Slimmer, smarter, sustainable

Otago Polytechnic network services engineer Steven Turnbull (left) and chief information officer Michael Collins hold the "fat" and "thin" computer clients. Photo by Gregor Richardson.

Sustainability, energy saving and a policy of online access anytime, anywhere, for Otago Polytechnic staff and students, were all part of the mix when the information systems and support department was considering replacing some of its computer equipment.

Chief information officer Michael Collins and network services engineer Steven Turnbull needed to replace some of their old computer equipment but did not have enough cash to just throw away the old desktop boxes and replace them.

Because the polytechnic is heavily involved in sustainable activity, the two men approached the problem from a different perspective.

Already, the information systems and support department had made large steps through the virtualisation of servers, reducing the number of servers in a room from 90 running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to about five or six.

Mr Turnbull said running 90 servers had created some cooling issues.

Without cooling, the room temperature hovered at 40degC-50degC.

"Imagine how much electricity we used running those servers and then keeping them cool. Now, the room runs at about 19degC."

The virtualisation concept had been shown to Messrs Collins and Turnbull about 18 months ago.

The success of the server virtualisation process led them to think that desktop virtualisation (the remote manipulation of a computer desktop) was possible for the polytechnic.

They used VMware View which provided cost savings and fitted in with a sustainable strategy and security.

It also increased the speed of access to the polytechnic services by using "thin clients".

"The big desktops grunted and groaned all day long, and they were slow. The thin clients started up instantly. The speed increase was impressive. Before, staff would push a button and go and make a cup of coffee. Now, they push a button, turn around and it's done."

A thin client (sometimes also called a lean or slim client) is a computer or a computer program which depends heavily on some other computer (its server) to fulfill its traditional roles.

This stands in contrast to the traditional fat client, a computer designed to take on these roles by itself.

Mr Collins was keen to reuse the old equipment instead of dumping it, and found it was possible to turn the desktop boxes into thin clients.

"If we hadn't been able to do that, it would have meant 120 extra desktops we had to buy."

That was a considerable saving when the department was replacing about a third of its computers.

Many of the polytechnics' 10,000 students arrived for classes with their own laptops.

While they could use a wireless network to get on to the internet at the polytechnic, there were some restrictions about what services they could access, he said.

A lot of the software used by the polytechnic could not be "given" to students because it was licensed.

However, by downloading an application on to their laptop, or increasingly, their notebooks, the students could take advantage of the anytime-anywhere access policy.

Once the students, or staff, logged on to the internet, they could access the polytechnic services they needed.

This was ideal for distance students and also for those who could not always attend classes.

The polytechnic was encouraging the use of "hot desks" and working from home if appropriate, Mr Collins said.

Using desktop virtualisation made new labs affordable and flexible.

At a cost of about $500 each, thin clients could easily be installed as demand for courses grew.

Security was also a major part of the decision to use desktop virtualisation, Mr Turnbull said.

Stories abounded about business executives working on their laptops away from their office, losing their laptops and the data contained on it.

With virtualisation, no data was left on the machine.

If it was lost or stolen, the data remained intact on the polytechnic servers.

Desktop virtualisation had been tested extensively because of the differing needs of the various polytechnic departments.

Other New Zealand tertiary institutions were watching closely the success of the switch with a view to following Otago's lead, he said.

dene.mackenzie@odt.co.nz