Transcript Desktop Virtualization & Building Your Own Private Cloud

Lester S. Stoltzfus
Director of Technology
Lampeter-Strasburg School District
Michael R. Balik
Assistant Director of Technology
Perkiomen Valley School District
Welcome & Agenda
Why is virtualization so important
 What does virtualization mean
 Benefits and risks of virtualization
 What should you know before you
decide to virtualize at your LEA
 What virtualization options and choices
are available
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Importance of Virtualization
Time & Speed
 Energy Efficiency
 Total Cost of Ownership
 Ease of Configuration
 Minimal Support
 Multitude of Devices
 Anytime, Anywhere Access
 Reliability
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What Is Desktop Virtualization?
 “Desktop virtualization, as a concept, separates
a personal computer desktop environment from
a physical machine through a client-server
computing model.” –Wikipedia
 “A thin client architecture in which each user is
assigned a virtual machine (OS and
applications) running in a server in the network.”
– PC Magazine
 A full desktop experience provided to various
endpoint devices.
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What Does Desktop Virtualization
Mean?
Transformation of moving the desktop to
the data center
 Traditional desktops replaced with
access devices
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 Thin Clients
 Zero Clients
 Netbooks
 Mobile Devices
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All management becomes centralized
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Our Experience with Virtualization
Why did we decide to do this?
 How did we get started?
 How do we start with one device and
move to thousands?
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Benefits & Risks of Virtualization
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Benefits
Centralized
management
Quick boot times, fast
user experience
Long term cost savings
Simple configuration for
system admins
Minimal support of
physical devices
Minimal electricity use
Life of access devices
Many options for
devices and hardware
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Risks
Single points of failure
Boot storms
Initial costs
Rapidly changing
technologies
Learning curve for
system admins
Obsolesce of access
devices
Compatibility
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Before You Begin
Understanding of all components
 Establish a relationship with your vendor
of choice
 There are risks involved
 Need to know your current environment
 Be prepared to learn and think outside
the box
 Changes in staff responsibilities
 More than one way to virtualize
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Virtualization Options & Decision
Making Factors
Options
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Citrix
Microsoft
Open Source
VMware
Decision Factors
Site visits to other
districts
 Site visits with vendors
 Research
 Demo software and proof
of concept
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Client Devices
Old computers – PC / Mac / Linux VMware client
 Thin clients – Many options
 Zero clients – Teradici based units
 iPod/iPhone/iPad – Wyse / RDP /
VMWare
 Android based devices – Wyse / RDP
 Any device!
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The Future of the Desktop/The Desktop of
the Future (Welcome the Virtual Desktop)
 You
Virtualized Your Servers!
 Should You Virtualize Your
Desktops?
 Is Desktop Virtualization Right for
Education?
 Why Is It Such a Hot Technology?
Some will say that Desktop Virtualization is
the most significant technology ever.
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Case Study (Who, What, How, Why)
 Who
is Lampeter-Strasburg School
District
 What we did with Desktop
Virtualization
 How we did Desktop Virtualization
 Why we did Desktop Virtualization
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Who is Lampeter-Strasburg
School District
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One of 500 school districts in Pennsylvania
3,300 students
475 employees
$45,000,000 budget
7 buildings
2,000 computers
60 servers
IT at L-S (Goals, Motto, and Guiding Philosophy)
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What we did with Desktop
Virtualization
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Summer 2008 Elementary Division had
aging technology
Opened a new elementary school and
closed on old elementary school
Economy was beginning to struggle
Needed to do a total refresh of technology
in every elementary classroom for all
teachers and students
Involved stakeholders (principals, teachers,
and administrators)
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How we did Desktop
Virtualization
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My three goals and Guiding Philosophy
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Infrastructure requirements
 Needed the best servers we could get (visited Dell)
 Needed lots of disk storage
 Needed a solid network backbone and core (a
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pristine network)
Needed to get the right end-user device
Needed to test audio video synchronization
Needed a mature virtualization product
Needed to understand the licensing model
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Our Infrastructure Environment
Two Server Clusters
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Server Hardware for Virtual Application Server Cluster – 3 Dell PowerEdge 2950
Servers with 64 GB of RAM in each
Server Hardware for Virtual Desktop Server Cluster – 3 Dell PowerEdge R710 Servers
with 144 GB of RAM in each
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Server Storage - EMC CX300 Fiber Channel Storage Area Network with 4 fully
populated enclosures/trays 60 Hard Drives total
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Network - Cisco 6509 Core Switch and Cisco Distribution and Edge Switches
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Server Operating System - VMware vShpere 4 Enterprise Plus ESX (6 licenses for
Virtual Application Server Cluster and 6 licenses for the Virtual Desktop Server Cluster)
Virtual Desktop Software - Citrix Xen Desktop 5.5 HDX Enterprise and Citrix Xen App
6.5 with Citrix Receiver
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End-User Device - WYSE V10L and R10L Thin Client Computers (300)
End-User Device – Fat to Thin PC extending the life of aging PCs (200)
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Lessons Learned
Must have the best servers
 Must have lots of disk storage
 Must have solid network
 Test audio video synchronization
 Get a mature product
 Get a good consultant
 Get the right end-user device
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Why we did Desktop
Virtualization
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FAST boot (30 seconds)
FAST shutdown (15 seconds)
Runs applications FAST
Uses VERY LITTLE electricity
Generates VERY LITTLE heat
Costs 1/3 the cost of a regular computer
Lasts three times longer than a regular computer
Setup and installation is quick and easy
Help desk support is minimal
Can reuse aging PCs as Virtual Desktop Computers
(Fat to Thin PCs)
Savings or cost avoidance can be huge! (CFF
computers)
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How Virtualization can position
you for the Future
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With Virtualization implemented properly the
stage is set for:
Cloud Computing and BYOD
BYOD - What if you could have your students
Receive a full desktop on any device
Be able to print to your printers
Be able to access their files
Be able to access you district applications
Have their Internet access filtered
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How Virtualization can position
you for the Future continued
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What if all they needed was one application on their
device ( a free download)
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What if their device could be a Smartphone (iOS or
Android), a tablet (iOS or Android), a netbook, a
notebook, laptop, a desktop, a Thin Client Computer.
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You have actually created a private cloud to your sever
farm and your applications and storage with access to
public Internet
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What if you could actually access your desktop and your
files anywhere, anytime on any device and still know
that they are your tested and approved applications with
your own Internet filtering and monitoring system enabling
you to be CIPA compliant and qualify for eRate.
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Q&A
Questions and Answers
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L-S full story at www.L-SPioneers.org | Departments/Services |
Departments F-Z | Technology (Contents | IT at L-S).
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While you are there click on the Citrix Link under Links and watch
an awesome video that demos Virtual Desktop best.
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