UT Knoxville Adopts Citrix XenDesktop

Citrix
Systems, Inc. announced that the University
of Tennessee at Knoxville (UT Knoxville) has launched Apps@UT, a program implementing Citrix XenDesktop that runs on a
Cisco and NetApp infrastructure to deliver Windows desktops and
applications as an on-demand service.

Apps@UT will give UT Knoxville’s more
than 27,000 students and staff anytime access to virtual desktops,
applications, personal files and network resources.

UT Knoxville recently launched its Citrix virtual computing
solutions at the university’s flagship lab, The Commons in Hodges Library,
where Apps@UT will serve the 16,500 unique users that use The Commons’
computers each semester. Following this pilot effort, Apps@UT will be
implemented at all the computer labs managed by UT Knoxville’s Office of
Information Technology. Ultimately, the virtual desktops and applications will
be available to 27,000 students and staff on all university-owned and personal
devices.

Students on the university’s Technology Advisory Board were
the visionaries behind the Apps@UT program and funded it because it provides a
higher degree of flexibility and availability of technology, UT Knoxville
officials said. Students will benefit from enhanced productivity as XenDesktop
transforms any Windows, web or software-as-a-service (SaaS) application into a
service that can be accessed by any user-anytime and anywhere-with unparalleled
simplicity and scalability. By improving students’ educational experience and
helping them make more efficient use of their time, the Apps@UT virtualized
solutions will give the university a competitive advantage in attracting
students to its campus, UT Knoxville officials said.

Apps@UT is built on integrated solutions from Citrix, NetApp
and Cisco, providing a flexible infrastructure that is validated and optimized
to work together. The NetApp Unified Storage Architecture enables UT Knoxville
students and staff to store and access their virtual desktop and user data from
all university-owned and personal devices. Additionally, the high-availability
features inherent in the NetApp platform deliver 24×7 access to desktops and backup student data. This anytime remote access and data
protection is a fundamental component to any virtual desktop infrastructure and
will help students be more productive and increase overall utilization of the
Apps@UT network. Furthermore, the NetApp architecture provides UT Knoxville
with storage efficiency technologies that will enable the university to manage data growth, lower power and cooling requirements, and
reduce overall storage costs.

For the Apps@UT service, the university is building its
Citrix XenDesktop infrastructure on the Cisco Unified Computing System (Cisco
UCS) blade server platform. Cisco UCS offers a mix of performance,
scalability and decreased datacenter footprint, which reinforces the
energy-saving aspect of Apps@UT. Technology partners Cisco and Citrix have
jointly published validated design guidance that leverages the tight
integration between their respective technologies and helps accelerate UT
Knoxville’s time to deployment. Additionally with the Cisco UCS service
profiles, UT Knoxville can quickly scale out additional virtual desktops for
new students and faculty each year that are optimized to the type of usage and
security they require.

UT Knoxville is also implementing Citrix NetScaler and
Branch Repeater with XenDesktop to optimize the performance of networks,
applications and services. The Citrix suite of virtual computing solutions is
expected to save the university time and resources by enabling easy,
centralized management of desktops and applications. This implementation will also
reduce the cost of software refreshes, security patches, and other maintenance.
In addition, as older PCs in the university labs are phased out and replaced by
thin clients under the Apps@UT program, the university will generate energy
savings and reduce both the frequency and cost of hardware refreshes.

Citrix Platinum Partner, LPS Integration, is also assisting
UT Knoxville with the rollout of Citrix virtualization solutions.

Tom Simmons, area vice president, US Public Sector at
Citrix, said: "By leveraging Citrix virtual solutions
for on-demand access to data and applications, the University
of Tennessee at Knoxville will enhance students’ learning
environment and reduce their financial burden. The new Apps@UT program
demonstrates the university’s firm commitment to delivering the highest quality
education while controlling costs."

Thomas Eacobacci, vice president, Southeast Region, Citrix
Systems, Inc., said: "UT
Knoxville has transformed its computing environment into a flexible service
that meets students’ personal work styles, providing access to their data and
applications whenever and wherever they work. At the same time, the university
can expect to save time and money as this virtual environment easily supports
the new applications and desktop images required every semester."

Scott Studham, CIO, University
of Tennessee at Knoxville, said: "The
students on UT Knoxville’s Technology Advisory Board were the visionaries
driving the Apps@UT program, believing it will give all university students the
high degree of flexibility and availability they have come to expect from
technology today."

Regina Kunkle, vice president of State/Local Government and
Education for NetApp, said: "The
explosion of new technologies that are being leveraged in the classroom is
resulting in a significant increase in the amount of data and information that
schools like the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
need to store and manage. NetApp is committed to working with strategic
partners like Citrix and Cisco to provide the higher education sector with the
IT infrastructure required to address these challenges, and enable students and
staff to maximize the learning experience."

David Lawler, vice president, Server, Access and
Virtualization, Cisco, said: "UT
Knoxville provides a blueprint for colleges and universities looking for ways
to better serve students, improve IT performance and reduce costly energy
usage. By taking advantage of the 60 percent greater virtual desktop density
provided by memory-extension technology in the Cisco Unified Computing
platform, education organizations can scale to deliver high performance virtual
desktops more easily to more students and faculty each year."