Amazon Workspaces Overview

“Amazon WorkSpaces is a fully managed, secure desktop computing service which runs on the AWS cloud. Amazon WorkSpaces allows you to easily provision cloud-based virtual desktops and provide your users access to the documents, applications, and resources they need from any supported device, including Windows and Mac computers, Chromebooks, iPads, Fire tablets, Android tablets, and Chrome and Firefox web browsers.” Amazon Workspaces website

This is groundbreaking considering that within a few mouse clicks, uses could get access to the desktop and the resources they need, provisioned for them in the background. The challenge then evolves to more of an application strategy scenario as opposed to a resource availability scenario.

At the end of the day Amazon WorkSpaces are still just windows desktops delivered to end users. Therefore, the default capabilities of FlexApp Layering from Liquidware can perfectly augment the Amazon WorkSpaces solution. The FlexApp Layering solution can be implemented to provide an application management platform servicing, VDI, Private Cloud and now Amazon Workspaces.

FlexApp with Amazon Workspaces Overview

FlexApp Layering is an advanced technology, tightly integrated within the ProfileUnity User Environment Management platform. Application installs are redirected to virtual hard disks that can be stored and managed centrally. If you think about the Windows operating system like a puzzle piece, the FlexApp Layering technology essentially converts the applications into portable puzzle pieces that can snap onto the host operating system. Additionally, now that the applications are portable, they can follow the users across the various endpoints they leverage.

As part of the tight integration with ProfileUnity, FlexApp leverages profile settings and policies but can also be implemented as a stand-alone solution. ‹FlexApp enables Administrators to assign department-level applications to groups of users across both physical and virtual environments. This flexible framework allows for a seamless transition to support a Public Cloud enterprise strategy.

FlexApp integration with Amazon Workspaces

The ProfileUnity management infrastructure can be provisioned within the Amazon Workspaces customer instance. Liquidware has integrated both the ProfileUnity and FlexApp solutions with the Amazon Marketplace workflow, so that within a few mouse clicks both platforms can be implemented within the customers environment.  FlexApp can be implemented and integrated with the customers’ existing enterprise application strategy alongside the new Amazon infrastructure. This simplified architecture has allowed for a seamless transition to integrate with cloud platforms like Amazon Workspaces. ProfileUnity and FlexApp both support any kind of enterprise storage including cloud-based storage like S3 from Amazon.

As you will see from the graphic below, FlexApp Layers leveraged within the enterprise datacentre on prem, can be replicated to Amazon S3. At which point they can be attached like puzzle pieces onto the new Amazon WorkSpaces instances.

As the user’s login into their corresponding Amazon WorkSpaces instances, the FlexApp Layers have been attached behind the scenes so that they are available just as any other natively installed applications would be. The corresponding windows operating systems think that the new FlexApp Layers are natively installed, when in fact they are just attached through standard windows virtual disk technologies in the background. A proprietary Liquidware filter drive manages communications between the host operating system and the FlexApp Layers for optimal efficiency.

Amazon WorkSpaces are currently designed to be persistent endpoints. ProfileUnity and FlexApp have the ability to create a Persistent / Non-Persistent environment within the Amazon WorkSpaces solution, by making both the user’s profile and applications more portable in nature. This ultimately eliminates the complexity of supporting the base windows image that the Amazon WorkSpaces are built from.

For information regarding Liquidware integration with the Amazon EUC portfolio please contact Alliances@liquidware.com

For additional information around Liquidware, please visit Liquidware.com