Schools like TRU have a problem in that there are never enough computers for all the students all the time. No matter what people say about the pervasiveness of laptops at universities, we still get line-ups for people waiting to use desktop computers in the labs. Our new Manager, IT Client Services  and her team are working hard to change that.  Simply put, we have the opportunity to solve two problems with a virtualized desktop environment for student computing:

1. Not enough machines on campus.

2. Not enough machines with the right software loaded on them.

Problem #1 will be attempted to be solved by running multiple sessions from one computing device. This approach may not be ideal for high performance application requirements but may be just the ticket for high traffic, frequent use areas like the new House of Learning and new kiosks being set up in the labs in Old Main. Fewer computers serving more students is part of our Green IT efforts.

Problem #2 will allow “virtualized” sessions of special software from any desktop. Students and faculty won’t be required to be in the special purpose labs for access to their software.

Over the next few months we will be experimenting with these two approaches and deploying pilots. No doubt licensing and performance should be the main challenges ahead.

Ok so it’s not the latest latest thing. Big software houses have being using virtual desktops to streamline development and support environments for some time. But given the huge success we’ve had virtualizing servers at TRU, this could be the next, quiet thing we do to improve IT services for students and faculty.