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Virtual client solution for education from IBM
Executive summary Business view Technical details
The issues
Gain control with virtual clients
PC environments are prone to viruses, need constant security patching, and expose critical data and applications to malicious behavior. In addition, managing a wide variety of PCs, multiple generations of operating systems and hundreds of applications across a campus is costly and resource-draining. The virtual client solution for education from IBM gives you greater control over operating systems and application provisioning, and helps improve system manageability.

The benchmark
Build on our experience and market leadership
IBM combines industry leading hardware and services delivery capabilities with market leaders in virtualization technology to provide a complete virtual client solution.
  • As a market leader, IBM has helped many businesses migrate from racks to blades and from competitor blades to IBM BladeCenter® servers, and has the experience to help lead a successful transition.
  • IBM has more than 30 years of experience in virtualization technologies.
  • With our extensive portfolio of virtualization solutions, we can help you build a resilient infrastructure optimized for cost-effectiveness, simplified management and flexibility.
  • We have enjoyed a strong relationship with VMware, creating ServerProven® platforms for VMware virtualization and advanced systems management capabilities for virtualized environments since 2001.

The components
Deploy a complete virtual client solution
The virtual client solution for education from IBM may include the following components.
  • IBM System x™ or IBM BladeCenter servers, which are built on open standards and offer a range of affordable, high-performance, easy-to-manage platforms designed to help optimize your data center. Features include:
    • Lower power consumption.
    • Better use of rack/floor space.
    • Ease of deployment.
    • Simplified management.
    • Choice of Intel or AMD blades.
  • VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3, which provides several critical features, including:
    • Partitioning that allows you to run multiple operating systems on one physical machine to fully utilize server resources.
    • Fault and security isolation at the hardware level, giving OS and application owners full protection from the stability and performance problems of other OS and applications.
    • Encapsulation of the entire state of the virtual machine—memory, disk images, I/O device state—so the ability to copy, save and move virtual machines virtually wherever and whenever you need them is as simple as copying a directory of files.
  • LeoStream Connection Broker software, which allows users to connect to their virtual machines with a single user sign on. Functionality includes:
    • Access control based on active directory or LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol).
    • Dynamic user to VM mapping (pooling, self-service, “stickiness”).
    • Optional (administrator enabled) user control of VM (stop, start, reboot).
    • RDP session monitoring and logging.
  • Implementation assistance or turn key solution delivery available from IBM Lab Services, IBM Global Technology Services or IBM Business Partners.

In addition, IBM can offer thin client hardware from IBM Business Partners such as Devon IT and Wyse Technology.

The implementation
Cut indirect IT costs in half
The cost of hardware and software to provision a desktop PC represents only a small fraction of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for a PC. According to Gartner Research, most companies simply don’t employ rigorous best management practices with their desktop PCs. As a result, the indirect costs of a typical desktop PC are twice the direct costs.

In the case of a desktop PC, Gartner projects that if IT were to virtualize the GUI of all PC applications and manage the software centrally—as with a virtual client solution—indirect IT costs would be cut in half. For IT, that represents a considerable amount of savings, as cutting indirect costs in half cuts PC TCO by about one third.

The cost of ownership
Realize significant TCO savings
Our virtual client solution is designed to eliminate the traditional desktop replacement cycle, enhance system security and availability, and improve administrative efficiency. Adoption of a virtual client solution can help drive TCO advantages such as:
  • Reduced cost of operations and end-user support.
  • Less use of power than traditional desktop deployments—savings is estimated at 110 watts per desktop.
  • Pay-as-you-grow scalability provided by IBM BladeCenter servers.
  • Minimized installation and configuration issues.
  • Reduced time to problem resolution by helping eliminate trips to the user workspace.
  • Ability to provide common service levels regardless of device type and work location.
  • Faster moves, adds and changes for users.

Next steps
 
Questions about this solution? Contact an IBM education specialist.