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Parallels RAS

Parallels RAS

Overview

What is Parallels RAS?

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS, formerly 2X RAS), is application virtualization technology, billed as a solution to extend the life of legacy OS (like Windows XP) with its virtual desktop for any device. Maltese company 2X Software developed the technology,…

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Recent Reviews
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee
For the latest information on pricing, visithttps://www.parallels.com/products/ras/…

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $120 per year per user
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Product Details

What is Parallels RAS?

Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS) is a remote work solution that provides secure virtual access to business applications and desktops on any device or OS—from anywhere. The platform offers an agile, cloud-ready foundation and end-to-end security fueled by a centralized management console with granular policies. Companies can leverage on-premises, hybrid, or public cloud deployments and integrate with existing technology like Microsoft Azure and AWS. Parallels RAS aims to give organizations the flexibility, scalability, and IT agility to adapt to changing business needs. Parallels RAS offers a single, full-featured licensing model that includes 24/7 support and access to product training. The vendor states its key benefits include:

  • User experience—work from anywhere, on any device.
  • Enhanced data security and compliance—centralized management console with granular policies.
  • IT agility and business readiness—flexible hosting solutions to scale and adapt.
  • Total cost of ownership—supports BYOD and includes a simple licensing model.
  • Always-on support—access to 24/7 support and training at no additional cost.

Parallels RAS Screenshots

Screenshot of the console interface, showing Parallels RAS' support for on-premises, private and public cloud providers, including Azure and AWS.Screenshot of the Parallels Web Client, which is accessible from any HTML5 browser or choose one of the many local clients.Screenshot of Parallels RAS' integration with MSIX app attach for modern, dynamic app delivery.Screenshot of Parallels RAS' support for multiple MFAs for security and flexibility.Screenshot of the integrated Let's Encrypt security certificates, to issue and manage certificates in Parallels RAS.Screenshot of expression-based filtering which makes it easier to set policies in the Parallels RAS.Screenshot of the visual reporting in the Parallels RAS Management Console which is used to monitor and troubleshoot issues.

Parallels RAS Videos

This video shows how to deploy virtual apps and desktops via Parallels RAS in Azure by using Parallels RAS in the Azure Marketplace. This is a fast way to create a proof of concept (POC) or test environment.
This video demonstrates the steps an administrator takes within the Parallels RAS Console to successfully deliver services to end users via Amazon EC2.
Parallels RAS themes allow an organization to transform what the user sees when they access resources delivered via Parallels RAS. For example, custom branding (white labeling) can be applied, a custom URL can be set for the end user, and access can be locked down to specific ...
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MSIX app attach is an Azure Virtual Desktop feature. It provides application modernization, improves application lifecycle management, and reduces hardware footprint and IT management overhead by using fewer templates. Parallels RAS brings MSIX app attach technology to RDSH,...
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Automated certificate management with Let's Encrypt integration.
Parallels RAS includes cloud cost-reduction capabilities, including autoscaling, power management, and automated image optimization. Parallels RAS adds more cost-reduction measures by extending cost-saving capabilities to storage. When the virtual machine (VM) is not running...
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What is Parallels RAS

Parallels RAS Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac, Windows Server 2008R2, 2012/R2, 2016, 2022, Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, 11
Mobile ApplicationAndroid, Mobile Web, iPadOS
Supported LanguagesEnglish, German, Japanese, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean

Frequently Asked Questions

Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS, formerly 2X RAS), is application virtualization technology, billed as a solution to extend the life of legacy OS (like Windows XP) with its virtual desktop for any device. Maltese company 2X Software developed the technology, but was acquired by Parallels (in Seattle, WA) in February, 2015 to extend their cross-platform support solutions.

Parallels RAS starts at $120.

Citrix DaaS, VMware Horizon, and VMware Horizon Cloud Service on Microsoft Azure are common alternatives for Parallels RAS.

Reviewers rate Availability and Vendor pre-sale and Vendor post-sale highest, with a score of 9.2.

The most common users of Parallels RAS are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(267)

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-25 of 148)
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Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Parallels RAS to allow our staff to access school resources from home safely and securely. We replaced our outdated Microsoft Remote Desktop solution with Parallels RAS, which has allowed us to offer remote desktop services to our teachers in the safest way possible, no matter what hardware they are using. Using the built-in MFA functionality, we are able to further secure the solution, affording us a higher level of confidence that our infrastructure is safe.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Reducing the number of licenses required for various applications.

Teams that span multiple continents dont use the same license simultaneously and Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) reduces such costs drasticlly.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) to optimize our AWS resources. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to use a frontend that is much more user-friendly than the native one provided by AWS itself. Furthermore, Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to optimize the usage time for our users without having to implement these policies in AWS.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use it for a group of our users so we can manage a few apps from one server rather than multiple computers. The only issue we really have is when updating apps we sometimes have to set the save folders for each user so it doesn't save it to the profile that updated the apps.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We access Windows applications globally without a VPN by utilizing Parallels Client. After discovering that Citrix and Microsoft Remote Desktop Web complicated the user experience, we decided to use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) instead. After three years of use, we are really pleased with the products and have renewed the contract/license for an additional three years.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) as the central hub of our business. Our main application resides in our headquarters Datacenter and we have 100+ plants and offices that connect back to headquarters to run the software. The software does not scale out well for multiple users and also has problems working over WAN links. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to copy out from a template and easily replicate the servers to handle our worker capacity (fixing a software issue with virtual hardware). It also handles the WAN link problem by just sending the screen changes across the WAN (which it does very well) while allowing all of the processing to remain locally in our datacenter.

Another problem Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows us to solve is what to do about remote workers. We do not open up our network to VPN clients, so we allow our users to connect into the office through Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) to remotely access those apps when outside the office. In point of fact, our users are also accessing many of our applications from within the company via Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) as well. The user experience remains consistent and the maintenance for upgrades and patching is greatly simplified as all of the software is maintained on our servers rather than across the breadth of our user PCs and laptops.
Freddy Garcia | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) has been something we have used for at least 5 years, but I think probably more than that. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) allows for us to publish Windows desktop applications as if they are web applications without many of our users knowing this.The simplicity of setup and the speed at which the system runs for the end user.
Dany Briard | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Published remotely applications for manufacturing purpose is always a challenge. By providing latest update (functionalities, security patch,...) quickly to all users at once. With other plateforme it requires strong IT skills to manage the "behind the scene" engine. Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) solved all that.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are in the process of moving users to Parallels in order to replace our VPN. With Parallels we can control what the users have access to better than we could with our VPN or remote gateway. We liked it due to the ability to publish specific applications for users that don't have an assigned computer. This enables them to still be able to remote in as needed.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
We are using the Parallels Remote Application Server to distribute an application that was decades old and we contribute to maintaining the application cause of the legacy nature. The Parallels Remote Application Server helps in situations where end-user support requirements are critical to the IT organization. We see the value of having ease of access to end users and applications at the same time
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have a large number of old legacy application (client server). We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) installed as IAAS on GCP cloud platform to provide application usage to a large number of users (1500). The connection is allowed in office or remote user. Security is guaranteed through the use of MFA to access. We also use it on our mobile handled device in the warehouses.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We have been using Parallels Remote Application Server on a small scale for a number of years to allow partner organizations securely access resources. With Covid-19, we had dozen of requests per day for remote work and since we had Parallels already, all we had to do was to expand Parallels Remote Application Server capacity and everything worked smoothly.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) to easily connect from internal or external to our server farm. We had to make a decision because of the corona crisis and we had to look for a easy solution for home office activities. So we decided to work with Parallels RAS because it has a good pricing and it is easy to configure.
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use parallels to provide virtual desktop infrastructure to our users. This enables them to be more flexible when working. Set up and administration of parallels is pretty straightforward and support is generally pretty responsive if you have any issues. Parallels will also allow your users to connect to other company resources such as terminal apps.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
ResellerIncentivized
We use Parallels Remote Application Server (Parallels RAS) for remote access to LOB applications for our customers. We found that it's simple enough to easily deploy/manage, but has enough options to provide for a quick/seamless remote experience for our customers. We manage systems with typically under 50 users each. We moved to Parallels Remote Application Server from Citrix and have never looked back.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use it to host our in house developed primary LoB applications as remote apps for our users. This allows us to centrally manage and control access, configurations, and usage of these applications. Parallels RAS has really developed over the 7-8 years I have been using it across several versions and a couple of re-deployments/migrations. It is a solid product for our needs.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We exclusively use it to allow team members to use quickbooks from home. QB over vpn is not supported but using vpn to access RAS and QB as a published app is an extremely efficient way to manage QB deployment and updates and allows QB to run fast no matter what devices are accessing it.
August 21, 2023

Positive Experience

Bryan Tavares | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Parallels Remote Application Server across the whole company and for quicker remote connections from China. The problem that I was experiencing was that when our employees in China tried to RDP into our servers in the USA, the screen would paint line by line. It was possible but it was slow. After hearing about Parallels 2X, I thought I would try. The user experience is much smoother and our users are very satisfied.
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are an MSP Provider, we use Parallels Remote Application Server in our own Workload but also provide it to customers. Ranging from small use cases up to 200+ user deployments. The main reason we switched to Parallels Remote Application Server coming from its competitor was its ease of deployment and its security options. Especially when SAML MFA came into the picture we increased our deployments.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Parallels Remote Application Server is an application and desktop solution that allows users to access their applications / data from any device. The Cost is lower than some other offerings available. Enabled us to transition to home working during the pandemic allowing for both windows and mac users to connect with centralized application management, reducing the overhead to manage it
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
The Parallels RAS allows us to work from home efficiently and effectively through remote desktops that are completely secured and with great speed which enables our employees to work at their greatest potential. This helps our organization to expand IT infrastructure and provide and restrict access of proprietary softwares at any time.
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