Case Study; University of Connecticut - Desktop Virtualization Project
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Transcript of Case Study; University of Connecticut - Desktop Virtualization Project
Welcome to Dell World 2012
• Wednesday• Opening keynote with Michael Dell
and President Bill Clinton• 11:00am – 12:30pm, Main stage
• Thursday• Keynote address with Steve Felice• 8:30am – 9:30pm, Main stage
• Closing keynote with Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
• 4:00pm – 5:00pm, Main stage
Keynotes
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Questions?Visit the Resolution and Mobile App Help Desks located in the NW corner of the main floor
University of Connecticut vPC Desktop Virtualization Project
Jeremy PollackDirector of IT, University of Connecticut Library System
University of Connecticut
• Main campus - Storrs, CT
• Ten campuses
• 30,000 students
• 9,500 faculty/staff
• 1,500 lab computers
Confidential
Collaboration
• Desire to collaborate
• We use the same technologies
• Success with server virtualization
• Next stop: virtual desktops
• Couldn't have done it on our own
• Alignment of business needs and IT
Confidential
University of Connecticut vPC
School of Business•Successor to student laptop program
•Distance and online education
•Faculty/staff workstations
School of Engineering•Computer labs•Distance and online education
•Staff workstations
University Library System•Computer labs•Classrooms•Service desks•Staff workstations
700-seat desktop virtualization deployment, including VMware view, Dell desktop virtualization solutions, Dell Wyse endpoints, and Unidesk software
Confidential
Technical architecture:three design tenets
Manageability• By leveraging existing skill sets and selecting the right products, the
UConn vPC architecture required very little retraining for existing IT staff.
Scalability• By adopting best practices and assuming an eventual scale out, we
have designed a solution that can grow.
Cutting Edge• By striving to achieve the best performance and highest density, we
deployed the fastest virtualization platform at UConn.
Confidential
Who is accessing?
• 37% of UConn students
• 25 users over 100 logins
• 310 over 50• 1,358 over 25
Metrics
Affiliation %
Undergrad 76%
Grad 17%
Faculty/ Staff 7%
• Unique users since 9/1/12: 11,058
• Total logins: 126,965
• Max concurrent sessions: 310
• http://status.vpc.uconn.edu
Statistics What are they accessing?
Confidential
Student access metrics
Plus Asia & Europe!
What time are students accessing? Where are they
accessing from?
Lessons learned
What we found out
Initial expectations:• Extend existing computer lab
access. Anywhere. Anytime.• Reliable computing platform.• Provide infrastructure for online
and distance ed, remote students• Reduce overall CapEx over 5 years• Reimage faster, deploy faster,
extend reach of computing platforms
• Magic!
Additional benefits:• Happy Mac users!• Physical space reclamation• Size of the value prop to online ed• Save students money• Trust and relationships built through
this collaborative project
Confidential
Observations
VDI is not a panacea! Manage
expectations.
VDI is complicated. It is a new mindset
and new operating model.
Collect tons of data
Talk to your end users, understand their needs, get
continuous feedback
Labs are easier, persistence is
harder. (without the right tools)
Application virtualization has
a place for scalability and
flexibility
You won't save on CapEx. You will
save on OpEx – eventually
But the added value and
functionality is priceless
Confidential
Hard lessons learned
• Too many assumptions about VDI• Not involving full cross functional team
early enough• Confusing concurrency vs. totals• Underestimating VDI's hunger for IOPS.
Use SSD or hybrid SANs• Don't forget capacity for infrastructure• Scale carefully. Keep scaling carefully!
Confidential
Licensing
• VDI licensing is not cheap!• Microsoft campus agreement student
option is required if you want student-owned devices to connect
• Software licenses and vendor support are all over the place
• It is getting better
Issue # of tickets
Installing View client / password issues
162
Connection problems / network issues
121
How to use SW on vPC (e.g. File menu on minitab)
34
How do I save my work? 12
Total logins:
126,965
Total users: 11,058
Total tickets:
239
Support has been surprisingly easy
Confidential
User feedback has been overwhelmingly positive
“You are so fast. I tested it and it works really well.”•Brian Hartman, Mathematics (after R
was delivered to the vPC in four days)
“The VPC is one of the most interesting developments in IT that I have seen at UConn in a long time!”•George Gibson, Physics
“This is a fantastic solution. It is working perfectly for my class!”•Ram Gopal, OPIM department head
“This is the biggest technological leap since the library’s card catalogue was computerized.”•Grad student
"I love using the vPC for SolidWorks. Its faster than my personal computer, and so easy."•Sean Vincent, undergraduate student
Successes• Increased capacity & accessibility of LIBR & ENGR
labs
• Delivering minitab to 4,500 STATS students/semester
• Provided reliable instructional platform for BUSN faculty and students
• Delivering equitable computing solution to all students at all campuses, online education programs
• Delivering persistent desktops to hybrid Masters program with View + Unidesk
• Momentum and success to drive support for growth via a new student technology fee
• A new collaborative model for distributed IT groups at UConn
Why?• Carefully defined use cases• Delivered value first without
disrupting existing services• "If you build it, they will
come"• Limited scope.• Slow & Steady• Non-persistence first• Unidesk for persistence• Communication,
collaboration, open sharing, celebrating our success
Confidential
Future plans
• Student technology fee approved: supports growth to all of UConn!
• Provide virtual lab access for all students and faculty• Universal access. All campuses, all locations• Deploy secondary site for redundancy• Scalable management of h/w and s/w with an eye on more
research and faculty/staff usage into the future• Leverage Sassafras K2 license platform for license mgmt• Convert existing labs into UConn vPC access points• Provision and support file services for students• Modify Microsoft agreement to add students• Vision of a persistent-like desktop for every student.
21
Comprehensive & competent sales staff
Can deliver on tight timelinesWhy Dell
?Understands & remembers our needs
Cost competitive
Confidential
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