Quest Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: QSFT) today announced the general availability of Quest vWorkspace, its platform-agnostic virtual desktop management solution allowing the management of multiple desktop deployment models and virtual application delivery. For more detail information on this release please visit http://www.vworkspace.com/vworkspacerelease.aspx.

vWorkspace 6.0

Previously branded Provision Networks Virtual Access Suite, Quest vWorkspace offers customers a proven desktop deployment and application delivery platform, major highlights include:

Provisioning and Automation

• Desktop Lifecycle Management - automates the provisioning and mass production of desktops and servers from a single golden image including Active Directory (AD) integration while also automating the deletion of desktops and their removal from AD upon expiration
• Delegated Administration Management - essential for large scale deployments, enables the logical presentation of desktop infrastructure assets in geographic zones, and allows fine-grained delegated administrative responsibility among staff members
• Desktop Integrity Management - automates the reversal of the desktop state to its original condition upon reboot

Experience Optimized Protocol (EOP)

Regardless of location, LAN or the WAN, if virtual desktops and applications cannot deliver a local PC-like experience from peripheral support, to multimedia, and graphics acceleration, the solution is useless. vWorkspace further extends Quest’s EOP capabilities to include:

• Multimedia Acceleration - multimedia content is redirected to both Windows and Linux end-points for local playback
• Graphics Acceleration - from web content, including Flash animations, to graphics embedded in applications, performance is enhanced by as much as 800% over the native display protocol
• Latency Reduction - network latency can wreak havoc on applications as simple as word processing. Quest EOP delivers local text echoing ensuring immediate keystroke feedback
• Bi-Directional Audio - further enhancing the native protocol, Quest EOP enables applications such as dictation, collaboration and VOIP

“Version 6.0 significantly changes the connection broker landscape. We are not only delivering the most comprehensive set of management capabilities, but also responding to real world requirements, whereby user experience needs eclipse any advances in manageability,” states Paul Ghostine, vice president and general manager of Quest’s Desktop Virtualization Group. “Our Experience Optimized Protocol delivers best-in-class performance for a wide variety of applications and use cases.”

Flexible Investment in Virtual Desktop Management

Quest vWorkspace simultaneously supports and fully integrates and automates application delivery, desktop deployment, and management from all the relevant solutions: Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESX, Virtual Iron and Parallels Virtuozzo Containers. As customers contemplate migrating to more cost-effective solutions such as Microsoft’s Hyper-V or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services, they are assured a seamless transition without a costly rip-and-replace exercise.

"Our research reveals that the uptake for Hyper-V is significant, and that heterogeneous deployments involving Hyper-V will be increasingly common," said Andi Mann, research director, Enterprise Management Associates. "Quest vWorkspace maximizes the return on investment in desktop virtualization as customers’ choices in the underlying platform evolve.”

New to vWorkspace is full integration and automation with Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, the unique OS-level server virtualization solution, particularly suited for desktop deployments due to its native scalable single image management capabilities and minimal storage requirements.

Extended Last-Mile Capabilities and Ecosystem Support

Significant focus on the last mile had always been paramount to the wide adoption of Quest vWorkspace. Whether it’s universal printing capabilities for local and network printing, application publishing, or the enhanced multi-monitor support, vWorkspace further extends these essential last-mile features to include:

• Virtual USB Management - now any USB device is supported through the remote session on Windows and Linux end-points, including support for isochronous devices such as webcams and headsets
• Integrated Support for Expand Networks - now native to vWorkspace is the capability to automatically enable the compression and acceleration features of Expand appliances, enabling customers with limited bandwidth to support larger numbers of centralized user sessions without having to acquire more bandwidth
• Integrated support for HP Remote Graphics Software (RGS) - now native to vWorkspace is the capability to support and broker HP RGS connections enabling HP customers to leverage that investment

“Quest vWorkspace support of HP Remote Graphics Software will enable even broader choice for our client virtualization customers to enjoy the robust computing experiences and collaboration capabilities their users expect, along with the ease of deployment and management delivered by virtual client environments,” said Jeff Groudan, vice president, Desktop Solutions Organization, HP. “Combined with HP's industry-leading thin clients, our proven technologies will together help even more businesses realize the true performance and return on investment possibilities that can be delivered by client virtualization.”