Profiles in Success: ABC Unified School District
Cerritos, CA — Computer users often assume that Macs and PCs are worlds apart. But district administrators from the ABC Unified School District (ABCUSD) recently discovered a powerful, cost-saving secret: By implementing Xserve hardware and Parallels software, they can manage all of the computers in all 29 of their schools, whether those computers are Mac- or Windows-based. This back-end solution allows them to meet the needs of all educators, yet maintain a system that can be managed and supported by a small staff. And, even as the district has adopted standards, over 20,000 students and 2500 staff members retain their choice of a computing environment — with an Apple solution everyone agrees is as easy as ABC.
In the spring of 2007 ABCUSD launched a five-year, $5 million technology refresh program, aimed at replacing all instructional computers. Over the course of the program, ABCUSD will add approximately 1000 new computers each year. The district’s information technology (IT) department was committed to supporting all computer users, without making platform choice an issue. Also, the IT staff wished to allow schools to self-determine which platform to integrate into their teaching and learning.
“Our number one goal was to support a dual-platform environment,” says Colin Sprigg, ABCUSD’s director of information and technology. “We had this opportunity to build an infrastructure, and we wanted to standardize it throughout the district. Whatever we did, it had to work in all of our schools.”
Podcast Touts Parallels
During the year that Sprigg and his team were evaluating possible technology solutions, he happened to listen to an episode of Gibson Research Corporation’s popular Security Now! podcasts. In the program, Sprigg learned about the Parallels product's high performance, which enables Mac users to run Windows programs.
Says Sprigg, “I heard about the great reviews that Parallels got, and how fast it was. We started talking more seriously about how that might work on a server, then just decided, ‘Let’s buy a server and try it.’”
Pilot Implementation Demonstrates Success
Having set aside some funds to build the infrastructure needed to support new computer purchases, Sprigg and his staff bought a 3.0 GHz Xserve and installed it at Artesia High School. Next came the implementation of Parallels, and the inclusion of 30 Macs and 30 PCs in the pilot.
“Basically, we wanted to be able to remotely control the computers, and provide a repository for the desktop image we’d push out from the server on both platforms,” Sprigg says. “Also, students using PCs could log in to the Xserve, and gain access to their file storage, or ‘digital locker,’ and receive support from IT staff. This would be done through remote management via Windows Server 2003 and Altiris Remote Management Suite running virtually on the Xserve. At the same time, Mac users running OS X would receive the same services from the Xserve using Apple Remote Desktop.”
Objectives
- Support multiplatform computing environment
- Image approximately 1000 new computers each year
- Provide a full array of network and support services to all users
Solutions
- 29 Xserve servers
- Apple Remote Desktop, Mac OS X Server
- Parallels*, Windows Server 2003, Altiris Remote Management Solution
Results
- Mac and PC users have an equal range of network administrative functions
- Single-server architecture enables district to enjoy significant cost savings
- District is not required to purchase thousands of Windows site licenses, further increasing cost savings
*The mention of third-party products is for informational purposes only and represents neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.
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