Devon IT Launches Green School Initiative

• By Chris Riedel
• 11/05/08

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Devon IT has announced the launch of its Green School Initiative (GSI), a new program aimed at bringing thin client technology into the classroom.

According to the announcement, the program is intended to provide districts with resources to help customize their thin client implementations. As part of the effort, a new GSI lab has been established to give schools the opportunity to "test and validate common education applications in a green environment." Schools participating in the program can conduct live tests by bringing hardware and software into the lab. Off-site testing is also available via remote connection.

According to Devon IT, thin client deployments have the potential to save schools money by reducing overall energy consumption, minimizing physical space requirements, and streamlining system management. As a part of the GSI launch, the company will offer special pricing for education, though specific prices have not been released as of yet.

In other Devon IT news, the company has recently showcased the new TC2 thin client and its SafeBook LVO laptop. The TC2 is just under six inches tall and comes equipped with a VIA Eden 400 MHz processor, 256 MB of RAM, and support for USB, VGA, and PS/2 devices. The platform supports a range of server environments--including Microsoft Windows Terminal Server, Citrix XenServer, Citrix XenDesktop, and Citrix XenApp--and uses approximately nine watts of power. The SafeBook LVO laptop is based on the IBM Lenovo R61 ThinkPad platform and comes with an Intel Celeron 575 2.0 GHz processor, a 15.4-inch WXGA monitor, and 1 GB of RAM. The notebook is configured without a hard drive--running all applications on the server--and consumes an average of 15 watts. Both platforms are currently available from Devon IT in various configurations.