Upper Darby School District

国家: 美国
行业: 教育
解决方案: 数据中心, 自治型网络

Upper Darby School District was operating a disparate network. They began working toward a 1:1 device learning initiative but connectivity to the Internet was unreliable. Taking a step back, they identified the need for a comprehensive plan to create an enterprise-grade network, one that would support an advanced wireless environment. With grant money they were able to invest in an infrastructure from ALE that added better connectivity, greater security, advanced application use for digital learning, and accomplished the goals of the district to provide an advanced, reliable network.

Technology was a focal point in our comprehensive plan. The Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise solutions were the most cost-effective design for our needs. We turned on the network, and it worked the first time – that was a big thing! Today, it handles additional capacity and it still works.

Bob Hilinski, Director of Technology, Upper Darby School District

挑战

Upper Darby dealt with budget issues for a few years and to cope, created a homegrown network which created management inconsistency with the different network vendors’ equipment. Users had different network experiences depending on what building they were in because Upper Darby lacked an overall enterprise-level solution. Teachers across the district found the network unreliable and found connecting to the internet was either slow or non-existent, which hampered the move to an online curriculum. With over 13,000 users (including students, staff and teachers), it was not the experience district wanted to provide for students.

结果

Technical benefits

Each classroom has 4 network drops for teachers and devices; there’s a dedicated wireless access point to allow unfettered network access
Network star configuration provided increased bandwidth and streamlined network management
IT Staff is able to remotely reset APs or update network configuration across 14 campuses
Moved curriculum and business applications to the cloud: student information systems, LMS, financial systems, learning and testing
Created individualized Wi-Fi networks with SSIDs to control and manage use of network
Security cameras, interactive projectors, smartboards and printers securely connected to independent VLANs

Financial benefits

ALE solutions qualified for eRate funds allowed a greater network build-out
OmniSwitch products delivered a cost-effective solution with low TCO
Money previously assigned for annual infrastructure updates was reallocated for software curriculum
IT Staff spends less time managing network issues and can redirect support costs to servicing students and staff

User experience benefits

Administration staff now attends meetings and webinars without connectivity issues
Teachers have a network for solid, reliable lesson planning, removing learning disruptions
IT staff supports Curriculum department to launch broader range of learning applications
Staff, students and guests have differentiated access rights to do activities while keeping the network secure.