Kingston University opts for virtualisation with virtual desktops
Kingston University, which is based in Surrey, has announced a move towards virtual desktops throughout its four campuses and offices.
The change in approach will help the university to cut costs and simplify its managed IT services to save time, according to head of Kingston’s information services infrastructure, Roberto Volo.
He explained, “Realistically we expect to recoup our costs in three to five years. We expect the initial hardware deployment to last five years at least. But the next upgrade won’t be on the same scale.”
Virtual Desktops
The project is intended to provide remote desktops for 6,000 PCs, 1,000 mobile devices and 1,000 Macs. This will be achieved through a ‘blended desktop delivery model’, through 3,000 Microsoft RemoteFX desktop
sessions.
The university’s new infrastructure incorporates the HP P4000 LeftHand Storage System and the HP c-Class BladeSystem. This will form the virtualised platform, removing the concern about hardware upgrade costs, user devices and operating system IT support.
Mr Volo explained why the change will be beneficial: “The traditional model for universities is heavily managed desktops, where we deliver in excess of 1,000 applications in a managed desktop. Every year we have to rebuild each one with a number of updates, which is very time consuming,”
