ClassLink Blog

Recently I attended several different meetings with a similar story line. Each school district had purchased a lot of computers in a given year. Think of it as an acquisition ‘bubble’. Now, 5 or 6 years down the line, these machines were becoming more and more obsolete and needed to be replaced.

The problem?
The current budget could not accommodate such a large replacement purchase.

The solution?
Virtualize the old machines and prolong their useful life cycle for a few more years.

How does this work?
Simple, really. Move the applications that would normally run on the old and obsolete computers to brand new applications servers. One application server, at an estimated cost of $4000, is recommended for every (50) of the old machines. When a student or teacher sits at the old computer and begins to go about their business, there is no indication that the software they are using isn’t running on the physical machine at which they are sitting. To the end-user, they experience their familiar, old dog of a computer, running like a brand new one.

Why does the old computer run so well?
End-users are utilizing the keyboard, mouse, and display as they always have; but the software and processing is running on new, powerful servers housed somewhere else on the network. In reality, they are actually working on ‘virtualized’ desktops.

Virtualizing your environment can prolong the useful life of your technology investment for several years. This is an enormous cost savings and allows us to slow the ‘merry go round’ of technology purchases, obsolescence, and replacements.

There are many important reasons to consider shifting to server-based computing; but none is so universally beneficial as keeping the “old dogs” (think Pentium III’s) relevant, useful, and performing like new; for as long as possible.