University of Jaén: Linux desktops in classrooms

• Name: University of Jaen

• Sector: Academic

• Place: Spain

• Students: 16.000

• Teachers: 600

• Administrative staff: 400

The challenge

• Integrated management of the different departments of the organization

• Deployment of Windows and Linux desktops

• Integration with their authentication system and with CONFIA (Identity Federation of the Universities of Andalusia)

The solution

• Integration of UDS Enterprise with their authentication system and with CONFIA

• Deployment of Linux virtual desktops from UDS Enterprise

The results

• Fast and easy deployment of user stations based on departments and classrooms

• Minimal incidents at the student user stations

• Possibility of offering virtual desktops to students from different Universities in Andalusia

The organization

The origins of the
University of Jaén go back to the creation of the Universidad de Baeza in the Modern Age, with a long path that led to its new beginnings as an autonomous institution in 1993. Since then, the Universidad de Jaén has been able to respond to the demands of the academic community, and in general to those of society as a whole.

The institution has made a big investment in innovation and quality, both in the teaching of its degrees and in the advancement of its infrastructures, which translates to an increase in teaching and researching activity.

The academics offered by the Universidad de Jaén are designed according to the working and professional needs of society. The University offers more than 50 Bachelor’s, First and Second Cycle degrees and 22 Masters, some of them given online.

UJA’s human capital is one of the most solid pillars of the institution. Over 1,000 professionals form part of the teaching and researching personnel (TRP) and more than 400 of them work in administration and services, forming a united team that covers the needs of the 16,000 students enrolled in the different undergraduate and graduate programs taught at the Universidad de Jaén.

Organization needs

The Universidad de Jaén (UJA) chose UDS Enterprise thanks to the collaboration of this organization in the development of the product since its inception.

UJA’s specific problem can be summarized by:

• Need to offer virtual desktops to students at different universities in Andalusia without them having to be registered in their authentication systems

• Need to offer Linux virtual desktops to their students

• Authentication systems based on OpenLDAP

• The student does not register at the classroom stations with their LDAP credentials; common users exist in each classroom

Solution

UDS Enterprise is software for deploying on-demand virtual desktops and services. This product has incorporated new functionalities based on client needs, among them UJA, which was directly involved in software development and testing.

Thanks to this involvement, UDS Enterprise currently allows virtual desktops to be offered to students at different universities in Andalusia, offers Windows and Linux desktops to students and professors, and allows virtual desktops to be assigned to different users, both students and professors registered in its LDAP.

For UJA, UDS Enterprise incorporated the possibility of defining virtual desktop groups that are assigned to specific connection devices by classroom (by IP address, by MAC).