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KVM Sponsor Premiers Desktop Virtualization



Qumranet, the commercial sponsor of KVM, announced today the general availability of Solid ICE(TM) - virtualization software that enables corporations to significantly reduce the costs, complexities and risks of desktop PC deployment and management.



By centrally hosting desktops in KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) on servers in the corporate data center, Solid ICE (Independent Computing Environment) gives IT administrators greater control over desktop image management, provisioning management, policy enforcement and security. Solid ICE also offers IT managers easier access to remote desktops to provide maintenance and support, as well as instant, inherent disaster recovery. In addition, businesses deploying a green IT strategy can achieve a savings of up to two thirds on electric power with Solid ICE.



Unlike Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), other retrofitted server virtualization solutions, and Terminal Services models, Solid ICE provides a complete desktop experience for end users running a thin client or repurposed PC. Entire Windows and Linux desktop environments are hosted centrally and administered from a single control point. Leveraging the open-source KVM hypervisor, SPICE remote rendering technology, and a robust, purposefully built management system, Solid ICE delivers a superior desktop experience.



With an estimated 500 million business PCs installed globally, and less than five million running virtualization software in 2007, the market opportunity for desktop virtualization is immense.



"The annual TCO per desktop is in the $3,000-$5,000 range, so there are literally billions of dollars spent annually to keep existing desktop environments operational," said Benny Schnaider, Qumranet's CEO and co-founder. "There is a need for more flexible, independent and secure computing environments, like Solid ICE, that can substantially reduce this inefficient TCO equation."



"Qumranet has developed from the ground up, a virtualization platform specifically for hosting virtual desktops on remote servers. Through their adaptive remote rendering technology, and virtual machine software, Qumranet's solution should be a strong competitive offering in the burgeoning desktop virtualization market," said Michael Rose, Research Analyst, IDC.



"Qumranet's concentrated focus on virtual desktops is its greatest strength. That focus brings architectural and management advantages over its competitors. Qumranet is not trying to also solve all the problems of server virtualization -- just those associated with virtual desktop deployments," said Anne Skamarock, Research Director of Focus Consulting, as quoted in the recent Focus Solution Profile on Qumranet, published as part of the Focus "Desktop and Application Delivery Alternatives" Research Series.



"Working with Solid ICE, we have found the integrated remote rendering technology, SPICE, to be indistinguishable from the physical workstation," said DK Singh, president at DATANET, Inc. "In fact my users have to change the color scheme of the virtual desktop to differentiate it from the physical one."



Solid ICE benefits for IT departments:


- Fully-integrated, "out-of-the-box" desktop virtualization solution


- Centralized management, storage and policy enforcement


- Instant provisioning of new desktops


- Significant reduction of desk-side visits


- Near-zero downtime in the event of server failures


- Significant reduction in the cost of new application deployment


- Robust desktop image management capabilities


- Normal 2-3 year PC refresh cycle extended to 5-6 years or more


- Energy consumption costs reduced dramatically



Solid ICE benefits for the end user:


- Existing desktop-like performance including multiple monitors, bi-directional audio/video, streaming video, USB support etc.


- Ability to access the users' enterprise desktop environment from any PC, (including the employee's home PC)


- Desktop computing power on demand


- Multiple desktops on demand


- Self provisioning of desktops (controlled by policies)


- Zero downtime in the event of client failure



Pricing and Availability


Solid ICE is available for production or other deployments priced per concurrent virtual desktop. To find out about volume discounts, 30-day free evaluation versions and how to purchase Solid ICE, please visit www.qumranet.com.



About Solid ICE


Solid ICE is a high-performance and scalable desktop virtualization product. It provides all the benefits of centralized computing with the interactivity and rich user experience of desktop computing. With Solid ICE, the user's desktop runs in a KVM virtual machine on a server in the data center, and the user connects to it using a thin client (or a repurposed PC) via SPICE , Qumranet's remote rendering technology. SPICE is optimized for virtual desktop environments and provides users with a user-experience, indistinguishable from that of a physical PC. Solid ICE supports multiple monitors, bi-directional audio/video for video conference calling and VoIP, HD quality streaming video and USB support. Solid ICE has been purposefully built for desktops, and compared to other retrofitted server virtualization solutions in the market, offers a user experience indistinguishable from that of a physical PC, a 3-4x improvement in cost-performance, and greatly simplified management



About SPICE


SPICE is a remote rendering technology built for virtual environments and is a fully-integrated component of Qumranet's Solid ICE. SPICE is closely coupled with KVM, and allows users the same interactive experience as they would have with a physical PC on a LAN.



About KVM


KVM is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It comprises of a loadable kernel module, kvm.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor specific module, kvm-intel.ko or kvm-amd.ko. More information is available at http://kvm.qumranet.com/kvmwiki.



About Qumranet


Qumranet, inventor of KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), is a fast-growing virtualization technology company. Its hosted desktop virtualization product, Solid ICE, is used by Global 2000 enterprises around the world to significantly improve the manageability, security and policy enforcement for their desktop environments. Solid ICE allows an enterprise to realize the benefits of centralized desktops, and at the same time, allows a user experience that is indistinguishable from that of a physical PC.



Qumranet is also the maintainer of the open source virtualization project KVM and along with an industry consortium, comprising companies like IBM, Intel, AMD, Red-Hat, Novell and many others, is committed to advancing KVM to be the industry's standard virtualization platform.



Qumranet, Solid ICE, Independent Computing, ICE, and SPICE are trademarks of Qumranet. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.



Contact: Lauree Ostrofsky, Baker Communications Group, 212-877-2418






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