The flagship offering from the vBusiness unit of Sentillion, Inc., vThere is a remote access platform that leverages virtual PC technology. In brief, vThere is based on an image-based "virtual PC" software package that can be downloaded to and "played" on a user's laptop. Such "software PCs" then allow the user to use their laptop from a remote location as if they are within the bounds of the actual corporate network, accessing network resources just as a local network user would.

The three primary components of the platform are the vThere Image Creator (Windows XP Pro), which corporate IT personnel would use to create virtual PC images that would then be distributed to the remote users; the vThere Player (Windows XP/Vista), which resides on the end-user's laptops and can launch the image created by vThere Image Creator for use by the end user; and the vThere.net Web site, which is hosted and managed by the vendor and provides a means for IT personnel to distribute--and end users to obtain--created software PC images. vThere images can also be distributed via DVD. The vThere.net site also provides additional administrative and auditing capabilities, including the ability to revoke access to certain images for certain individuals (more below).

Images are typically created by role; and include provisions for the automatic incorporation of user-specific data such that multiple users within the same capacity can utilize the same image (with unique information such as the Windows SID and the computer name automatically filled in when each user actually implements the image). The images themselves include the operating system (Windows XP Pro), desktop tools (A/V, etc.), and actual applications that the end user will need to use on their remote machines. To access an image, the user makes use of an activation key provided to them by the administrator (or creator of the images); each key allows for a single activation of the vThere image and can be set to expire after a designated amount of time.

The images are launched on the user's PC in such a way that the user's physical environment--their hardware and the native operating system that is running on it--is masked and/or isolated from the virtual PC; a process that the vendor states increases security by not allowing any included virii or endpoint infections to access the corporate network. When the software PC image is "played," the user logs in using their existing network credentials (RSA SecurID authentication is also supported). The platform then automatically establishes a VPN connection between the end user and the corporate network (LAN and offline scenarios are also supported); and, since the user is logged into the Active Directory domain they have access to all the resources they would normally be able to access from a local connection.

Each time the vThere image is accessed on the PC, it checks with the vThere.net site (via Web services calls) to ensure that the original activation key issued to this user is still valid. In this way, administrators can revoke access to an existing vThere image by revoking the access key itself. Additionally, the vThere.net site provides basic auditing capabilities; logging events every time the user runs their vThere image. While the images themselves can be distributed by DVD independently of the vThere.net site, these activation and auditing capabilities still require connections to vThere.net.

From the corporate network, the attached software PCs are seen directly as managed devices; a feature that enables them to be directly upgraded and maintained by corporate IT personnel.

New to vThere is an administrative feature that allows administrators to configure the Media Access Control (MAC) address; with the new feature, administrators can designate a specific and unique MAC address for use by each end user, separate from the physical MAC of the end-point's NIC.

vThere is available now. Pricing is $125/user, with the Image Creator toolkit priced at $795 per administrator workstation.

Contact Sentillion vBusiness for further information.