Laptops with Linux: Definitely cheaper and it might be better

Laptops with Linux: Definitely
cheaper and it might be better
Alex Inman
Director of Technology
Whitfield School
St. Louis, MO
alex.inman@whitfieldschool.org
Overview
Motivation
Design
Rationale
Results
Project Motivation
●
Whitfield Technology Plan Mission Statement
–
We believe that Whitfield School is a world-class
institution which trains students to be leaders in a rapidly
changing, global community. Thus it is our mission to
provide members of our community with the appropriate
tools and experiences to create leaders in such an
environment.
Leadership
Global
community
Rapid
change
Common tools
Why 1:1 Computing?
●
Rapid Change
–
–
●
Globalization
–
●
Commodification of information
Need for synthesis and knowledge creation
Need to access larger team and audience
Leadership
–
Need for true technological literacy
Project Motivation
●
Manage Costs
14.00%
14.00%
TCO Factors
Gartner Group
17.00%
55.00%
Capital
End users operation
Technical support
Administration
Project Justification
●
Reduce Digital Divide
–
–
–
Goal #4: Seek opportunities to use
technology to access diverse resources and
communities as a means to participate in a
wider community of learners
Create replicable model for other schools
Be a mentor or host (ASP) for other schools
in transition
Project Design
Rationale
●
Reliability
–
●
Stable Linux
–
●
Tough ThinkPad (“ruggedized” for students)
Reduce malware risks and downtime
Secure Citrix
–
Tighter, accessible anywhere and FAST!
Higher reliability = Lower TCO
Rationale
●
Manage the TCO
–
–
–
–
–
Tough ThinkPads = fewer spares
Linux OS reduces cost of machine
(purchased w/o Windows OS)
Linux/Citrix combo requires less beefy
machine extending life to 4 years (from 3)
Citrix reduces software costs (concurrent use
model)
Lower unit cost = lower insurance
Rationale
●
Widen Community of Learners
–
–
–
Tool provides greater access to people and
resources
1:1 computer allows students to develop
literacy while following personal interests
Reducing TCO will hopefully lead to
increased diversity in 1:1 schools
Results
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Reliability
–
–
–
Per 100 laptops, we re-imaged 13
laptops/year versus 40/year at peer schools
(hardware and software failure)
Per 100 laptops, we had 5 insurance
claims/year versus 28/year at peer schools
with different hardware
Citrix has remained available 99.996% of the
time
Results
●
Manage TCO
–
–
Acquisition cost down
Day to day maintenance down
●
●
–
Fewer re-image sessions
Almost no trouble shooting due to spyware
Software cost down
●
●
We employ more open source
Concurrent licenses for Windows apps
through Citrix (except Microsoft)
Results
●
TCO Breakdown (to date)
Cost
Windows Model Linux/Citrix Model
Laptops
Insurance
Software
Servers
Image labor
Difference
Annual Savings
with full roll-out
Compared to peer schools
$84,648.00
$15,540.00
$20,824.00
N/A
$1,500.00
$56,628.00
$7,380.00
$19,560.00
$9,000.00
$487.50
$122,512.00
$92,568.00
$29,944.00
$119,776.00
Results
●
TCO Breakdown (with potential improvements)
Cost
Windows Model Linux/Citrix Model
Laptops
Insurance
Software
Servers
Image labor
Difference
Annual Savings
with full roll-out
$84,648.00
$15,540.00
$20,824.00
N/A
$1,500.00
$56,628.00
$7,380.00
$19,560.00
$9,000.00
$487.50
$122,512.00
$92,568.00
$29,944.00
$119,776.00
Areas of Likely Improvement
Results
●
TCO Breakdown (with estimate improvements)
Cost
Laptops
Insurance
Software
Servers
Image labor
Annual Savings
with full roll-out
Windows Model Linux/Citrix Model
$338,592.00
$62,160.00
$133,080.00
N/A
$3,000.00
$226,512.00
$29,520.00
$58,725.00
$22,500.00
$1,200.00
$536,832.00
$337,257.00
$199,575.00
Areas of Likely Improvement
Results
●
Internal Satisfaction
–
–
–
–
95% of faculty believe program is consistent
with mission
96% of faculty and 92% of students believe 1:1
computing brings their learning to a higher
level
Students report spending 52% of their time in
the Linux environment and 48% of their time
using Windows programs through Citrix
93% of students report they are at
least somewhat comfortable with the
Linux terminal command line!
Results
●
Widen Community of Learners
–
–
–
–
–
79% of faculty and 83% of students believe the
program allows us to bring in more outside
resources
74% of faculty and 85% of students believe the
program allows us to interact more with people
outside the immediate Whitfield community
Sharing with others such as State of Indiana,
Okoboji School District, and Episcopal, VA
Sharing and learning from you!
Results and commentary at
http://linuxlaptops.blogspot.com
Areas of Improvement
Linux
Difficult to type foreign language
Intuitive file structure
Faster load times
Open Office Improvements
IE compatibility
Better Sound recording
GimpShop
Improve reliability of Evolution
Easier transition between Linux and Windows on Faculty machines
Improve media compatibility
iTunes compatibility
better back-up/sync scenario
easier access to Citrix
easier printing
easier installations
better media format compatibility - AV
Too many logins
improve ease of network connections
Response
Built into new image - custom
Beagle and improved mapdrives and Nautilus
SLED 10 plus RAM increase
Open Office 2.0 - Novell Edition
IE 5.5 will run in wine
Working to avoid Audacity conflicts with RealPlayer and cd/DVD
Will install GimpShop instead of Gimp
SLED 10 improvements on this
VMPlayer for Windows machine
Kaffeine and default file settings in image
Banshee
iFolder
Application Browser
Citrix
locks desktop too quickly
difficulting getting new macs and linux to work
too many logins
poor sound quality
different fonts on citrix servers than other computers
better training of community
logoff time too short - files lost
too slow
ability for users to install own software
CPU balancing
Response
Need to work on changing this
Need earier distribution of certificate
Integration of password into ICA client
Yast Software Installer
SLED 10 plus Xine formats
ICA client and Firefox plus AD integration
Network Manager
Need to load worstation fonts onto servers
Parent coffees plus Loura Boeker's new role
reset logoff time
Isolating problem apps
Can't do without jeopardizing whole system
custom load balancer created
Check it out!
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SLED 10 Public Beta available now!
Golden Master of SLED 10 scheduled for
release July 17
Results of our study will be posted by end
of July, 2006