University of Tennessee at Knoxville Launches ‘Apps@UT’ Desktop Virtualization Program for more than 27,000 Students and Faculty
UT Knoxville Adopts Citrix XenDesktop running on Cisco and NetApp Infrastructure to Provide Free, Anytime Access to Desktops, Apps, Resources and Personal Files
Bethesda, MD. - August 31, 2011
- Citrix Systems, Inc. announced today that the University
of Tennessee at Knoxville (UT Knoxville) has launched "Apps@UT," a
program implementing Citrix® XenDesktop® that runs on a
Cisco and NetApp® infrastructure to deliver full Windows®
desktops and applications as an on-demand service. Apps@UT will
give UT Knoxville's more than 27,000 students and staff anytime
access to virtual desktops, applications, personal files and
network resources.
UT Knoxville recently launched its Citrix
virtual computing solutions at the university's flagship lab, The
Commons in Hodges Library, where Apps@UT will serve the 16,500
unique users that use The Commons' computers each semester.
Following this pilot effort, Apps@UT will be implemented at all the
computer labs managed by UT Knoxville's Office of Information
Technology. Ultimately, the virtual desktops and applications will
be available to 27,000 students and staff on all university-owned
and personal devices.
Students on the university's Technology
Advisory Board were the visionaries behind the Apps@UT program and
funded it because it provides a higher degree of flexibility and
availability of technology, UT Knoxville officials said. Students
will benefit from enhanced productivity as XenDesktop transforms
any Windows, web or software-as-a-service (SaaS) application into a
service that can be accessed by any user-anytime and anywhere-with
unparalleled simplicity and scalability. By improving students'
educational experience and helping them make more efficient use of
their time, the Apps@UT virtualized solutions will give the
university a competitive advantage in attracting students to its
campus, UT Knoxville officials said.
Apps@UT is built on integrated solutions from
Citrix, NetApp and Cisco, providing a flexible infrastructure that
is validated and optimized to work together. The NetApp Unified
Storage Architecture enables UT Knoxville students and staff to
store and access their virtual desktop and user data from all
university-owned and personal devices. Additionally, the
high-availability features inherent in the NetApp platform deliver
24x7 access to desktops and automatically backup student data. This
anytime remote access and data protection is a fundamental
component to any virtual desktop infrastructure and will help
students be more productive and increase overall utilization of the
Apps@UT network. Furthermore, the NetApp architecture provides UT
Knoxville with unique storage efficiency technologies that will
enable the university to more effectively manage data growth, lower
power and cooling requirements, and reduce overall storage
costs.
For the Apps@UT service, the university is
building its Citrix XenDesktop infrastructure on the Cisco Unified
Computing System™ (Cisco UCS™) blade server platform.
Cisco UCS offers a compelling mix of performance, scalability and
decreased datacenter footprint, which reinforces the energy-saving
aspect of Apps@UT. Technology partners Cisco and Citrix have
jointly published validated design guidance that leverages the
tight integration between their respective technologies and helps
accelerate UT Knoxville's time to deployment. Additionally with the
Cisco UCS service profiles, UT Knoxville can quickly scale out
additional virtual desktops for new students and faculty each year
that are optimized to the type of usage and security they
require.
UT Knoxville is also implementing Citrix
NetScaler® and Branch Repeater™ with XenDesktop to
optimize the performance of networks, applications and services.
The Citrix suite of virtual computing solutions is expected to save
the university time and resources by enabling easy, centralized
management of desktops and applications. This implementation will
also reduce the cost of software refreshes, security patches, and
other maintenance. In addition, as older PCs in the university labs
are phased out and replaced by thin clients under the Apps@UT
program, the university will generate energy savings and reduce
both the frequency and cost of hardware refreshes.
Citrix Platinum Partner, LPS Integration, is
also assisting UT Knoxville with the rollout of Citrix
virtualization solutions.
Quotes
- Tom Simmons, area vice president - US Public Sector at
Citrix
"By leveraging Citrix virtual solutions for on-demand access to
data and applications, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
will enhance students' learning environment and reduce their
financial burden. The new Apps@UT program demonstrates the
university's firm commitment to delivering the highest quality
education while controlling costs."
- Thomas Eacobacci, vice president, Southeast Region,
Citrix Systems, Inc.
"UT Knoxville has transformed its computing environment into a
flexible service that meets students' personal work styles,
providing access to their data and applications whenever and
wherever they work. At the same time, the university can expect to
save time and money as this virtual environment easily supports the
new applications and desktop images required every
semester."
- Scott Studham, CIO, University of Tennessee at
Knoxville
"The students on UT Knoxville's Technology Advisory Board were
the visionaries driving the Apps@UT program, believing it will give
all university students the high degree of flexibility and
availability they have come to expect from technology
today."
- Regina Kunkle, vice president of State/Local Government
and Education for NetApp
"The explosion of new technologies that are being leveraged in
the classroom is resulting in a significant increase in the amount
of data and information that schools like the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville need to store and manage. NetApp is
committed to working with strategic partners like Citrix and Cisco
to provide the higher education sector with the IT infrastructure
required to address these challenges, and enable students and staff
to maximize the learning experience."
- David Lawler, vice president, Server, Access and
Virtualization, Cisco
"UT Knoxville provides a blueprint for colleges and
universities looking for ways to better serve students, improve IT
performance and reduce costly energy usage. By taking advantage of
the 60 percent greater virtual desktop density provided by
memory-extension technology in the Cisco Unified Computing
platform, education organizations can scale to deliver high
performance virtual desktops more easily to more students and
faculty each year."
Facts and Highlights
- Students on UT Knoxville's Technology Advisory Board ranked
Apps@UT as one of the highest funding priorities for the Student
Technology Fee.
- UT Knoxville's Apps@UT is one of the largest deployments of
Citrix XenDesktop virtual desktop technologies at a Tennessee
university.
- Ultimately, the Apps@UT program will enable the university to
phase out some of its computer labs as more students and staff rely
on remote access for their computing and storage needs.
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