RingCube Delivers Industry's First Virtual Desktop NAS Software Solution

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, August 25, 2009 - RingCube Technologies, the leading provider of managed virtual workspace, today announced vDesk version 2.1, a high-performance enterprise desktop virtualization solution that simplifies the creation, access and management of Windows desktops through Workspace Virtualization. vDesk version 2.1 delivers new networking technology that enables users to stream their desktop from any Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliance or file server that supports the CIFS protocol from a virtual hard drive (VHD) container.

"Many Enterprises are simply priced out of desktop virtualization by the infrastructure requirements and related up front capital expenses especially from many VDI-based offerings," said Chris Wolf, senior analyst, Burton Group. "Virtual Desktop NAS solutions help customers simply drop in a single box that serves up virtual desktops, while providing much of the centralized image management you want to get out of desktop virtualization."

RingCube has built significant enhancements into vDesk 2.1 including networking technology that provides broader support to any CIFS-based storage device with superior performance and resiliency in the event of temporary network connectivity loss.  With the new VHD container format, vDesk customers receive improved security and storage utilization benefits with dynamically sizable virtual drives when deploying over the network. RingCube will be showcasing vDesk 2.1 at VMworld 2009 held Aug 31-Sep 4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

Virtual Desktop NAS Solution

vDesk over the network (a.k.a. Virtual Desktop NAS) is one of the four vDesk deployment methods. This method enables organizations to store personalized virtual desktops on a network attached storage (NAS) appliance or file server. Users access their virtual desktop over the LAN using the on-demand vDesk client that is automatically downloaded via a web-based client portal. When the user runs their virtual desktop, the personalized vDesk workspace is streamed to the user's PC and executed locally, allowing data, applications, and settings to be stored centrally. When the user shuts down their vDesk workspace, the changes that were made during the session are preserved on the NAS appliance for the user to access in the future from any PC on the LAN without leaving data behind on the host PC from the virtual workspace."The Virtual Desktop NAS offers the potential of a more cost-effective alternative to our current VDI deployment," said Ryan Borey, IT specialist, SouthCoast Bank.  "We can achieve the centralization and management we need while using the computing power of our existing PCs, eliminating the need to purchase new hardware both on the client and server side."

NAS Offerings Simplify Deployments and Save Cost on Desktop Virtualization

In June 2009, RingCube announced interoperability between vDesk and the desktop virtualization products of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Sun's leadership in both the virtualization and storage industries allows them to uniquely utilize the new vDesk 2.1 offering to help business customers simplify deployments and save cost on desktop virtualization. "Sun continues to deliver innovative and complete end- to-end desktop virtualization solutions through our open approach and broad ecosystem of technology partnerships," said Bob Gianni, Senior Director, Desktop Virtualization Group, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "The combination of Sun technologies with RingCube vDesk 2.1 helps our customers rapidly deploy desktop virtualization in their LAN environments and significantly reduces the cost of traditional desktop management."

In addition, RingCube has tested vDesk 2.1 to run on both Sun Open Storage and Sun Unified Storage Systems. "Virtual Desktop NAS is yet another example of the innovation RingCube is bringing to the desktop virtualization market," said Doug Dooley, vice president of marketing, RingCube. "Partners like SUN help extend the availability of vDesk to customers in ways that make sense for simple and cost-effective desktop virtualization deployments."

To learn more, go to Virtual Desktop NAS Solution: http://www.ringcube.com/portal/content/solutions/virtual_desktop_nas.jspPricing and Availability
vDesk 2.1 is available immediately through RingCube. Pricing starts at $200 per user.

See RingCube at VMworld
vDesk 2.1 will be showcased at VMworld 2009 held Aug 31-Sep 4 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The demonstration will be held at booth #1231 on the Expo floor.

About RingCube Technologies, Inc.
RingCube is the leading provider of workspace virtualization. The company's innovative virtualization solution, vDesk, enables users to securely access their complete desktop computing experience from any Windows PC anywhere in the world. With vDesk, organizations can increase user productivity, lower desktop management and support costs, and eliminate the performance and resource overhead commonly found with legacy virtualization approaches. The company is privately held and based in Mountain View, CA. For more information, please visit: www.ringcube.com