DynamicOps Provides Flexible IT Infrastructure for University

LEXINGTON, Mass., Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Buckingham is using DynamicOps Virtual Resource Manager (VRM) to provide self-service IT resources for students in its computing programs.

Located 50 miles north of London, the University, and its Department of Applied Computing, within the School of Science, faced a challenge to provide students with adequate access to computing resources.

Every time student projects changed, University IT Services had to reconfigure computers. Manually creating these machines was time-consuming for the IT staff. And, because they were setting up very different environments on many servers at different times depending on the student projects, it was a frequent, yet repetitive process. Students were limited to one physical PC, and they had to choose Windows or Linux, which limited the educational process.

This arrangement also limited the computing resources available to the group as a whole. For example, if a student needed to work with SQL Server, there was only one computer where it could be done. Students had to wait for another person to finish on that particular PC.

The IT staff decided that virtualization could provide the computing resources at the time they were needed and reduce the amount of staff time spent setting up and changing computers for every new project.

The University began its virtualization initiative with Citrix XenServer as its main virtualization software. The next step was selecting virtualization management software. The University needed a very flexible IT infrastructure to accommodate the varied and changing needs in the undergraduate teaching area and for postgraduates. In addition, there was a need to serve research groups that had very different computing resource needs than the teaching areas. The situation demanded flexibility and the means to move away from having University IT Services make every change to PC configurations.

The institution turned to DynamicOps VRM, so that students could provision virtual machines (VM) for themselves, significantly reducing IT staff time required for this effort. VRM automates the planning, deployment and ongoing management of virtual servers and desktops, from the time they're created until they're retired. Using VRM, organizations deliver and manage VMs independent of the hypervisor, connection broker, and image deployment technology involved, all through a single console.  

VRM's self-service functionality in allowing students to provision VMs against specific facility requirements and provide automated lifecycle management and reclamation, offered the type of flexible infrastructure needed and solved the problem of requiring centralized management from IT Services . Key factors in the decision to select DynamicOps were the depth that VRM offered and the possibility for rapid deployment.

"Moving to a system of VMs managed by VRM was the ideal solution," explained Anthony Cole, head of IT. "We now have a flexible IT infrastructure that can grow to meet new demands. Our central IT Services department is no longer needed to re-provision workstations, giving us more time to focus on other projects."

Today, an administrator approves requests, then students provision their own VMs for their Web, database, or other projects.

"VRM can be used to limit the number of VMs students can have at any given time," explained Torben Kuseler, who administers the program. "Because of the ease in provisioning and decommissioning, it matters less when students make mistakes with their VMs, because they can be quickly and easily fixed."

"If it weren't for VRM, there would be much more pressure on students to avoid mistakes, reducing their opportunity to experiment and really learn," noted Cole. "In fact, as much as they are learning other computer skills, they are also learning about operating systems and virtualization, which will further help prepare them for IT careers."

Before using VRM, it could take five to six hours to provision a PC in the research lab, depending on the needed configuration and software. Now, it doesn't take longer than 30 minutes, a 10-fold reduction. In addition, the flexibility is helping students and lecturers with better access to computing resources in a more timely way, not only for special projects, but in the normal labs, classes, and lectures.

About the University of Buckingham

The University is unique in the UK as the only higher education institution independent of government support. With students from over 80 countries, it has pioneered a distinctive approach to higher education, offering a traditional three-year undergraduate degree in two years by working intensively and efficiently with short vacations.  The University has four academic schools of study: law, business, science and medicine, and humanities, and has been at the top of the National Student Satisfaction Survey for the last four years.

About DynamicOps

DynamicOps offers virtual infrastructure provisioning and management software. It is a private company based in Lexington, MA. VRM creates a secure environment where virtual machines are provisioned, tracked, and maintained from cradle to grave. www.dynamicops.com.

SOURCE DynamicOps