Sun, RingCube Integrate Desktop Virtualization Technologies

When RingCube Technologies unveiled version 2.0 of its vDesk desktop virtualization platform in May, company officials said they wanted to differentiate their technology from that of VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) vendors.

Now RingCube is partnering with Sun Microsystems and integrating vDesk with Sun’s VDI offering.

The two companies are announcing the collaboration June 29.

The partnership will bring to enterprises that are using Sun’s Sun Ray VDI technology the ability to more effectively and cheaply roll out personalized virtual desktops, let users work offline and synchronize their VDI environment and portable storage devices, PCs or laptops.

It combines the Appliance Link Protocol—for deploying VDI environments over WANs—in Sun Rays with RingCube’s vDesk, according to Doug Dooley, vice president of product management and marketing at RingCube.

“Our combined solution provides enterprise customers with mobile work forces the benefits of personalized desktops and offline mobility in their VDI deployments with lower operational and capital expenditures,” Dooley said in a statement.

RingCube’s vDesk enables enterprise users to put the technology on their work PCs or on unmanaged systems, such as their home computers. When they turn on vDesk, it gives them a personalized virtual workspace—including their own settings, files, applications and desktop—and the company’s MobileSync technology lets users synchronize their vDesk workspace between PCs, USB drives or other portable media, a network file share or VDI environments.

Using MobileSync, users can bring their vDesk workspace to an offline device and, once back online, check in their vDesk workspace through the VDI. MobileSync ensures that those working offline get the same desktop experience for those working online.

A key to RingCube’s vDesk is the technology’s WVE (Workspace Virtualization Engine). The technology separates the user’s desktop environment from the OS, putting it into secure containers. WVE also offers a lightweight virtual desktop, which includes an isolated network stack and support for such applications as endpoint security, databases and PC management software.

RingCube officials argued in May that the vDesk solution offers greater flexibility and lower costs than traditional VDI products. Combining it with Sun’s VDI offering gives Sun Ray users more options for virtual desktop environments, according to Jennifer Horton, director of desktop virtualization at Sun.

“By leveraging RingCube's vDesk master workspace concept to manage user profiles rather than modifying the underlying virtual machine templates, our customers can provide users with personalization without introducing unnecessary complexity or costs,” Horton said in a statement.