MokaFive's Mac in Minutes deploys Windows VMs on Macs

MokaFive has released Mac In Minutes for MokaFive Suite, a new method of to deploy a fully configured corporate Windows desktop to up to thousands of Macs in an hour. The three-step Mac in Minutes deploys the company's system for secure, managed virtual Windows desktops on a Mac.

The MokaFive Suite, available for Windows and Mac OS X, includes client software called a LivePC, which packages MokaFive's software with a hypervisor (VMware Fusion or VirtualBox on Macs) with the virtual machine. Users don't need to launch the hypervisor or any VPN connections separately. For the user, one click on the MokaFive Player brings it all up.

"VMware Fusion is invisible to the user, as are VPN connetions," said Dale Fuller, president and CEO of MokaFive. "Basically, Mac in Minutes makes Windows 7 an app on the Mac. Once installed, it sits on the toolbar. Mac users just have to double-click, and in seconds they're up and running. Mac in Minutes really is the easiest and most effective way to bring Macs securely into the enterprise."

The MokaFive Suite deploys a "golden master" virtual machine via a server, but the user can run the LivePC when not connected to the network. The Mac in Minutes feature puts the server and the installer on a USB stick for configuring Macs. The deployed Windows 7 virtual machine can be pre-configured for Active Directory, so that the fully configured Mac is up and running in 60 minutes.

"There is no infrastructure change required to get Mac support on the network," said Fuller. "A single person can manage tens of thousands of clients."

MokaFive employs a system called virtual layers that separates OS, data, settings, and other elements so that data is never lost, even when the virtual machine is reset to the golden master.

This structure allows the MokaFive Suite to provide some interesting security policies. For instance, an administrator can prevent users from accessing a corporate network from different locations, such as oversees travel. A LivePC can permit the Windows virtual machine to access the network at a time when the Mac host does not have access. An administrator could prevent the VM from sending email when in a foreign country, for example.

Fuller said that using the MokaFive Suite to deploy virtual desktops to Macs and Windows PCs can cost up to $1000 per user annually less than popular desktop-management tools or virtual-desktop infrastructure (VDI). MokaFive costs $150/user/year and requires little capital expense.