Cisco Cisco Nexus 5010 Switch Dépliant
IPS recognized that, to meet these challenges, the district would need to implement
desktop virtualization, consolidate its data center infrastructure, improve server
utilization, and extend technology access to more classrooms. “We had to come up
with a better solution for serving the students,” says Dr. Dexter Suggs, chief information
officer of IPS. “At the same time, we wanted to integrate technology so that it’s more
than just another tool used for administration or support. We wanted technology to play
a key role in the learning process.”
desktop virtualization, consolidate its data center infrastructure, improve server
utilization, and extend technology access to more classrooms. “We had to come up
with a better solution for serving the students,” says Dr. Dexter Suggs, chief information
officer of IPS. “At the same time, we wanted to integrate technology so that it’s more
than just another tool used for administration or support. We wanted technology to play
a key role in the learning process.”
Solution
After testing a number of competitive solutions, IPS decided to implement Cisco
®
Desktop
Virtualization Solutions. Built on the Cisco Unified Computing System
™
(UCS
™
), the Cisco
Desktop Virtualization Solution can be used for delivering virtualized workspaces in
education. “We selected UCS for two reasons,” says systems and operations manager
Luther Bowens. “Cost was a major consideration, of course, but we were also looking for a
solution that could deliver in terms of breadth and scale. Specifically, we needed to achieve
optimal throughput in a more consolidated area, and we needed to support a broad range
of devices and user requirements.”
education. “We selected UCS for two reasons,” says systems and operations manager
Luther Bowens. “Cost was a major consideration, of course, but we were also looking for a
solution that could deliver in terms of breadth and scale. Specifically, we needed to achieve
optimal throughput in a more consolidated area, and we needed to support a broad range
of devices and user requirements.”
As part of the UCS deployment, IPS deployed Cisco UCS B230 and B250 Blade
Servers, which support the district’s administrative and educational applications, such
as Microsoft SQL Server and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution from Tyler
Technologies. Using this infrastructure, the district deployed over 5300 virtual desktops
across many different form factors, including desktop hardware, thin clients, tablets,
and smartphones.
Servers, which support the district’s administrative and educational applications, such
as Microsoft SQL Server and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution from Tyler
Technologies. Using this infrastructure, the district deployed over 5300 virtual desktops
across many different form factors, including desktop hardware, thin clients, tablets,
and smartphones.
Virtual desktops present unique demands not typically seen with other server
workloads running in the data center, and as such, require a data center infrastructure
optimized for desktop virtualization. IPS’s data center already included many Cisco
components, which made for a straightforward UCS implementation. For its access
layer, the district utilized Cisco Nexus
workloads running in the data center, and as such, require a data center infrastructure
optimized for desktop virtualization. IPS’s data center already included many Cisco
components, which made for a straightforward UCS implementation. For its access
layer, the district utilized Cisco Nexus
®
5000 Series Switches, which supports Fibre
Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) transport between its UCS systems and storage arrays.
It also implemented Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders to create a top-of-rack
solution that sidestepped the usual two-switch-per-rack configuration. IPS’s three
Cisco Catalyst
It also implemented Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders to create a top-of-rack
solution that sidestepped the usual two-switch-per-rack configuration. IPS’s three
Cisco Catalyst
®
6500 Series Chassis were also reconfigured to serve as an external
distribution layer.
– Wayne Hawkins
Technology Systems Officer
IPS
2 © 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.