Denver’s Metropolitan State College Builds on NetApp

Metropolitan State College of Denver
was facing two IT challenges with its aging storage hardware – how to
replace that outdated hardware in the face of a 5% budget cut, and how to
better serve the needs of its students with disabilities at the same time.

The institution was struggling with the prospect of purchasing a less-capable
system with lower performance, as it strove to support its 24,000 registered
students and 4,000 faculty. That was when Metro State officials heard about
NetApp’s Education Donation program and applied online.

NetApp, Inc. responded with the
donation of a FAS3170 series storage system that is optimized to work in a
virtualized environment, making it possible for students with disabilities to
do their classwork remotely. In addition to
providing the hardware, NetApp also assisted with installation and
configuration.

With the previous storage system, students with disabilities who
wanted to work on research, course work, and assignments online had to come to
the Metro State campus and hope that a work station would be available through
which they could access the school’s online resources.

Once online, they typically required assistance with configuring applications
to digitize or read books and publications for them. Often no terminal was
available, with a line of students waiting for the next available station. Many
students had to turn around and go home.

Metro State is building on a NetApp storage foundation to give
students the ability to roam and log in from any location, offering a session
with storage in place. With its virtualized desktop capabilities, students no
longer have to travel to the campus just to access the network.

The school is implementing a pilot program with 50 students from which it can
conduct analytics for scaling the program to accommodate a growing number of
individuals.

"With the FAS3170 system,
we will be able to serve disabled students in ways that we couldn’t have done
before," said Kenneth Garcia, Metro State director of infrastructure
services. "NetApp is making this
possible through its generous donation and is also helping to implement the
system to make sure we are using it to its ultimate capacity."

Once Metro State’s students with disabilities are accommodated, the school
plans to extend the capabilities to all of its students and faculty.

"Educational institutions
are facing a wide variety of challenges when meeting the needs of their
students, constantly seeking out new and innovative ways to deliver advanced
learning opportunities under tight budgets," said Regina Kunkle, VP of
state and local government and higher education, NetApp. "Students with disabilities are an important
part of the school’s population, but they were not being as well served with
the older technology. Through NetApp’s Education Donation program, we were able
to upgrade Metro State’s storage and offer an effective solution to these
students at the same time."