Several managed service providers are now licensing MokaFive's virtual machine management technology to supply secure, preconfigured, layered virtual machines. The service providers will use MokaFive to provision, update, and manage distributed virtual desktops as a managed service for multiple customers over a single console. Mac clients are managed in the same way as PCs.

MokaFive is a client-side approach to managed desktop virtualization, in that Windows 7 and XP virtual machines run on Mac and Windows clients, and not the server. Users can reset a damaged or infected virtual machine with a single click while retaining applications, documents and preference settings. Software updates and patches for applications and operating systems are made on the server and sent to the clients. The service providers will be deploying MokaFive technology in cloud-as-a service scenarios.

"We centralize the management in the cloud but put the focus and power on the user," said Purnima Padmanabhan, MokaFive's vice president of products.

The service providers include Point of Care Solutions (POCS), a provider of medical applications to doctor's offices and medical practices; RSPEED, Inc., an IT management and support provider for business; and Seasquall, a desktop management provider for small- to medium-sized businesses.

Padmanabhan said that using MokaFive, these service providers are now able to expand the scope of their services. "Before, sites were managing apps," she said, "now they are managing the entire container," which includes the Windows operating system and settings.

MokaFive's unique layered approach to virtual desktop packages a virtual machine in such a way as to separate different parts. Operating system, applications that the organization supplies, user applications, cached data, and user data and customizations each reside in a different layer. Each can be reset independently. Administrators can place different items in a virtual layer as they wish, or use different layers for differ users. But users still see the virtual machine as a monolithic entity.

Layering allows administrators to patch and maintain a single "golden image" containing the operating system and application layers used by every user. When a user reboots the virtual machine, the software on the client automaticallt reverts these two layers to the golden image, keeping the users' virtual machines clean and, if they're on the network, up to date. On top of the golden image, administrators can create different layers--for instance, layers containing applications for different classes of users. In all, there are seven possible layers, each with their own security.

MokaFive distributes the layerized virtual machine as an image package called a LivePC. The host computer runs a copy of VMware Fusion on a Mac, or VMware Player on a PC, or Oracle VirtualBox. A host computer can run multiple LivePCs. Also running on the user's computer is MokaFive Player, which controls the VMward or Oracle hypervisor.

The MokaFive administrator doesn't need to know about whether VMware or VitualBox is used, or whether the client host is a Mac or a Windows PC; MokaFive Player will recognize details.

"You build a LivePC once and drop it everywhere," said Padmanabhan.

Architecturally, MokaFive sits under the hypervisors--"shimmed," as Padmanabhan puts it. One side benefit to this is optimization for solid state storage, as is in the latest MacBook Air. Padmanabhan said that because of this, virtual machines run faster on the MacBook Air with MokeFive Player than with VMware Fusion along.

MokaFive's management system fully integrates with Active Directory. Users can login with their Active Directory credentials, and administrators can target existing Active Directory groups with LivePC images or policies.

MokaFive offers its technology to service providers as the MokaFive Suite Service Provider Edition.

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