Easy to learn, easy to fight
The Canadian College of Applied Arts and Technology La Cité (1,000 employees) needed to simplify PC maintenance and give students and teachers greater freedom in working with computer programs. The proposed Dell solution was the introduction of virtual desktop infrastructure based on Dell PowerEdge servers, Dell Networking switches, Dell storage arrays and Dell Wyse P25 zero clients.
College students study computer modeling: this skill is necessary in order to become professional engineers and architects. It is not difficult to guess that this requires complex and resource-intensive software. However, the college's IT infrastructure could hardly meet the needs of more than five thousand students and thousands of employees. On La Cité campuses, there were only seven laboratories with computers that pulled software for 3D modeling.
“Due to the insufficient number of computer laboratories, the class schedule had to be changed every year,” said Luc Lacasse, system administrator of the college. - We just did not have enough space for everyone. In addition, students need a certain degree of freedom - sometimes it is necessary to work on these or other projects outside the laboratories. ”
It was also difficult for teachers. The thing is that in preparing for classes, teachers work with computer modeling programs in their classrooms. But if students needed to demonstrate a particular project, they had to connect to their account and launch the application from a computer installed in a specific audience. This process was quite long, and a total of up to 15 minutes of study time was lost.
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Managing the college’s existing computer infrastructure was also not easy. “If we needed to change the image of the system on one computer, we had to perform this operation on all thirty machines in each laboratory,” complains Lacasse. - Moreover, we had to check the computers and make sure that everything works as it should. This process could take several weeks. ”
To change the situation for the better, it was decided to implement the infrastructure of virtual desktops. The leadership of the college was faced with a difficult decision: to invest in the purchase of more powerful computers or to spend them on the development of virtual workplaces.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
The La Cité College used technology solutions from a wide variety of brands, including HP, IBM and Dell. “We have always used IBM servers, but when we learned about the capabilities of the Dell PowerEdge R720 rack servers, we realized that they would be much better suited for the virtual desktops environment,” says Lacasse.
The school introduced infrastructure that included more than four hundred zero clients of the Dell Wyse P25 and sixteen PowerEdge R720 servers with arrays of Dell Compellent SC8000 storage. In addition, the college's IT team has installed new Dell Networking S4810 switches in the data center. Thanks to this solution, it was possible to obtain a 10-gigabit Ethernet channel, which was necessary for remote work with 3D graphics.
To protect the IT infrastructure of the college, two Dell SonicWALL SuperMassive E10000 series firewalls were installed with an integrated intrusion detection system and support for automatic updates.
Two backup devices, the DR4100 Disk Backup Appliances, were installed to back up and restore data. They are integrated with Dell NetVault Backup software and provide cross-platform backup and recovery of data from physical and virtual machines. The college also supports the existing VMware Horizon View virtual working environment solution based on the Dell PowerEdge M620 blade servers and the Dell Compellent SC8000 array.
Time saving
La Cité IT staff can now change the image of the system on zero clients in classrooms much faster. “To set up a new image, we need a couple of days, not a couple of weeks, as before - all thanks to Dell’s virtual desktop infrastructure solution,” Lacasse says. - We just need to go to the VMware interface and create an image. Customizing the Dell Wyse client is much faster than a regular PC. This means that all students are guaranteed to get access to computers in each of the laboratories, although they used to work in turn if part of the PC was not available. ”
Change of priorities
Due to the fact that IT staff now have to spend less time on updating the system and managing computer infrastructure, they can devote time to developing the college. "Instead of constantly plugging the" holes "and worrying about the performance of computers, we can now concentrate on finding new technological solutions," Lakasse notes. - It is of great importance, since our college competes with other educational institutions of a similar direction. The more modern services we can offer, the more students we will attract. And with the new IT infrastructure based on Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell Networking switches, we can provide full support for any solutions we implement. ”
Full study
College teachers now have more time to study as students can easily connect to the virtual desktop directly from the classroom. Teachers were able to open modeling applications on Dell Wyse clients for 20 seconds from their classroom (and not from a different audience, as they did before), whereas earlier they needed about 15 minutes to do it.
Connectivity flexibility
College students can work on study projects from almost any convenient location. They no longer need to stand in line to a free computer in the laboratory - nothing prevents them from comfortably sitting in a cafe with a laptop, tablet or smart phone and doing their project over a cup of coffee.
Among other things, teachers have more rooms for practical training. Instead of seven laboratories with computers designed for 3D modeling, the college opened to sixty-five classrooms with Dell Wyse customers. La Cité is now actively promoting the idea of using students' own laptops (BYOD - bring your own device). “La Cité management plans to launch one of the BYOD pilot programs, and thanks to Dell’s virtual desktop infrastructure solution, we can support such a program,” says Lacasse. “Students will be able to bring their laptops or tablets to classes and connect to our infrastructure with their help.”
Saving money and electricity
Using a new Dell solution, La Cité saves money. Typically, desktops change in college every three years, but Wyse clients can be used much longer. Due to the fact that the management does not have to buy new equipment so often, it is possible to save or invest in something more important. In addition, the school will save on energy consumption. “Wyse customers consume less energy,” notes Lacasse. “Saving electricity and money along with other undisputed benefits for students and teachers make this solution ideal for educational institutions.”
College students study computer modeling: this skill is necessary in order to become professional engineers and architects. It is not difficult to guess that this requires complex and resource-intensive software. However, the college's IT infrastructure could hardly meet the needs of more than five thousand students and thousands of employees. On La Cité campuses, there were only seven laboratories with computers that pulled software for 3D modeling.
“Due to the insufficient number of computer laboratories, the class schedule had to be changed every year,” said Luc Lacasse, system administrator of the college. - We just did not have enough space for everyone. In addition, students need a certain degree of freedom - sometimes it is necessary to work on these or other projects outside the laboratories. ”
It was also difficult for teachers. The thing is that in preparing for classes, teachers work with computer modeling programs in their classrooms. But if students needed to demonstrate a particular project, they had to connect to their account and launch the application from a computer installed in a specific audience. This process was quite long, and a total of up to 15 minutes of study time was lost.
')
Managing the college’s existing computer infrastructure was also not easy. “If we needed to change the image of the system on one computer, we had to perform this operation on all thirty machines in each laboratory,” complains Lacasse. - Moreover, we had to check the computers and make sure that everything works as it should. This process could take several weeks. ”
To change the situation for the better, it was decided to implement the infrastructure of virtual desktops. The leadership of the college was faced with a difficult decision: to invest in the purchase of more powerful computers or to spend them on the development of virtual workplaces.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
The La Cité College used technology solutions from a wide variety of brands, including HP, IBM and Dell. “We have always used IBM servers, but when we learned about the capabilities of the Dell PowerEdge R720 rack servers, we realized that they would be much better suited for the virtual desktops environment,” says Lacasse.
The school introduced infrastructure that included more than four hundred zero clients of the Dell Wyse P25 and sixteen PowerEdge R720 servers with arrays of Dell Compellent SC8000 storage. In addition, the college's IT team has installed new Dell Networking S4810 switches in the data center. Thanks to this solution, it was possible to obtain a 10-gigabit Ethernet channel, which was necessary for remote work with 3D graphics.
To protect the IT infrastructure of the college, two Dell SonicWALL SuperMassive E10000 series firewalls were installed with an integrated intrusion detection system and support for automatic updates.
Two backup devices, the DR4100 Disk Backup Appliances, were installed to back up and restore data. They are integrated with Dell NetVault Backup software and provide cross-platform backup and recovery of data from physical and virtual machines. The college also supports the existing VMware Horizon View virtual working environment solution based on the Dell PowerEdge M620 blade servers and the Dell Compellent SC8000 array.
Time saving
La Cité IT staff can now change the image of the system on zero clients in classrooms much faster. “To set up a new image, we need a couple of days, not a couple of weeks, as before - all thanks to Dell’s virtual desktop infrastructure solution,” Lacasse says. - We just need to go to the VMware interface and create an image. Customizing the Dell Wyse client is much faster than a regular PC. This means that all students are guaranteed to get access to computers in each of the laboratories, although they used to work in turn if part of the PC was not available. ”
Change of priorities
Due to the fact that IT staff now have to spend less time on updating the system and managing computer infrastructure, they can devote time to developing the college. "Instead of constantly plugging the" holes "and worrying about the performance of computers, we can now concentrate on finding new technological solutions," Lakasse notes. - It is of great importance, since our college competes with other educational institutions of a similar direction. The more modern services we can offer, the more students we will attract. And with the new IT infrastructure based on Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell Networking switches, we can provide full support for any solutions we implement. ”
Full study
College teachers now have more time to study as students can easily connect to the virtual desktop directly from the classroom. Teachers were able to open modeling applications on Dell Wyse clients for 20 seconds from their classroom (and not from a different audience, as they did before), whereas earlier they needed about 15 minutes to do it.
Connectivity flexibility
College students can work on study projects from almost any convenient location. They no longer need to stand in line to a free computer in the laboratory - nothing prevents them from comfortably sitting in a cafe with a laptop, tablet or smart phone and doing their project over a cup of coffee.
Among other things, teachers have more rooms for practical training. Instead of seven laboratories with computers designed for 3D modeling, the college opened to sixty-five classrooms with Dell Wyse customers. La Cité is now actively promoting the idea of using students' own laptops (BYOD - bring your own device). “La Cité management plans to launch one of the BYOD pilot programs, and thanks to Dell’s virtual desktop infrastructure solution, we can support such a program,” says Lacasse. “Students will be able to bring their laptops or tablets to classes and connect to our infrastructure with their help.”
Saving money and electricity
Using a new Dell solution, La Cité saves money. Typically, desktops change in college every three years, but Wyse clients can be used much longer. Due to the fact that the management does not have to buy new equipment so often, it is possible to save or invest in something more important. In addition, the school will save on energy consumption. “Wyse customers consume less energy,” notes Lacasse. “Saving electricity and money along with other undisputed benefits for students and teachers make this solution ideal for educational institutions.”
Benefits
- Images of virtual desktops are installed within a few days (previously, the procedure took weeks).
- The IT team spends less time servicing computers and pays more attention to the search for new technologies.
- College has become more competitive.
- The teachers had more time to conduct classes.
- Students had the opportunity to work with computer modeling software remotely.
- College saves money and electricity.
Summary of solutions
- Backup and restore data.
- Network.
- Cloud customers.
- Storage.
Products and Services
- Hardware
- Dell Compellent SC8000 Storage Arrays
- Dell Networking S4810 Switches
- Rack mount Dell PowerEdge R720 servers
- Dell Wyse Zero Clients
Software
- Devices for backup Dell DR4100 Disk Backup Appliances with support for deduplication technology
- VMWare Horizon View
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/243131/
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