The desktop of the future: virtual desktop

1. Lester S. Stoltzfus Director of Technology Lampeter-Strasburg School District Michael R. Balik Assistant Director of Technology Perkiomen Valley School District The desktop of the future:virtual desktop

2. 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

3. Importance of Virtualization • Time & Speed • Energy Efficiency • Total Cost of Ownership • Ease of Configuration • Minimal Support • Multitude of Devices • Anytime, Anywhere Access • Reliability

4. 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.

5. What Does Desktop Virtualization Mean? • Transformation of moving the desktop to the data center • Traditional desktops replaced with access devices • Thin Clients • Zero Clients • Netbooks • Mobile Devices • All management becomes centralized

6. 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?

7. Benefits & Risks of Virtualization 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 Risks • Single points of failure • Boot storms • Initial costs • Rapidly changing technologies • Learning curve for system admins • Obsolesce of access devices • Compatibility

8. 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

9. Virtualization Options & Decision Making Factors • Citrix • Microsoft • Open Source • VMware • Site visits to other districts • Site visits with vendors • Research • Demo software and proof of concept Options Decision Factors

10. 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!

11. 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.

12. 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

13. Who is Lampeter-Strasburg School District • 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)

14. What we did with Desktop Virtualization • 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)

15. How we did Desktop Virtualization • My three goals and Guiding Philosophy • Infrastructure requirements • Needed the best servers we could get (visited Dell) • Needed lots of disk storage • Needed a solid network backbone and core (a 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

16. Our Infrastructure Environment Two Server Clusters • 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 • Server Storage - EMC CX300 Fiber Channel Storage Area Network with 4 fully populated enclosures/trays 60 Hard Drives total • Network - Cisco 6509 Core Switch and Cisco Distribution and Edge Switches • 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 • 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)

17. 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

18. Why we did Desktop Virtualization • 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)

19. How Virtualization can positionyou for the Future • 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

20. How Virtualization can positionyou for the Future continued • What if all they needed was one application on their device ( a free download) • 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. • You have actually created a private cloud to your sever farm and your applications and storage with access to public Internet • 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.

21. Q & A Questions and Answers • L-S full story at www.L-SPioneers.org | Departments/Services | Departments F-Z | Technology (Contents | IT at L-S). • While you are there click on the Citrix Link under Links and watch an awesome video that demos Virtual Desktop best.