Adhering VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Alliance Leostream launches a new product: Virtual Desktop Connection Broker. The products features are:

• Single Sign-On The Leostream Connect agent that runs on the end user's Windows XP desktop provides single sign-on and sign-off. So the user simply enters their username and password into the Leostream Connect interface and presses Connect, and shortly after they are auto-logged into the remote Windows session
• Virtual Desktop Pooling Desktops can be organized into groups or "pools" using a sophisticated, automated, labeling system. Once labeled they can be assigned to users according to that user's group membership as defined by the external authentication server
• Virtual Desktop Failover Leostream checks the state of a Virtual Desktop before assigning, or re-assigning, it so if a VM fails then it is automatically replaced by another from the same pool
• Session Stickiness The assignment of a particular Desktop to a user can be permanent, or just for a preset period of time
• Native RDP Client Support Leostream integrates with the native Microsoft RDC client rather than the browser or Java-based versions; this enhances performance and ensures compatibility with Microsoft Vista
• Thin Client Support Tight integration with thin clients such as the Wyse S10 enable a seamless end-user experience
• Multi-Protocol Support Remote desktop protocols supported include: Microsoft's RDP, Citrix's ICA, VNC, and VMware Remote Viewer - enabling the use of operating systems that do not support RDP
• Policy Base Session Variables Session variables such as screen size, disk re-direction, and remote printing can be set with each access Policy
• Secure Access Authentication and RDC session can be secured using SSL certificates - ensuring data security
• Dynamic Management of Virtual Machine State The VM state can be automatically changed when assigned and un-assigned, so allowing unused VMs to be kept in a powered-off state economizing both licensing and hardware utilization
• Virtual Hosted Desktop Self-Service Users can browse a catalog of Virtual Machines, select one and then request a copy. Each request must then be approved by a supervisor before being created and assigned to that user. The created VMs can be set to expire at a certain date, after which only a Administrator can bring them back into service, and finally they can be set to be deleted on a particular date
• Monitoring and Reporting Real-time monitoring of RDC sessions, and reporting via email and SNMP
• External Authentication Users can be authenticated and profiled using Active Directory or LDAP servers without a schema change
• User Activity Monitoring and Logging User status is displayed, user activity is logged, and users can be logged out of the system, so providing a central view of all user activity
• Virtual Appliance Format The Connection Broker is distributed as a Virtual Appliance so it can be rapidly set up, duplicated, moved, and backed- up. It requires a minimum of 1.5G of Memory, and bridged network connectivity. CPU utilization is dependent on the Connection Broker load and will require between 1/10 and all of a 2GHz Xeon processor
• Scalability The Connection Broker manages multiple VMware VirtualCenters. The maximum deployment sizes are:
  • 7,000 VMs per VirtualCenter
  • 1024 VirtualCenters per Connection Broker
  • 50,000 VMs can be managed per Connection Broker

Watch a demo here. The virtualization.info Virtualization Industry Roadmap has been updated accordingly.