On November 18, Liquidware Labs announced the addition of an end user data migration feature to its ProfileUnity 4.5 release. This data migration feature takes data that is stored locally in the end user’s profile (in the user account tree on the hard disk), and streams it via a throttled background block level file transfer (with checkpoint/restart) from the user’s PC to a redirected folder on a shared network drive. This is a significant addition to the Liquidware suite of migration tools for the following reasons:
- One of the challenging tasks in migrating a user from a desktop environment which locally installed on their PC to a hosted virtual desktop (VDI) which runs in the data center is the migration of the user’s settings and data from their PC to the file store in the data center. Liquidware addressed the issue of profile migration (the migration of OS settings and applications settings stored in the registry) with the acquisition of the ProfileUnity product. This addition to the product means that end user’s data can now be automatically extracted from the profile (which makes the profile smaller, more manageable, and speeds logon times), and then stored in a place where it can be easily accessed from the new hosted virtual desktop. This feature will therefore greatly ease the process of migrating users to hosted virtual desktops.
- The migration from Windows XP to Windows 7 requires that end user data be copied off of the machine prior to the installation of Windows 7 on the computer. The addition of this new feature to ProfileUnity opens up an large and very important new use case for Liquidware’s product suite which is the migration from locally installed Windows XP environments to Windows 7 environments (whether Windows 7 is installed locally or in a hosted virtualized environment).
The combination of these to use cases, means that Liquidware is now creating an “easy” way for many organizations to move to Windows 7. The easy way is to use the new ProfileUnity end user data migration capability to move the user’s data to a redirected folder, use the profile migration features to move the profile to a network file store, and to then bring up a new instance of Windows 7 and the user’s applications in a hosted virtual desktop environment.
Liquidware is also addressing the use case of offline laptops by leveraging the offline folder synchronization capabilities of Windows. This is an interesting choice as many other vendors of desktop management solutions are choosing to build this functionality themselves into their products.
The complete Liquidware announcement is below:
Liquidware Labs ProfileUnity v4.5 Boasts Exclusive User Data Synchronization
New feature seamlessly migrates user documents for VMware View,
Citrix XenDesktop, Microsoft Windows 7 deployments
Liquidware Labs, the leader in Assessment and User Experience Management for next generation desktops, today announced the availability of Liquidware Labs ProfileUnity v4.5 with exclusive user data synchronization capabilities to migrate desktop documents and data, enabling organizations to further speed adoption and ease management of new desktop technologies such as VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop, and Microsoft Windows 7.
ProfileUnity Pro provides comprehensive user profile management and configures user settings during logon. The new background block-level data synchronization feature in v4.5 enables user data (documents, files, etc.) to be harvested from existing Windows desktops by synching the data to a central data store where it can then be accessed on-demand from the user’s existing and next generation desktop, regardless of architecture — VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop, or a physical Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 PC.
Data is migrated in the background using block-level transfer during a user’s session through a centrally managed folder redirection and synchronization module in ProfileUnity Pro. File migration can be optimized through a built-in throttling feature that ensures that network traffic is not affected. The new user data synchronization feature is especially useful in invoking best practices for desktop data storage, speeding the adoption of next generation desktops, and as part of a comprehensive desktop disaster recovery plan. Data is also made available to laptops through offline folders. The solution runs with zero touch and there is no software to install or manage on each desktop.
Other new features in ProfileUnity Pro v4.5 include enhanced ease-of-use features and installation as part of the Liquidware Labs Stratusphere virtual appliance. The virtual appliance installs quickly into any environment, and also includes access to Liquidware Labs Stratusphere Assessment and User Experience diagnostics solutions (licensed separately).
“Organization’s are encountering many challenges in actually moving user data to new desktop technologies such as Windows 7 and VDI solutions from VMware and Citrix,” said Jason E. Smith, VP of Marketing for Liquidware Labs. “Data that resides on existing desktops is all too often ignored or poorly migrated during transitions. ProfileUnity Pro v4.5 removes this challenge by automating the process and ensuring that mission critical data is properly synchronized, according to best-practices, on a network store where it can accessed by the user with any existing or new desktop in the future.”
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