A growing school district had a problem. 5000 PC’s were obsolete, broken and out of warranty. Uneven distribution of PC’s throughout the district left them in danger of falling short of student technology requirements mandated by the state. They employed a staff of 10 full time technicians maintaining the current PCs, and the end-users were abusing the systems, removing hard drives loading unapproved software and creating security issues.

The solution?
Centralize management by virtualizing desktops and deploying “thin clients”. The school created a virtual version of student and teacher desktops. The virtual desktop included the educational tools, standard office applications on Microsoft XP operating system. Creating a virtual image involves converting the physical desktop software to a virtual machine. A virtual machine (VM) is a special file with advanced function embedded that allows the software to no longer be dependent on the underlying hardware. The virtual machine can now run on any type of x86 computing device including a host or server computer.

These VMs were placed on servers deployed at the schools and connected over a network to a thin client. Thin clients are used in place of the PC’s and hook the monitor, mouse and keyboard to the network. The servers now became the processing engine and storage moved from a PC hard drive to Networked storage. This architecture allows for secure data, backups and disaster recovery.

In this solution the host or server now projects personalized desktop using virtual machines across the network to a thin client for display. Students are presented with a secure logon, based on the age of the student the appropriate desktop virtual machine is loaded with the tools needed for learning. Now when applications need to be updated or changed it happens one time on the server and the next time a student logs in they have the updated image with the new applications.

The outcome:
The district saved $200k in desk-side support reducing headcount from 10 to 4 and freeing up resources for other projects. Estimated energy savings reduced by $800k annually. Eliminated two PC hardware refreshes by extending the thin clients for 5 to 6 years. Included in the plan is an upgrade for servers in 3 years.

The administrators now took control of the clients and had the ability to lock down the desktops controlling access and closing security exposures. With the PC’s gone, physical abuse is greatly reduced. By centralizing management, applications could now be deployed rapidly; problems handled remotely, permissions for files and applications driven by teachers vs. student requirements.

Objective achieved, the new architecture gives the district the flexibility and agility it needs to effectively manage the districts computer assets for the next decade. With this effort behind them the focus is back on educating the students and ensuring they have the latest and greatest software technology to achieve their goals.