Zeus Technology will today announce a product designed to connect users with virtual machines hosted on servers. Although not the first provider in this market, Zeus insisted its expertise in network traffic management means it has more secure and reliable technology than rivals.

The ZXTM Virtual Desktop Broker (VDB) provides the middleware to link users at login with virtual Windows PCs running atop VMware's ESX Server or Microsoft Virtual Server. Vendors such as Citrix have recently unveiled similar products.

Zeus said that rival desktop brokers merely direct a user to an available desktop, while its tool acts as a gateway through which all traffic between users and desktops must pass. This provides greater security, since there is no way to bypass authentication according to Zeus product manager Owen Garrett.

"Everything goes through our software, which means you must have authenticated access," he said. While this could make the VDB into a critical failure point, Garrett said the firm's background in network traffic management had enabled it to design around this problem.

The company said that another benefit of this approach is that VDB can easily monitor traffic and identify if a virtual desktop has stopped responding, then alert an administrator to the problem.

The tool includes a JavaScript-based rules language that can be used by Administrators to apply complex policies, such as directing users to particular virtual machine configurations based on their user profile, or denying users access to systems outside their shift hours.

"It can also be used to check if a login is coming from an untrusted source, and send the user to a locked-down client that only allows access to email," Garrett said.

Zeus argued that the suite would appeal to firms using desktop virtualisation to cut management costs as it makes it easier for the desktop PC to be replaced with a thin client, a laptop, or even a Linux PC, while a server hosting multiple virtual images need not cost much more than a standard PC configuration.

The ZXTM VDB runs on a Linux server and is also available as a network appliance. Both will typically be installed by an integrator, Garrett said. The product is licensed at £65 per concurrent user.