- Name of the organization: University of Jeddah
- Sector: Education
- Number of faculty members: 4,000
- Number of students: 27,000
- Number of administrative and support staff: 100
- Number of campuses/faculties and their location: 8 campuses with 17 faculties and academic institutes in the western region of Saudi Arabia.
Challenges of educational virtualization: high complexity and operational costs
Managing over 2,000 distributed computers for student and exam labs across 8 campuses was creating a significant administrative burden for the IT department at the University of Jeddah. This process was time-consuming, operationally expensive, and difficult to scale. “We were spending a lot of time managing and maintaining a vast number of student workstations across multiple campuses,” explains Amrah Alshibani, Vice President of Information Technology at Jeddah University. “The main challenge was the complexity of managing these systems and the high costs associated with the maintenance and update of physical infrastructure.”
UDS Education: scalable, secure and efficient VDI solution for universities
The University of Jeddah decided to implement a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution to simplify operations and reduce costs, particularly in its student labs, which serve over 25,000 students. After reviewing various options, the university chose UDS Education, Virtual Cable’s solution tailored for educational environments. “We came across UDS Education during our search online, and after reviewing the documentation and case studies, we decided to test the solution. The feedback from our team and students was overwhelmingly positive,” says Hossam Mutir, System Engineer at the University of Jeddah. The decision was driven by several key factors:
- Security: With multi-factor authentication (MFA) and secure encryption, UDS Education provided a high level of security for sensitive data.
- Scalability and flexibility: The platform’s ability to integrate with multiple hypervisors, its ease of implementation and its rich functionalities were critical for the university’s future growth.
- Cost savings: UDS Education offered significant reductions in licensing fees compared to other alternatives.
How to deploy virtual desktops in educational environments in just one week
The university’s IT team worked quickly to adapt and deploy the solution across its student labs. In just one day, the UDS Education solution was installed and tailored, and within a week, 1,500 thin clients were up and running. “We created our customized Linux OS with the UDS Enterprise agent and fully configured it. The installation was fast and efficient, and we had everything ready in less than a week,” says Amrah Alshibani.
Key UDS Education features for virtual learning environments
The University of Jeddah is currently leveraging several functionalities within UDS Education:
- Windows and Linux VDI: Both environments are deployed for various student and faculty use cases.
- Windows and Linux vApp: Virtualized applications are also being used to deliver seamless experiences.
- Remote access to physical devices: Staff and students are testing to remotely access physical devices to take advantage of the installed licenses.
Advanced security in educational VDI environments with UDS Education
Security was a top priority for the University of Jeddah, and UDS Education provided robust measures to ensure data protection. The solution features an end-to-end encrypted tunnel, multiple authentication methods, and other advanced functionalities, all built on a secure Linux-based system. “Security is a major concern for us, and UDS Education addresses this perfectly with features like multi-factor authentication (MFA) and encrypted connections,” explains Hossam Mutir.
Benefits of VDI in universities: cost savings, efficiency and sustainability
The adoption of UDS Education has brought numerous benefits to the university:
- Cost savings: The university has saved over 90% in licensing costs compared to other digital workspace solutions.
- Security: With improved authentication and encrypted connections, the system is much more secure than before.
- Improved student experience: The virtual labs have created a more efficient, fast and accessible environment for educational processes and electronic exams for over 25,000 students.
- Reduced IT workload: The solution has reduced the amount of manpower required to manage the infrastructure.
- Sustainability: The use of thin clients and virtual desktops and apps has also contributed to energy efficiency.
“The ability to manage and support the student labs remotely with minimal effort has been a game-changer. It has allowed us to scale quickly without worrying about the hardware limitations,” says Amrah Alshibani.
Optimization of virtualized infrastructure in university environments
One of the most significant improvements after implementing UDS Enterprise has been the optimization of workflows and system management. As Amrah Alshibani, System Engineer at the University of Jeddah, explains: “We have been able to redesign all our PC and thin-client replacement projects using UDS Education features such as login labels. Additionally, by adding distributed hardware clusters and network access rules, we created custom rules with highly secure access to the VDI system. This has allowed us to extend our current setup to all university employees without any additional license costs, effectively optimizing hardware utilization.”
Specialized technical support and user experience with UDS Education
Regarding support from the UDS Enterprise team, Hossam Mutir, System Engineer, highlights: “We’ve requested support several times from day one. The Virtual Cable support team has been with us from the beginning, reviewing our design, helping us with technical configuration, and providing solutions to any problems, as well as suggesting best practices in some cases.” As for the overall opinion of the solution, Amrah Alshibani adds: “This VDI broker is fast, stable, and easy to use. The most useful features for us include the ability to log in with one user but access the VDI virtual machines with another user for the exam labs. Authentication labels and connectivity with almost all hypervisors and clouds we know have been particularly useful.”
Growth plans: expansion of VDI infrastructure at the university
Looking forward, the university plans to expand its use of UDS Education to all staff members and continue to increase the number of virtualized environments across the campus. The IT team is also focusing on further optimizing hardware utilization and expanding their infrastructure. “We are in the process of growing our hardware capacity to accommodate all employees. UDS Education has made it possible for us to scale and plan for the future,” concludes Hossam Mutir.
Transformation of the educational model with virtual desktops and digital workspace
With UDS Education, the University of Jeddah has successfully transformed its IT infrastructure, improving security, reducing costs, and delivering a better experience for students and staff alike. The solution has proven to be a sustainable and scalable choice, allowing the university to meet its current needs and future growth. VDI, vAPP & REMOTE ACCESS INFRASTRUCTURE
- Connection broker: UDS Education (UDS Enterprise)
- Remote desktop services: VDI, vApp and remote access to physical devices
- Hyperconvergence virtualization platform: Nutanix HCI with Acropolis AHV (16 servers in two clusters across two sites)
- Connection protocols: RDP and HTML5
- Authentication methods: Active Directory and UDS Enterprise native Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- Access devices: Any
About the University of Jeddah
Leading Saudi National University in Education, Research and Innovation by adopting future specializations and skills to prepare a generation of scientists and leaders who contribute to the development of the economy and society.
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