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Unidesk (Discontinued)

Unidesk (Discontinued)

Overview

What is Unidesk (Discontinued)?

Unidesk was a virtual desktop technology from the Massachusetts company of the same name, and acquired by Citrix. It has reached End of Life (EOL).

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What is Unidesk (Discontinued)?

Unidesk was a virtual desktop technology from the Massachusetts company of the same name, and acquired by Citrix. It has reached End of Life (EOL).

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Alternatives Pricing

What is VMware Horizon?

A VDI solution used for the secure delivery of virtual desktops and apps from on-premises to the cloud. It is used to deploy, manage, monitor and scale desktops and apps across private, hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure using a cloud-based console and SaaS management services.

What is Red Hat Virtualization (RHV)?

Red Hat Virtualization (formerly Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, broadly known as RHEV) is an enterprise level server and desktop virtualization solution. Red Hat Virtualization also contains the functionality of Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktop in later editions of the platform.

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Product Details

What is Unidesk (Discontinued)?

Unidesk was a virtual desktop technology from the Massachusetts company of the same name, and acquired by Citrix. It has reached End of Life (EOL).

Unidesk (Discontinued) Technical Details

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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(13)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-5 of 5)
Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
September 12, 2016

Why UniDesk

Sheranga Jayasinghe PMP | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
It is used to create,manage and depoly our VDI's. It is used across the organization.
  • Small Company and great support
  • The product is simple to use, extremely user friendly
  • Does what it says, truly a great tool for application virtualization.
  • Ability to launch an application with no underline OS (Just like XenApp)
UniDesk works well for all scenarios, especially now with the new elastic layering functionality.
  • Quick and Easy deployment
  • Managment and maintenance handled by help desk saving resources .(i.e. Senior Analyst)
  • app v and app volumes
No other product was able to virtualize 16 bits apps for us.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Unidesk to deploy and manage over 100 non-persistent virtual desktops within our organization. It is used across many departments, but is solely managed by the Information Technology Department. It provides a simple, friendly platform for developing customized virtual desktops that requires minimal time to manage.
  • Takes the complexity out of the virtual desktop development process.
  • Provides responsive, quality product technical support.
  • Stays current with competitors in terms of features and standards.
  • More hands-on support while bringing Unidesk into a new environment would be useful.
  • More formalized training for those new to the product (I actually believe Unidesk has already developed something to address this).
It is a great product, but as with any product that requires constant updates, it is important to set reasonable expectations around the time and resources needed to maintain this product once it is in place. While it is relatively simple, it does require ongoing management, particularly as the number of desktops and application layers increase.
  • It is helping to reduce our desktop hardware footprint and extend the lifespan of existing desktop hardware.
  • It has made it easy to scale our persistent virtual desktop environment with minimal time and effort.
  • As with any new service, it does require the allocation of resources that were not required previously, but that is true of any VDI implementation.
Unidesk provides a very simple to use interface that makes it easy to use and manage. Everyone in our department wears many hats, so minimizing complexity is essential to our ability to manage a stable system with minimal overhead.
100
Users are from all across the organization, including Admission, Information Technology, Finance, and many faculty.
2
People need a basic understanding of what a virtual machine is and how the Unidesk application layering works.
  • Allowing secure remote access to network resources from off site.
  • Enables IT to provision a new desktop very quickly; particularly useful for on-boarding.
  • Simple management console that requires minimal time to manage.
  • We have been able to decrease the ratio of computers per user, thus decreasing our hardware footprint.
  • This could be a good fit for part time employees or those who travel a lot.
Unidesk has been a solid product for us. We continue to rely on its simplicity and scalability.
Rory Monaghan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Right now, I'm using Unidesk for a set number of machines and I'm using all persistent desktops. My major business problem being solved is reducing the number of images from several to just two (a Windows 7 32-bit and Windows 64-bit) and providing a quick easy solution for deploying applications that do not work with other application virtualization products.
  • Delivers the majority of applications without issue
  • Unified console for managing all aspects of Virtual Desktop management
  • User layer on a persistent desktop provide an easy profile solution
  • Layers provides the ability to reduce down to 1 Gold Image
  • No more interacting with Hyper-V, RDS or vCenter
  • Speeds up application turn around time
  • I would love if the User Layer persisted on non-persistent desktops
  • A better experience for the actual assigning of applications and desktops (improvements to the console)
  • Partner with a vendor that provides a legacy browser solution

Right now, I would advise it to anybody who has 1,500 or fewer users they wish to provide desktops for. I would advise to go with persistent desktops or use a UEM solution like AppSense or RES Workspace Manager when trying the non-persistent desktops. I would suggest that using an AppVirt product like App-V with Unidesk still makes a lot of sense as you can use Shared Content Store Mode and sequence once for many. AppVirt solutions still have value with isolation.

I would suggest looking at Turbo browsers for their redirect feature to an sandboxed browser running legacy IE or a browser with Java or Flash (to eliminate security threats related to these running locally on the system). Also, I would suggest looking at Atlantis for deduplicating those desktops and allow them to perform quicker with less storage required. Unidesk by itself is awesome. It really simplifies things. Throw it together with other products and each compliments the other well. Also, Unidesk makes some of those other products more valuable as you're not completely reliant on them like you would be without Unidesk.

  • Image management and updating is now much quicker, time saved
  • Application 'packaging' is required a lot less, which saves a lot of money
  • Unidesks customer service is the best that I have worked with. PERIOD!
  • AppVolumes and FlexApp

AppVolumes seems to be a lot less mature as a product. It does have some benefits over Unidesk e.g. the fact it doesn't include the OS Layer (image management) side means I can just use it for the app layering piece if I like. I can also deploy my application layers to physical desktops BUT I have had less success compatibility wise with my applications as AppVolumes 'AppStacks'. I believe Unidesk has a better handle on the do's and don'ts, or at least may be a little more honest about them. I also don't enjoy the Console with AppVolumes and while I can use it without the image management or tied into the stack the way Unidesk is...you also lose that image management and need to couple it with another product in some scenarios.

FlexApp to me is stronger than AppVolumes. FlexApp is coupled with a profile management solution called ProfileUnity which makes it a more attractive alternative (at least at the time of me posting this). However, I prefer other UEM products at this moment in time. I also value the image management and ease of a single console for all of Virt Desktop management that Unidesk provides.

Jared Hahn | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Our Unidesk solution is being used to simplify virtual desktop management across a few different areas. On the backend the savings in increased disk efficiency and data-deduplication means that our SAN can handle a larger number of desktops and maintain much higher operational IO compared to traditional persistent virtual desktops. Additionally our staff who handle deployments are able to provision and ready a virtual machine in under 10 minutes a desktops with very little technical experience needed for the deployment.
  • Increased efficiency of existing/new SAN infrastructure.
  • Prompt and responsive support.
  • Ease of deployment.
  • Efficiencies in workflow transparent to the end-user.
  • Disaster recovery options for the Unidesk solution are not easily accessible or require personalized attention from support.
  • Issues when creating software layers do not always have a obvious fix. Make sure to look for and follow Unidesk's published "recipes."
  • The software/OS layering introduced by Unidesk is not "sanctioned" behavior by Microsoft, and thus you're at the mercy of Unidesk's ability to keep up with widespread changes to operating systems.

Unidesk is well suited to environments where users are accustomed to using personalized and "unique" desktops where as other solutions cater only to standard or non-persistent desktop experiences. The personalization layer present in Unidesk allows users to feel as though they are using a personalized system without the complexities of managing dozens or hundreds of unique systems for users across your company. Updates to existing desktops/layers are accomplished with ease and can easily be done by lower tier support.

If your deliverable is to provide a persistent desktop experience while maintaining the best density and performance of your infrastructure then Unidesk is a hard solution to beat.

  • Storage density with Unidesk (via the use of OS/application layering) is 60-70% improved over standard persistent one-to-one virtual desktops.
  • Unidesk virtual machines can be deployed in under 10 minutes by a lower tier of technician without the need to "touch" the vCenter hypervisor.
  • Reliable performance across Unidesk virtual workstations. Added desktops/layers does not adversely effect performance nearly as bad as older persistent desktops.

While we implemented Unidesk through a VMware Horizon View front-end, VMware's actual holdings in persistent/non-persistent desktop deployment leans more towards the side of non-persistent desktop optimization. VMware Horizon Persona management and other tie-ins often cost more to use and are inexplicably much more difficult to configure properly. Likewise, VMware's support can be cumbersomely difficult to get a proper and timely response from.

We chose Unidesk out of the need to simply persistent desktop deployment and the prevent the exponential growth of SAN disk that it typically entails. VMware's products are a good solution, and in many cases a perfect fit for anyone looking to handle non-persistent virtual desktop deployment.

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are in the architect engineering service sector. Our users variy from general office to 3D Cadd/Revit. The best thing about Unidesk is reduced provision time for application assignments. It is used across two of our four offices. I've found Unidesk drastically reduces my time to deploy apps to new hires, and allows for various OS version assignments to different types of users. The other thing that is big is storage saving on our SAN - big ticket item for us.
  • The various layers of applications allows me to pick and choose who gets what easily. The best part is these layers can be updated and re-assigned across desktops upon reboot.
  • Occasionally if a desktop is left on for too long some weird things happens. For example, the desktop is no longer recognized in AD - it could be AD, removal, etc., but I have checked all these. Refreshing and restoring the VM seems to solve the problem. This happened more than once.
  • We have redundancy (two) connection brokers - Unidesk has trouble from time to time knowing which one to use it seems.
  • The rebuild takes too long when the VM is larger. Users would reboot their desktop as a normal routine and they call to reboot thinking their VD is down when it was just taking its time to rebuild the layers (anywhere from 5 to 15 mins. Mostly 15mins).
I guess probably Unidesk is best for companies with less than 100 users. I said that because too many layers being rebuilt could take a toll on the system on waiting time. I don't know if the space saving is worth the loss in productivity and users' frustration.
  • Saves on space.
  • Reduces IT time on app assignments/provision.
Unidesk goes beyond just apps. That's the difference.
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