Westminster Public Schools Blocks Snapchat with Application Control System
Westminster Public Schools in Colorado has implemented an application control system to block
unsanctioned bandwidth hogs such as Snapchat and prioritize bandwidth
for online standardized testing.
The district, formerly called
Adams County School District 50, has a 1-to-1 Chromebook program for
its students and also uses online standardized testing. However, the
district kept maxing out its bandwidth, making it difficult for
students and teachers to access digital learning resources. Although
the district was using network monitoring tools and a firewall, IT
staff still couldn't figure out the source of the problem.
The district implemented an application control system from Exinda to try to solve the mystery. "After we implemented Exinda, we could
finally pinpoint what was consuming the district's bandwidth and
control it," said Mark Hanson, network administrator at Westminster
Public Schools, in a prepared statement. Hanson and his team discovered
that Snapchat and other unsanctioned apps were gobbling bandwidth.
Exinda enabled the district to identify the root cause of the problem
and subsequently block those apps from accessing the network.
"With
Exinda, the Westminster Public Schools' Network Team can now identify
all traffic crossing the network and create optimization policies to
ensure testing platforms like Pearson and Khan Academy are always
prioritized," said Kevin Suitor, VP of Product Management for the
company, in a prepared statement. "They can also restrict access to
unsanctioned applications like Snapchat, Tor, Ultrasurf and anonymous
proxies that were negatively impacting these critical applications."
According
to the company, Westminster Public Schools succeeded in prioritizing
the performance of its online testing platform, reducing streaming and
social media traffic by 40 percent and decreasing help desk calls by
improving the user experience for its 9,500 students and 1,200 teachers.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].