“In terms of server virtualization, there is no big difference between Microsoft and VMWare solution , but from the perspective of the private cloud, having the cloud OS could make a substantial difference in functionality and technical constraint”

Jung-Sig Kwak, Manger, Info. System Planning Team at Dankook University

Dankook University is undertaking the implementation of a private cloud with 224 cores and a memory resource pool of 3.8 terabytes (TB), the largest of its kind in any Korean university. The aim is to run a next-generation information system, which is scheduled to be opened in July 2015. This next-generation information system covers the university affairs information system, administration system, and research information system, etc., It will be 100% private cloud-based, something which has not yet been attempted by domestic universities.

Business NeedsDankook University’s next-generation

information system development project has attracted a lot of media attention in 2014, which is in part due to the large size of the investment, at about KRW 10 billion. Yet, a substantial amount of the interest in it is because it marks the first attempt by a Korean university to implement and run all its information systems on a private cloud. Given the traditional way universities typically implement IT, it was unprecedented for Dankook University

to choose highly virtualized environment as the basis on which the information system would be run. Like enterprises, universities have several mission critical systems whose failure would result in the failure of the entire administration of the university. First among these is the student and academic administration system.

Most universities invest as much as possible in their student and academic administration system. They purchase high-end UNIX server, implement high

Customer: Dankook University Website: www.dankook.ac.krCustomer Size: 2,062 (Faculty Members)Country or Region: KoreaIndustry: Education Customer ProfileDankook University, the first four-year private college since Korea's independence, was established in 1947 based on our founders' lofty ideal that the fundamentals of education lie in serving one's country and maximizing the potential of individuals., Situation In February 2014, Dankook University embarked on a momentous journey to develop a next-generation information system.Solution With Microsoft’s solution, Dankook University expects to save substantial costs through smart, eco-friendly computing infrastructure that will also enable it to respond quickly to various new system-related needs of administration departments, university personnel and students.Benefit Advanced, environment-friendly campusFast response to changes Economic benefit accruing from the cloud OSSoftware and Services Windows Server 2012 R2 System Center 2012 R2

The largest private cloud to be built in a Korean university

availability clustering and invest considerable human resources. In fact, large numbers of universities run their student and academic administration system on high-end UNIX servers like Dankook University. It was considered a matter of course that expensive servers are required in order to achieve the RAS (Reliability, Availability, and Scalability) of mission critical systems. Dankook University, however, realized that this so-called common sense was an illusion. That’s why it sought a new, innovative solution while working on the next-generation information system development project.

It is no mere coincidence that Dankook University found a new innovative solution for building and operating infrastructure with a private cloud. Rather, it reflects the insight it has gained into unreasonableness and inefficiency through years of operating IT infrastructure. Dankook University’s IT environment involved things both old and new. In general, universities develop new systems as often as enterprises do due to both internal and external factors. Indeed, many different kinds of new systems are typically adopted and placed alongside legacy systems, which continue to be used without being changed.

Dankook University, too, used technologies of different generations such as the old client/server environment with the latest web-server technology while devices were managed from different locations, for example its campuses in Jukjeon and Cheonan. As a result, it faced many problems, including complicated connections between systems, data redundancy and inconsistency, and difficulties in terms of managing the systems. Yet, such problems are typical to universities, including Dankook, as they have a longer cycle of system development than enterprises.

Dankook University did not forget the lessons it learned from the operation and management problems it experienced after the next-generation project it carried out in the late 1990s. Through this experience, it gained an insight into IT infrastructure which it used to establish the strategy for building private cloud infrastructure for the next-generation information system.

SolutionThis next-generation information

system that Dankook University is

working on has an extensive coverage range. That is, it covers every sphere of the university’s IT systems from the student and academic administration system, which is considered the centerpiece of university information system, through the administration information system, research information system, performance management system, smart learning, homepage and portal.

The overall architecture was designed so that systems would be logically connected as an organic whole, rather than being siloed as they were 10 years ago. Meanwhile, all data related to academic affairs, administration, education and external relationships are handled and managed from the point of view of their lifecycle. In addition, business processes are streamlined for customer-oriented service.

The same overarching idea applies to the use of different devices. Dankook University aims to allow resources to be physically shared via a single resource pool with private cloud infrastructure using virtualization technologies. This is perhaps the main reason that Dankook University’s next-generation information system is attracting so much attention as the first 100% private cloud-based system.

Dankook University’s strategic goal of using private cloud is the realization of SDx (Software Defined Everything). It aims to draw a roadmap to virtual infrastructure and run network and storage on a private cloud-basis. As its program is angled towards SDx, the university applied an exacting yardstick by which to measure solutions. With a sense of responsibility for the next 10 years of the university, Dankook University Info. System Planning Team examined several widely-used solutions in terms of roadmap, technologies, operation, management and cost.

There were two things Dankook University concentrated upon while examining solutions: how quickly automatic live migration takes place in the case of a host error; and the IOPS (Input/Output Per Second) performance. The university conducted a technical review of integrated management, monitoring and diagnosis features, and connection with integrated backup solution and storage in terms of management and operation.

Through such thorough examination, Dankook University narrowed down the list to two candidates: Microsoft and VMWare virtualization solutions. There was a dramatic twist in the course of making the final decision. Dankook University first leaned towards the VMWare solution because it always had been interested in the VMWare solution and its initial cost was lower than expected. Yet, Dankook University’s final choice was Hyper-V. One reason for this was that it listened the voices of university staff members with first-hand experience of Hyper-V. Its next step was to carry out a proof of concept (PoC) to see technical differences between Microsoft and VMWare solutions. It was a close-run thing; both solutions were comparable to each other in every term, from cost to performance and functionalities.

“Because the offer that VMWare proposed was good, there seemed to be not big difference between two solutions in terms of CAPEX (Capital Expenditure), but Hyper-V was better in terms of OPEX (Operational Expenditure) and TCO when maintenance and further infrastructure expansion were taken into consideration. In addition, we virtually ran Windows Server and Linux Server on Hyper-V and VMWare respectively and compared the results in terms of IOPS. The results were the same, but in some areas, Hyper-V showed better performance”, said a member of Dankook University Info. System Planning Team in regard to PoC.

The PoC determined the winner between two solutions and Dankook University settled on Hyper-V. After selecting the solution, the university undertook infrastructure design for the next-generation information system. For this, its twin focuses were stability and flexibility.

Dankook University built infrastructure with 14 Dell servers with two 8-core CPUs and 256GB memory, and 2 sets of Dell’s integrated storage composed of SSD and disk. To ensure the stability of the server infrastructure, Dankook University connected 14 servers in a physical cluster structure and set it up so that virtual machines become automatically migrated onto another host in the case of an error in a specific host. Moreover, SAN environment was configured Active/Active failover to guarantee stability at the level of private cloud infrastructure.

This case study is for informational purposes only.MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published April 2014

In addition to the physical-level stability of infrastructure, Dankook University emphasized long-term flexibility. “We chose storage and network equipment that could be used as SDx platform. The Dell storage that we chose can implement SDS (Software Defined Storage); the Citrix NetScaler network platform enables SDN (Software Defined Network) with a switch, and the ADC (Application Delivery Controller) runs as a virtual instance”, said a member of Dankook University Info. System Planning Team.

Benefits

Advanced, environment-friendly campus

Dankook University’s private cloud is shaping up to be the most advanced and environment-friendly possible. This starts with the equipment it purchases. “For this next-generation information system, we now don’t need to anticipate what we are going to need, and secure performance and capacity of hardware as we’ve done so far”, said a Dankook University Info. System Planning Team member. In other words, the team did not have to calculate capacity and performance based on inaccurate presumptions.

Then, how did the team establish the standards for the further adoption of servers, storage and network equipment? “The concept of expansion has significantly changed over the last 10 years. In the past, we had to buy large and expensive high-end systems whenever we needed to expand. However, we can now add low-priced x86 servers and storage to our existing infrastructure whenever we need. This is thanks to the private cloud”, explained a member of Dankook University Info. System Planning Team.

Fast response to changes

The private cloud is also expected to play an important role in meeting the ever-changing IT needs of the university’s teaching staff and students. The university information system used to be centered on the student and academic administration system. Nowadays, though, it is closely connected with many subsidiary systems, including student and academic administration system, university portal, e-learning, the sharing of learning materials, research management, all kinds of authentication

and academic-industrial cooperation, and external systems as well. This expansion in system connections stems from the increasing number of new systems developed in line with social and economic changes in education, as well as improvements in human resources and employment. Dankook University expects that with the private cloud environment, it will be able to respond to current and future changes, such that it will even be able to handle the unexpected demands that may be placed on it.

“From big projects like academic-industrial cooperation to small research projects, the university IT department has often received requests for a new system. From the standpoint of the IT department, it was difficult to grant each and every request because the budget is limited”, said a member of Dankook University Info. System Planning Team. “Once the private cloud environment is built, the IT department will be able to build systems for business and administrative purposes, while also providing support for all kinds of educational, research and employment projects without investing a great deal of time and expense”, the Info. System Planning Team member added.

Economic benefit accruing from the cloud OS

Dankook University will continue to bring about innovation through the private cloud even after the next-generation information system launches in June 2015. The university is now considering grafting the concept of the cloud OS that Microsoft proposes into infrastructure as the next step of the private cloud roadmap project. The intent is to expand the benefits of virtualization to the level of the cloud OS.

“We learned that besides cost and functionality, having the operating system as the main component of virtualization could make difference as we compared Microsoft and VMWare solution. In terms of server virtualization, there is no big difference, but from the perspective of the private cloud, having the cloud OS could make a substantial difference in functionality and technical constraint” said a member of the Dankook University Info. System Planning Team.

“When combined with the license policies of the operating system and

management tool, the Microsoft cloud OS concept offers economic benefits to those building large private cloud like Dankook University. We will look deeper into the concept of the cloud OS and search a way to make the most use of it together with the private cloud”, the member of Dankook University Info. System Planning Team added. That is, the university did not overlook the fact that with Windows Server 2012 R2 Enterprise Edition, there is no extra licensing cost to adopting Windows Server as a guest operating system. Moreover, the old module of the System Center can be reused, which requires no additional management tool for the operation and management of the private cloud.

In fact, Dankook University regards it as a possible scenario for the next-generation information system to convert various distribution of Linux server, like RedHat and CentOS, into Windows Server in order to reduce cost while improving operation and management efficiency with System Center.

This case study is for informational purposes only.MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published April 2014