Riverbed Strengthens Alliance With VMware

RRiverbed
Technology, Inc. announced the availability of solutions developed in
collaboration with VMware that can provide a desktop virtualization end user experience in those organizations that deploy
VMware Horizon View 5.2.

The partnership has resulted in the support of
multiple Riverbed performance solutions with Horizon View deployments,
including certification of Riverbed Granite with Horizon View, to
provide acceleration, control and management into virtualized desktop
initiatives. Organizations that deploy Horizon View with Riverbed
performance solutions are able to achieve a more automated, flexible, scalable,
and performing VDI environment. As a result, organizations that seek to further
extend the virtual edge to create a VDI are able to reduce complexity while
increasing efficiency and deliver the performance end users need.

Delivering on the technology preview announced in
August 2012, Riverbed Granite has achieved VMware Ready status with VMware
Horizon View 5.2, enabling remote and branch office virtual
desktop deployments and ensuring VMware Global Support Services (GSS) support
for customers who use the combined solution. Granite allows organizations to
overcome the challenges of WANs, such as limited bandwidth, latency, and unforeseeable
outages when delivering virtual desktops to remote locations. In conjunction
with the VMware View Branch Office Desktop (BOD) and Business Process Desktop
(BPD) solutions, Granite delivers a quality Horizon View user
desktop experience while preserving consolidation and control in the data
center.

Riverbed offers a QoS solution for PCoIP that delivers fine-grained control of
Horizon View virtual desktop traffic. The combination of WAN optimization and
the ability to prioritize PCoIP at a granular level along with other traffic
that traverses the same WAN helps organizations achieve the appropriate balance
between desktop virtualization and business applications.

New Riverbed Stingray Traffic Manager integration with Horizon View provides acceleration,
BC, fine-grained application-level control and HA for end-users that require
constant access to desktops, applications and data from any device or location.
Stingray Traffic Manager offers Global Load Balancing (GLB), secure socket
layer (SSL) Offload and Stingray TrafficScript, a programming language
used to create rules to address problems including security vulnerabilities,
application bugs, or application incompatibilities.

Released in Oct 2012, Cascade 10.0 delivers the needed network performance
management within Horizon View environments, giving organizations the critical
ability to pinpoint, understand, and troubleshoot in VDI environments. Cascade
10.0 provides visibility of the PCoIP protocol for actions such as screen refresh,
print and type. These details are critical for troubleshooting and optimizing
the usage and performance of interactive applications in Horizon View
environments.

"By deepening our partnership with
VMware, we give enterprises the ability to provide end users a seamless
experience when accessing their desktop, applications and data regardless of
location. Simultaneously, we are enabling enterprises to benefit from greater
control and flexibility in distributed organizations," said Venugopal
Pai, VP, global alliances and business development, Riverbed.

"The strategic partnership with Riverbed
enables organizations to benefit from greater optimization and visibility in
VMware Horizon View environments including Branch Office Desktop (BOD) and
Business Process Desktop (BPD) deployments. The comprehensive suite of Riverbed
performance solutions combined with VMware Horizon View gives end users the
reliable experience they come to expect while helping provide enterprises with
a way to reduce complexity, achieve greater cost savings and manage IT more
efficiently," said Parag Patel, VP, global strategic alliances, VMware.