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Server infrastructure optimization

The IT infrastructure you build today must be able to support and respond to tomorrow’s needs. Because it isn’t clear what devices and applications may be brought into your infrastructure five years from now or what the university’s needs might be, it’s crucial to create a system that is both optimized for today’s known demands and allows for quick modifications that respond to new requirements or opportunities.

With integrated IT infrastructure optimization (IO) solutions from Microsoft, you can manage servers and applications more cost effectively, enhance security and compliance, and gain the flexibility and agility you need to drive performance.

Solving real-world challenges

Complex networks with servers and clustered standard systems—often spread across several locations—lead to a server infrastructure that:

• Is costly to acquire and maintain.
• Can be difficult to manage and secure.
• Prevents effective execution of compliance policies.
• Uses significant energy resources.
• Processes information too slowly.

Server infrastructure optimization can help you realize the value of your IT investments and help make your infrastructure a strategic asset that drives agility within your institution.

Key benefits

Server infrastructure optimization can help you:

• Control costs. Consolidating, automating, and centralizing server usage and management can help you use your resources wisely, eliminate repetitive IT tasks, and reduce energy consumption.
• Enhance security and compliance. Integrated management and security—along with a comprehensive identity and access strategy—can help you enhance compliance; provide a more secure, policy- based access for remote users; and help ensure continuity.
• Drive agility. Infrastructure that can speed the deployment of software and upgrades, easily integrate legacy systems, and enhance disaster recovery can help your entire institution adjust rapidly to changing needs.

Customer success case studies

Tri-Center Community School District pursues high technology goals for student and staff.
With approximately 400 client workstations connected to an infrastructure supported by 12 servers, high demand—combined with the limitations of an outsourced IT support team—meant that Tri-Center Community School District had a strong need for an efficient, reliable network infrastructure. The district chose Windows Server 2008. As a result, it has seen reduced server management time and improved staff productivity, along with a reduction in help desk calls.

Hillsboro School District improves availability of critical files with clustered servers.
When Hillsboro School District in Hillsboro, Oregon, wanted to simplify access to 20,000 personal data directories belonging to students and staff they consolidated the 11 home-directory servers to two clustered servers using Windows Server 2008. The district has eliminated server downtime and associated interruptions to user productivity, reduced file recovery work by 15 hours a week, and decreased cluster management chores by 50 percent.

University of California, Berkeley tackles management and security challenges in complex IT environment.
Using the Server Manager feature in the Windows Server 2008 operating system, the central IT division at the University of California, Berkeley, simplified account and security management, cut application downtime by half, and reduced security-setting management by 10 hours per month. University executives also plan to use powerful Windows Server 2008 security capabilities to enhance system security.

Get started

Find the right technology experts, software applications, and professional services to help you establish a server IO solution for your school or higher education institution.

Next steps

• Find a partner that can help you implement a server IO solution.
• Contact us to learn more about server IO solutions and how they can help your institution.
• Analyze your infrastructure to learn how it can be optimized.
• Try infrastructure optimization products
• Try Windows Server 2008 Infrastructure Solution Accelerators to deploy and securely operate Windows Server 2008.