Case Study: Saint Paul's School

VMware has given Saint Paul's School the ability to do more with less, enhancing performance and stability.

Customer: Saint Paul's School - Clearwater, Florida
Project: Infrastructure Consolidation Assessment

Reason for project:
To provide an in-depth analysis of the IT environment, ensuring client is utilizing all IT resources efficiently.

What was found, and how we responded:
To determine the infrastructure needs and requirements and to document the environment - Big
Sur Technologies performed a complete Infrastructure Consolidation Assessment. During the extensive data-gathering process we found many servers running on improper hardware and configured in such a way that resources were underpowered. In one specific case, an aging desktop machine with 256mb's of memory was running a key component of the infrastructure, something that almost every student uses. When put in place, this server was able to meet the needs as required by the students, but as the demand grew, it simply underperformed due to its physical limitations. This was the case with multiple systems that were found in full production. The resulting project plan encompassed the migration of 6 key systems running multiple applications to new hardware. Big Sur engineers recommended an HP & VMware Solution to answer the needs of the environment, with Saint Paul's Schools' Green efforts—this solution fit right in. This solution would consolidate all of the servers into a virtual environment, running on a single NEW HP server. This allowed Saint Paul's to cut down on the number of physical servers needed, which reduced the space required, cooling, power, cabling, and more. This also answered many of their Disaster recovery plan requirements.

For Saint Paul's School, the alternative to this new, virtual environment, was to deploy 6 additional physical servers. The cost saving of the 6 additional servers is estimated at about $40,000. Adopting a virtual environment is a key concern for the environment at time where energy costs are rising. The power and cooling requirements for servers is extensive, and VMware has brought very measurable, ongoing reduction of resources to Saint Paul's School. The return on investment for Saint Paul's was immediately realized.

With the new solution in place, we were able to give all of the servers the resources that they needed, and if required upgrade them on the fly. In the case of the 256mb SQL Server, now upon boot, it immediately takes up 2GB's of memory and now the application is over 4 times faster than before. The users were able to notice the difference immediately.

With the agile datacenter that is now in place, we are able to deploy servers within about an hour vs. the typical 2 week delay while we wait for hardware to be shipped. VMware has given Saint Paul's School, the ability to do more with less without effecting performance or stability.