moka5 to Deliver PC Virtualization Innovation

Quoting from their official press release:

moka5 today announced its formation and entry into the desktop virtualization technology business. A spin off from Stanford University's Computer Science Department, moka5 plans to revolutionize the way consumers and businesses view and use everyday computing environments. The company also announced that it has received funding from Khosla Ventures and that Vinod Khosla has joined the board.

The founding team is comprised of a combination of Stanford University PhDs and seasoned professionals from Microsoft, Sun, Symantec, XenSource and Akamai, to name a few companies. Leading the charge at moka5 is Monica Lam, Professor of Computer Science, currently on leave, from Stanford.

Professor Lam's research group was the first to use machine virtualization to address the problems of managing and securing computer desktops. The research, started in 2001, was inspired by the thin-client computing model, where machines are managed centrally and users can gain access to a computer environment anywhere. Thin-client computing, reminiscent of mainframe computing, however, fails to capitalize on the PC revolution. PCs are low-cost, compared to data-center operations, powerful, highly interactive and can run disconnected from a network. The years of research at Stanford led to the creation of a third-generation system architecture, or LivePC(TM), that delivers optimized PC management, security and mobility.

"In university research, we try to create fundamentally sound solutions from the ground up rather than provide incremental solutions. LivePCs are a new approach to computer management that addresses many issues such as spyware, mobile computing, home computer management, hardware migration and disaster recovery. We are excited and committed to putting this technology in the hands of real users," said Monica Lam, Founder, and CEO of moka5.

Based on virtualization, the LivePC technology allows users to work on any operating system, with any applications, on any device in a completely maintained, up-to-date and secure environment. The LivePC opens a new world of work and play where the technology developed allows actively managed computing environments to be run locally on any PC efficiently and transparently. This technology is ideal for businesses, universities and government.

Infotech.com states that, "Virtualization will dominate 2006 for servers and dominate on desktops by the end of 2010. Virtualization on x86 hardware is poised for major growth. We predict that 20% of Windows and Linux server operating systems will be hosted on virtual x86 machines by the end of 2006, with a combined annual growth rate of 20%. Virtualization will be pervasive on servers and desktops by the end of the decade."

moka5 is on the verge of influencing change in everyday computing and has received funding from Vinod Khosla, one of the premiere venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. "PCs are increasingly hard to manage and hard to use, even for sophisticated users. moka5 brings a whole new approach that is much simpler and more powerful for the user, and has the potential to redefine the PC business. moka5 is dedicated to quickly becoming a leading force in desktop virtualization technology for the broad market," said Vinod Khosla, Founder of Khosla Ventures.

Posted by David Marshall on May 16, 2006 04:55 PM