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-Simplified Server Infrastructure
-Standardized on 64-bit Server-Based Computing
-Introduced Server Virtualization
-Reduced project cost to $500 / seat (comprehensive hardware, software, and labor cost)
-Introduced 24x7 Security Monitoring and Content Security

The Challenge:

A newcomer to private education, Zion Christian School delivers a challenging college preparatory curriculum to its 150 pre K-12 students at its new campus in Byron Center, MI. The school’s faculty members are devoted to cultivating a safe and motivational learning atmosphere founded in the historical Christian faith. In late 2005, Zion Christian School realized the overwhelming need to upgrade their computer systems for both students and faculty. Zion approached ISI about possible solutions amidst a tight budget that significantly limited resources.

ISI base-lined Zion’s entire information system and quickly realized that the vast majority of the equipment on-site was either already out of date or soon would be. As traditional solutions were far outside of Zion’s budget, ISI was tasked to come up with a creative solution.

The Solution:

Technology upgrades can be quite a burden on a school’s budget, especially one of Zion’s size. The key to maximizing value is finding solutions that meet immediate short-term requirements but also enable an organization to minimize long-term costs at the same time. ISI designed a complete solution that accomplished just that.

The solution made use of a number of cutting-edge technologies, including 64-bit servers, server virtualization, and workstations converted into Linux thin clients that enabled older workstations to run as if they were brand new workstations.

The server chassis consisted of an HP Proliant DL585 equipped with up to 4 64-bit processors and 32gb of RAM. Because of changes in Microsoft’s licensing policy, ISI installed a special 64-bit version of Microsoft’s Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition software, and then installed 4 more “virtual” operating systems without incurring any additional licensing costs. This enabled Zion to run a separate Exchange server, web server, and SharePoint server while still leaving enough room to grow in the future.

ISI also converted over 100 3-year old workstations donated by Byron Bank into Linux thin clients. This essentially enabled Zion to provide some of the best performance in the region to their students, while still keeping procurement costs and administration costs to an absolute bare minimum. Because of their high-powered 64-bit server, Zion has the capability to scale to over 300 concurrent users without having to invest in another physical server!

In addition, ISI also installed a complete content security system throughout the organization to limit inappropriate content coming into the network both through the web and through E-mail, as each and every student has complete access to their own Exchange account.

Lastly, because this solution is so Internet friendly, Zion students and faculty have the capability to access the entire system as if they were still in the school no matter where they are. Instead of having students bring removable media into the school, Zion is able to control security by facilitating remote access to the system. Security on the system is monitored by ISI’s comprehensive 24x7 security monitoring program that alerts Zion’s staff as soon as a student attempts to gain access to unauthorized areas of the system.

Zion’s Administrator, Jason Heerema states “Ryan Leestma and the team at ISI have given us an incredible technological edge over other districts all at a fraction of the cost other solution providers were quoting us. The work that ISI has done is really huge. I’d recommend them to any district!”

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