DaaS as an alternative to VPN
March 2014 – As the cloud progresses in developing buisness models, we are getting many new XaaS offerings. Joining the existing SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, RaaS offerings, Navisite has introduced their Desktop as a Service (DaaS) model as an alternative to the VPN (Virtual Private Network). In a discussion with one of Navisite’s Executives – VP of Product Management Chris Patterson, we reviewed the directions and challenges of the new cloud platforms, the enterprise integration and how the virtualization of the desktop and storage is affecting the work flow.
The need for security is what was driving the DaaS solution. Contemporary VPNs still allow for local data, local I/O and local keys/passwords on the endpoint devices connecting through the VPN to the main network. Navisite took the approach to build a cross platform browser based virtual desktop, that is built on a VMware virtualization core, that is entirely managed and operates in the cloud. In this setup, there is no local drive access, USB access, or storage capability on the endpoint client device. All data – both linked/referenced data and created data exists only in the storage network at the cloud facilities. This multi-tenant structure allows for a common UI and user experience on all platforms (from desktops to tablets) when accessed through the same type of browser.
The cirtual desktop is a unifed interface and can support widows, linux and specialty cloud compute applications. The desktop has an API for launch and pointer redirection to any network accessible machine, including offsite third party specialty cloud computing providers.
This localization of the data allows the EMC Atmos object based storage solution to ONLY record encrypted data from the virtual desktops. The encryption key is also held locally and is associated with the virtual desktop. As a result, the full encryption solution in a multi-tenant environment, forces filed based backup rather image based, This gives rise to a challenge for those clients that are searching for a duplication methodology for backup that includes LTO tape.
This solution is a very good one for high-value transient data that does not require a multi-decade active usability option (which is typically the domain of LTO tape & jukeboxes). The localization of the data, and the policy based desktop setup allows for complete dynamic access from a remote centralized location or person. Navsite currently has 6 data centers offering these services in the US and additional could servers in the UK.
