Posted 11:39 pm Thursday, August 02, 2012
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Lindale School District Upgrading Computer Network
BY EMILY GUEVARA
eguevara@tylerpaper.com
Some $300,000 worth of technology upgrades will bring a faster network and like-new computers to Lindale ISD, district officials said.
The upgrades, approved by the district's board of trustees this week, are scheduled for completion this month.
The majority of the funds, $204,000, will go toward a network upgrade in which the district will replace 75 of 100 switches for its central data center.
The upgraded switches will allow for improved network bandwidth and therefore the future growth for wireless, video streaming and expansion of the school's network, Lindale ISD director of technology Jamie Clayton said.
“What we're doing is the building block for the school,” he said.
The remainder of the funds, $96,000, will pay for virtual desktop imaging. With this system, the computing portion of the computer is moved from the local desktop to a server.
This allows the district to upgrade programs on all computers using the virtual desktop system by upgrading them on the single server.
“This saves the district money by expanding the life of older equipment,” Clayton said, according to a news release. “This will reduce the rate at which we must replace computers in the district.”
eguevara@tylerpaper.com
Some $300,000 worth of technology upgrades will bring a faster network and like-new computers to Lindale ISD, district officials said.
The upgrades, approved by the district's board of trustees this week, are scheduled for completion this month.
The majority of the funds, $204,000, will go toward a network upgrade in which the district will replace 75 of 100 switches for its central data center.
The upgraded switches will allow for improved network bandwidth and therefore the future growth for wireless, video streaming and expansion of the school's network, Lindale ISD director of technology Jamie Clayton said.
“What we're doing is the building block for the school,” he said.
The remainder of the funds, $96,000, will pay for virtual desktop imaging. With this system, the computing portion of the computer is moved from the local desktop to a server.
This allows the district to upgrade programs on all computers using the virtual desktop system by upgrading them on the single server.
“This saves the district money by expanding the life of older equipment,” Clayton said, according to a news release. “This will reduce the rate at which we must replace computers in the district.”
Lindale ISD will purchase licenses for the virtual desktop system for 200 computers at College Street and Velma Penny elementary schools and E.J. Moss Intermediate School East and West campuses.
After that, 300 more district computers are awaiting the same upgrade, Clayton said.
“We had just hit that peak of seven to 10 years where everything was just getting end-of-life, and we wanted to move in the direction of virtual desktops and we needed an improved, faster network to support that with our wireless needs,” he said.
Lindale ISD Superintendent Stan Surratt said the district was able to purchase new technology because of the conservative nature of its administrators and staff members, according to a news release.
“Most of the funds allotted for this purchase come from budget funds not spent during the 2011-12 school year,” he said, according to the news release.
The district awarded bids for the project to ComputerLand and CDW-G, both of which sell technology products and services.
“As administrators, we are always looking to be on the cutting edge in terms of technology,” Surratt said, according to the news release. “With this purchase and installation, our schools can move forward toward this goal. Students and teachers will have better and faster access to educational applications and resources available on the Internet and our network.”
After that, 300 more district computers are awaiting the same upgrade, Clayton said.
“We had just hit that peak of seven to 10 years where everything was just getting end-of-life, and we wanted to move in the direction of virtual desktops and we needed an improved, faster network to support that with our wireless needs,” he said.
Lindale ISD Superintendent Stan Surratt said the district was able to purchase new technology because of the conservative nature of its administrators and staff members, according to a news release.
“Most of the funds allotted for this purchase come from budget funds not spent during the 2011-12 school year,” he said, according to the news release.
The district awarded bids for the project to ComputerLand and CDW-G, both of which sell technology products and services.
“As administrators, we are always looking to be on the cutting edge in terms of technology,” Surratt said, according to the news release. “With this purchase and installation, our schools can move forward toward this goal. Students and teachers will have better and faster access to educational applications and resources available on the Internet and our network.”
