Purcell Marian to Become Region’s First Model Technology School

Purcell Marian to Become Region’s First Model Technology School
 

In late Fall of 2007, CBTS, Sun Microsystems and Cisco teamed up to equip Purcell Marian High School with Sun Ray Thin Client desktops and a cutting-edge network to position this co-ed, Catholic high school as the region’s first Model Technology School.

CINCINNATI - Like most high schools in the region and throughout the country, Purcell Marian High School in East Walnut Hills has been utilizing personal computers running Microsoft Windows. With the rising annual cost of renewals and desktop support, Purcell Marian faced the challenge of what to do with 170 desktop PCs that were aging and nearing end-of-life in an environment where the focus must be on education and not on day-to-day information technology operational challenges. According to Purcell Marian IT Project Manager Steve Quinn, managing the PCs in the school’s three designated learning centers required both significant time and money. “Keeping them virus free, making sure they’re secure, implementing patches—it’s very resource intensive,” explains Quinn.

In December of 2007, Quinn and CBTS-- and armed with valuable input from a team of Purcell Marian administrative staff and teachers -- deployed 100 Sun Ray virtual display clients at Purcell Marian through a unique partnership with Sun Microsystems. Today, Phase One of the pilot project is complete and preparations are being made for Phase Two, which involves a complete conversion to the new network.

Principal Al Early sings the praises of the Sun Ray 270 Virtual Display Client as a great fit for the Purcell Marian environment. “Sun Rays make life much, much simpler. We have better control over the applications and usage, and it has a much smaller footprint in terms of space, power and heat generation. ”

Advantages to the new technology include lower power requirements, which directly addresses costs associated with rising electricity rates. (A typical Sun Ray system uses just 4 watts, compared to 100 watts or more for the average PC.) Quinn’s staff has calculated that each Sun Ray system saves the school about $36 per year in electricity costs alone. With all 100 systems deployed, the annual savings total is nearly $8,000 – without even considering the added savings in air conditioning costs.

The Sun Ray Thin Clients also integrate better into the school environment. They put out less heat and are quieter than PCs -- a boon to students prepping for exams and writing papers. The system is also designed to support remote student access to work on the Purcell Marian High School network via a card the size of a driver’s license. The cards are more transport-friendly than heavy laptop computers, and more secure than working on a shared system, whether at school, the library or at home.

The IT department is benefiting, too. It takes just 30 minutes a year on average to support a Sun Ray system, compared to the 12 hours needed to support each PC—a 96 percent reduction. In addition, the upgrade capabilities for applications over the network make software for individual PCs and the need for laptop and tablets program virtually obsolete.

Plans for future phases of the project include a complete conversion to the new network over the upcoming summer, with full implementation in time for the 2008-09 school year.

The benefit to Purcell Marian High School

100 Sun Ray 270 Virtual Display Client systems and three Sun-Fire T-2000 servers, an opportunity to become the region’s first Model Technology School, and a technology offering for students that will surpass the competition.

The benefit to CBTS, Sun Microsystems and Cisco

A live, working showcase of the functionality and efficiency of the technology and an opportunity to position CBTS, Sun Ray and Cisco as leaders in technology solutions for educational institutions throughout the region.

About CBTS

A division of Cincinnati Bell Inc., CBTS combines the data networking capabilities of Cincinnati Bell with next-generation managed services that provide companies with flexible solutions for end-to-end IT deployment. The CBTS business model can help organizations increase productivity and operational efficiency while reducing costs and risks through solutions that focus on business continuance, compliance, security and technology infrastructure. For more information, visit www.cincinnatibell.com/cbts.

About Cincinnati Bell Inc.

Cincinnati Bell Inc. (NYSE:CBB) is parent to one of the nation's most-respected and bestperforming local exchange and wireless providers with a legacy of unparalleled customer service excellence. With headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Bell provides a wide range of telecommunications products and services to residential and business customers in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. For more information, visit www.cincinnatibell.com.