Judson ISD Deploys Flash Storage Arrays for VDI

Judson Independent School District (ISD) in Bexar County, TX has implemented a flash storage array to reduce login times for its virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environment.

The district originally implemented its Citrix XenDesktop VDI environment in an effort to improve flexibility and efficiency for its 23,500 students and 3,000 employees. But with thousands of students trying to log on to their virtual desktops simultaneously at the beginning of class, the system slowed to a crawl. In some cases it took 15 minutes of the 45-minute class period just to log on to the desktop.

While at a conference, the IT team learned about flash storage arrays from Pure Storage as a potential solution to their VDI bottleneck issues. The team decided to test the array in one of its biggest schools, and the difference was immediately evident. The school "immediately saw a 95 percent improvement in response time, reducing login time from 15 minutes down to an average of 36 seconds," according to a press release from the company.

Based on the success of that test, the team implemented the Pure Storage arrays in each of its three data centers. In addition to supporting the Citrix VDI environment, the district now uses the storage arrays to support its back-office financial systems, Microsoft SQL Server, network monitoring and other applications.

According to Pure Storage, the arrays have enabled the district to reduce login times, add applications without adding staff, and reduce capital and operating expenses. Because the arrays provide an average data optimization rate of 10-to-1, the district can make more efficient use of its storage resources, reduce power and cooling costs in the data center and eliminate downtime during software upgrades.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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