thinking.
When it comes to getting the important tasks done, I want my keyboard, my processing power and a nice screen. I also want seamless access to my work environment whether online or offline, and the iPad has never been great from that standpoint. That said, I do still want it all on a single device that also contains my itunes and photos.

So what’s the point? The MacBook Air is about the same size as the iPad. It fit right into my work bag and provides the same functionality, plus a whole lot more (there’s something comforting about still having access to Safari and iTunes when the work is done). It’s just as cool, sleek and sophisticated – and it’s a tremendous device for leveraging all the benefits desktop virtualization has to offer. I used MokaFive to work on my corporate desktop at RSA (without worrying about getting the wireless password at each cafe), and I was about as productive at the conference as I am back at the office, barring a few waiters and old friends popping in to help to break my stride on occasion. They were all welcomed interruptions, of course.

We’ve heard so much about enabling the iPad in the workplace recently, but why struggle to support it when the notion of providing employees with a MacBook Air and virtualizing the corporate desktop on such a killer device is one that can and should easily win the day? From my vantage point, we can leave the touch screen and apps for the family outings, and instead consider making the move to what I think just might be the device of our day for creating a happier, more productive workforce.

Bottom line – if you have Apple-hungry employees, lighten the load and try putting a MacBook Air in their hands and virtualizing their corporate desktop, and I think you’ll quickly see what I mean.

Purnima Padmanabhan, VP of Products & Marketing

I presented a session on BYOC and Security at RSA Conference 2011 today. Judging from the turnout (the room was packed), there is a lot of interest in this topic right now as companies are struggling with how to deal with employee-owned devices. When I asked how many people worked at companies that have official BYO programs, only a few people raised their hands. But when I asked how many people use a personal device for work, almost everyone’s hand shot up. Too many IT departments either try to restrict access from personal devices, in which case employees work around the restrictions so they can get their work done, or the IT departments put their blinders on and pretend the problem doesn’t exist. They would be much better off to actually embrace BYO and make it easy for users to “do the right thing”.

One of the things we keep hearing from prospects about desktop virtualization is cost. In fact, in a meeting with our CIO Council this spring, the CIO of a major Wall Street bank said this firm’s investments in a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution had so ballooned out of proportion and the experience had been so painful that it’s left permanent bad taste in everyone’s mouth. There’s no way, he contends, that he could ever sell “desktop virtualization” to his firm again – management and end users alike.

That point really inspired us to work on a TCO model – so companies know what the costs entail before they commit to a desktop management path. Fundamentally, desktop virtualization is about easier desktop management and cost savings the icing on the cake.

In our TCO calculations, we show how MokaFive can dramatically cut desktop TCO by at least 45% by delivering savings in three areas:

1. Operational costs;
2. Helpdesk costs; and
3. Capital costs.

Operational Savings. MokaFive’s management model — central management and distributed execution – is unique in the market, and critical to lowering overall TCO. The IT administrator creates one golden image, called the LivePC, which is sent down to thousands of users. To patch or update OS or applications, IT updates the single golden image in a central location, and automatically the changes are distributed to users’ machines. Contrast that to traditional software distribution, which requires every endpoint to be individually patched which can result in errors, complications and costs. (It’s no wonder companies are dreading the Windows 7 migration – and I am not at all surprised by the costs.)

Helpdesk Savings. MokaFive also delivers savings in helpdesk costs. Typically the most expensive calls occur when a user corrupts their machine with a virus. With MokaFive’s rejuvenate capability, a corrupted desktop can be “rejuvenated” back to its pristine state with all personal data intact – all with just a click of a button. The user doesn’t have to even make a helpdesk call or be online. The CIO of one of our earliest customers – a major law firm in Silicon Valley – recently raved to me about the unexpected savings in their helpdesk costs. They hadn’t even calculated it into their models (nor we, for that matter), but we now expect them to have paid for their initial investment in the next year.

If not for MokaFive, this customer’s helpdesk would be fielding level two and level three calls when a user corrupts their machine with a virus. This specific case calls for a desktop re-image, which can be a very cumbersome process taking hours, if not days to complete. When you re-image the machine, IT needs to supply a new OS, restore all the applications, and then re-apply all the user data.

We estimate steady state this is going to be true whether it’s a VDI instance or with software distribution because even in a VDI scenario the user has to make a helpdesk call and the administrator has engage and to revoke the VM and put the data back on.

Capital Savings. With MokaFive, enterprises have the option to implement BYOC (bring your own computer) programs for employees and contractors. Cisco and Dell made headlines last year when they initiated BYOC programs giving their employees a stipend to purchase their own computer. Both used virtualization to deliver company approved applications, but their approaches had significant limitations. In Dell’s case, the only real choices was, well, Dell machines. Cisco at least allowed more latitude, so employees could purchase Macs, but “they are pretty much on their own for tech support.” With these traditional desktop management models, and even with VDI, BYOC hits a snag due to online-offline access issues.

With MokaFive, IT deploys and manages the virtualized corporate environment on employee-chosen machines (Mac or a PC, online or offline) using MokaFive and benefit from the central management and distributed model I discussed above.

Going Green. There is one final area of savings I’d like to highlight — though it may not necessarily be considered by CIOs when making a decision on desktop virtualization: the environmental impact. With MokaFive’s approach, companies can use existing equipment; existing personal devices and existing corporate devices. In the case of contractors, companies are no longer buying assets, nor are they provisioning servers to the datacenter. All these add up to a reduction in new power-hungry equipment. MokaFive’s approach give you almost status-quo type of energy in the case of most work from home and contractor scenarios – and is even more effective than what we have today. I go into a lot more detail on this in an earlier post.

For our customers, the savings in all these areas have been very real. But the fact remains that desktop virtualization has over-promised and under-delivered for many years — to the detriment of all of us. Just because two (with a third making very fast progress) very large vendors dominate virtualization, it doesn’t mean innovation has ceased. It’s still happening, and MokaFive is proof of it, 20+ patents and still coming.

We’ve really put a lot of thought into all the costs associated with managing desktops. Our customers have weighed in and helped us create a TCO model that factors in these four areas. We invite you to sign up for a personalized TCO for your environment.

Today, MokaFive hit a significant milestone: the release of MokaFive Suite 3.0.

We began pilots over two years ago with some early adopter customers. Since then, these customers have gone into production – in some cases even increasing the size of their deployment – and now they’re beginning to see real, tangible business benefits from a centrally managed, distributed execution approach to desktop virtualization:

• A Silicon Valley-based international law firm saw its employee satisfaction ratings skyrocket
• A Global investment banking and securities firm whose traveling executives can carry one laptop (either a  Mac or PC) for both work and personal use

I point to these customers because their feedback has been absolutely critical for what we are delivering in version 3.0. This is the next-generation evolution of our product. We have made it Windows 7 ready, truly integrated into the enterprise with more policy controls and security features, and we hope to get more leverage from a market perspective with a multi-tenant managed services model.

Full Windows 7 support.

In my recent blog about the costs of Windows 7 migrations, I argued that this massive IT disruption could be a golden opportunity to future-proof the management architecture. And with 3.0, we’ve given IT leaders just that.

Rather than having to go from one desktop to the next and one office to the next over a 12 to 30 month period to manual upgrade machines, enterprises can implement MokaFive Suite to create a full Windows 7 VM that runs on existing hardware – and still access legacy applications – without waiting for the hardware refresh cycle. This means no additional capital costs to migrate to Windows 7, and companies can refresh hardware on their own timeline.

MokaFive’s Windows 7 support is not just a container. We now have full layering support on Windows 7 both in terms of AD domain join layering, OS layering, user-installed apps, data and settings.  We have changed the architecture of the layering so that it leverages some of the inherent features of Windows 7 much better.

Data center to endpoint security.

In the past, we’ve often talked about our seven layers of security, but for MokaFive Suite 3.0, we upped the ante with security at the device level.

With server hosted desktop virtualization solutions, you can secure the data in the data center, but how do you ensure that the browser accessing the VM is not being screen-scraped at the endpoint? Back in August, we announced a partnership with AVG to solve exactly this security gap; MokaFive Suite 3.0 now takes advantage of this full integration. The solution includes a secure virtual encrypted desktop container that can be deployed to the endpoint and further be secured from key-logging and screen-scraping attacks from the host machine by the AVG security scanning capability. Now virtual desktops can be a secure container that can be accessed by many devices, both corporate and personal.

Desktop management as-a-service.

We’ve been talking to some managed service providers that wanted to be able to leverage MokaFive Suite to deliver desktop management services to multiple organizations and their end-users. It seemed like a great idea, so we created a multi-tenant infrastructure as well as new reporting tools and the ability to delegate management to any tenant.

We see 3.0 valuable to three types of providers:

• Outsourced services firms currently using “brute force” to manage desktops for their clients. Now, with a single platform, they can increase the operational efficiency of their delivery model.
• Service providers and carriers that want to expand their footprint with a client or to add a new revenue stream.
• Hosting companies that have no specific desktop management expertise but want to add more services and move beyond providing just rack space.

These are the three big-ticket items in version 3.0, but we have many, many more features. Check out Brian Madden’s latest blog post for more info and video interview.

Purnima Padmanabhan, VP of Products and Marketing