Mokafive Announces Mokafive Suite; Adds New Enterprise Features

Mokafive announces a virtualized desktop suite that allows IT to define, distribute, and manage desktops. The MokaFive Suite adds an Enterprise Server so a company can host their own systems internally, improved security functions for authentication and integration, and separation between the computer and user applications. Mokafive's LivePC virtual computer image, can run directly on hardware, as a virtual environment on Windows, OSX, and Linux, or from a USB drive. The deployment options are flexible enough to suit any IT needs. The list price of $99 per seat may well offset operational expenses related to desktop management and maintenance.

Mokafive LivePC provides multiple layers of separation between the virtual computer and user. IT can define a system image consisting of the base configuration of an OS and all the required applications. Application bundles can be created and applied to Mokafive installations based on the user group policy. Users can also install their own applications, including widgets that integrate with other applications like toolbars in Internet Explorer and FireFox. Users can also store persistently store data locally. Each of these layers is separate from the other allowing IT to update the underlying OS without affecting installed applications. LivePC updates are optimized to only send the differences between the users LivePC and the most recent update. Updates require  reboot of the LivePC to take affect. The separation of OS, applications, and user applications means IT can manage the computer while allowing end-users to install applications without worrying about breaking the system.

An administrator from a large US health care provider told us in an interview they needed a way to manage remote user desktops better. To support remote users, the company gave users VPN software for their home PC's, but since the home PC were personal computers, the health care provider had no control over them putting the company at risk for infection. Giving all their employees computers was too expensive. The company looked at virtual desktops, but decided the required infrastructure for 20 to 30 thousand users was too high. The health care provider looked at other remote desktop systems and decided on Mokafive because they could separate and manage their corporate computer system from user applications and allow users to carry a corporate approved computer in a USB drive. The drive installation does may need software installed on the host computer if LivePC is going to run in another operating system. If the computer can boot from a USB, then no changes to the host computer are needed.

The LivePC software is so lightweight and non-invasive, the health care provider also requires non-employees like contractors and consultants to use Mokafive images when accessing the providers systems. So far, the administrator said, their contractors or consultants haven't balked at installing the lightweight software on their computers.

MokaFive' Enterprise Server is a Desktop as a Service Platform can be hosted on your internal network without requiring any outside resources. Placing the Enterprise Server in your DMZ and restricting access using SSL, remote users can get desktop updates anywhere they have a network connection. Since the Enterprise Server is only hosting files, far less computing resources are needed compared to virtual desktop solutions such as VMWare's View or Citrix Xen Desktop.Mokafive security features include authentication Active Directory or RSA SecureID, SSL encryption, and policy based management defining if user can install their own applications, retain persistent data, and  interactions a user can have with the host desktop such as printing or accessing the clipboard.
A few things we'd like to see addressed.