Sao Paulo, BRAZIL, November 26, 2012 – SENAI (the Brazilian National Service for Industrial Training) in Santa Catarina has decided to invest in desktop virtualization using Cisco VXI™ (Virtualization Experience Infrastructure). With Cisco's solution, SENAI has eliminated the limitations of a traditional PC environment.

Prior to their virtualization initiative, three of the SENAI/ SC chosen branches had IT environments with 300 computers, each with different configurations. This required IT to maintain a large number of operating system images at once. The lack of mobility was also a problem, as applications with greater hardware requirements and limited numbers of licenses could be used only in specific laboratories.  By adopting Cisco VXI, SENAI/SC has reduced maintenance costs, simplified IT management, and can now provide daily maintenance for their users, as compared to their previous monthly maintenance schedule.

Cisco VXI is an open solution, validated for virtual workloads and incorporating products and technologies from all Cisco® network architectures, from Collaboration to Borderless Networks to Data Center.

In less than one year of operation, SENAI/SC realized several tangible benefits from their new virtualized environment.  Easier desktop management has resulted in a drastic reduction in maintenance costs, as less time is spent on maintenance issues.  Waiting times for application installation have also fallen, and applications are now available within a day. And there is no longer any need to physically enter the laboratory. In addition, biannual maintenance processes that took months are no longer required, because the entire environment can be automatically rebuilt every week.

Other benefits include scalability of the servers that support the environment and the storage to guarantee project performance. Equipment downtime has been reduced, and equipment replacement and redistribution is much easier, as there is no storage, operating system or specific configurations. 

The solution has also made it easier to schedule classes because the environment also offers mobility. There is no longer any need for users physically enter the laboratory to access specific applications. Now, any application can run in any classroom.  It is much easier to allocate activities to specific classrooms.

"Apart from all the benefits, the solution is environmentally friendly because it considerably reduces energy used either to power the equipment or for cooling.  We obtained more than 70% savings in electricity consumption after replacing the whole traditional computer and monitor by the zero client and LED monitor", said Claudio Farias Selau, network analyst SENAI / SC.

"The great differentiator of the adopted solution was the ability to have a great flexibility and agility in the allocation of technology resources that can really help the pedagogical project of SENAI/SC. With the virtualization SENAI/SC will have the ease and speed of deployment processes as well as the control of educational technology resources", said Ricardo Santos, business development manager for Cisco Brazil's Education sector.

During the first phase of the project, 325 desktops were virtualized at on SENAI/SC branches.  Given the success of the operation, two more branches were virtualized, totaling 975 virtualized desktops. 

The solution is based on Cisco and NetApp equipment and VMware software. TELTEC Networks, a Cisco Premier Certified Partner, is the project integrator.  

Technical Data:

Equipment and features:

• Cisco UCS® C-Series C250 Server – these servers offer significant processing capacity and memory. Memory can be doubled through upgrades.  
• Storage NetApp FAS2240 – can support up to 400 virtual desktops simultaneously. In addition to storing the virtual environment, it is also used as a file server.
• Power over Ethernet supported by Cisco® Catalyst 2960 Switches – used to provide zero clients with connectivity and power.
• VMware View Premier Bundle – desktop virtualization software, which includes application virtualization features (ThinApp) and fast, image-based desktop creation (Composer)
• Cisco VXC 2211 Zero Client – virtualization clients with no storage devices, operation system or mechanical parts. The zero clients support the PCoIP protocol and provide excellent performance in rich media environments.

About SENAI Santa Catarina

Part of the FIESC System, SENAI Santa Catarina supports industry by training technical, graduate (technology courses) and post-graduate professionals.  It also offers apprenticeship training, basic professional education and continued education (qualification and improvement) as well as on-demand training for companies and institutions even in distance learnings. 

The organization has also helped increase competitiveness through industry providing consultancy and lab services (quality and compliance assessments, raw material characterization, proficiency tests and certified reference materials) and applied researchs. For further information: www.sc.senai.br.

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