When your IT support team is made up of just three people, what do you do to ensure consistent management of a fleet of computers that is growing all the time? And within a town hall where the computer network is poorly utilised and where the town council hopes to pursue the use of industry-specific-applications? This is the situation that Marc Cohen, head of computer services at the town hall in Rosny-sous-Bois, was faced with when he arrived. In no time he decided to utilise a centralised virtualisation system from Citrix based on servers linked to HP Thin Clients.

1. HP customer case study: Rosny-sous-Bois town hall and the town's schools introduce HP Thin Clients
Industry: Public Sector
Rosny-sous-Bois installs HP Thin Clients in
its administration buildings and schools
“In terms of the environment, which is something very close to the town's
heart, HP Thin Clients consume considerably less energy than PCs: 30
watts compared to 200 watts, which has drastically reduced our
electricity bills,” Marc Cohen, head of Computer Services, Rosny-sous-Bois
Objective:
In the year 2000, the town hall in Rosny-sous-
Bois decided to modernise its computer
architecture. Its aim was to replace all the PCs
with HP Thin Clients.
Approach:
• The town hall at Rosny-sous-Bois called upon
HP to standardise its computer architecture
both for its internal needs and for its schools.
• HP t5730 Thin Clients communicate with the
HP ProLiant servers to ensure service,
equipment quality and ease of IT support.
IT improvements:
• 600 per cent reduction in workstations’
electrical consumption thanks to HP Thin
Clients.
• Ease of deployment. In the year 2000, the town hall at Rosny-sous-Bois
decided to modernise its computer architecture. Its
• Ease of administration.
decision relied on the gradual implementation of HP
• Lightweight equipment. Thin Clients as new equipment was bought to
replace the old. Today, it has clearly been a success.
Business benefits: There are more than 250 terminals distributed across
• Virtualisation has resulted in a cost saving of the 20 communal buildings, with more than 100
€150,000 per year. installed in schools.
• Standardisation of computer support. When your IT support team is made up of just three
• Economical to purchase. people, what do you do to ensure consistent
• Performance and flexibility. management of a fleet of computers that is growing
all the time? And within a town hall where the
• Modernisation of the town's computer system.
computer network is poorly utilised and where the
town council hopes to pursue the use of industry-
specific applications? This is the situation that Marc
Cohen, head of computer services at the town hall in
Rosny-sous-Bois, was faced with when he arrived. In
no time he decided to utilise a centralised
virtualisation system from Citrix based on servers
linked to HP Thin Clients. After an initial test that
proved the technical side of things would work, HP
was selected to provide the equipment.

2. Customer Marc Cohen's initial analysis proved the reliability, they had to be returned to the town hall for reasons
service, quality and ease of configuration of HP of costs and equipment becoming obsolete. For Marc
solution at products. Today, there is a fleet of 30 physical HP Cohen, it is very simple: “if we want the schools to
a glance: ProLiant DL380G5p servers managing all the have the same tools and the same internet access
applications for the municipal services, apart from with a minimum of IT support and security, we need
Primary hardware
• 100 x HP t5730w Thin Clients
the design office (which has workstations and an HP to apply the same principles as those in force at the
and 150 x HP Neoware Thin server). Many of the fleet servers are connected to town hall.” As a result, each of the seven school
Clients at the town hall 250 HP Thin Clients distributed across 20 communal groups in Rosny-sous-Bois now has a dedicated
• 100 x HP t5730w Thin Clients in buildings by means of an Ethernet network. There are computer room with an HP ProLiant DL120 G5 server
the schools
more than 50 industry-specific applications, plus linked to an Ethernet Local Area Network (LAN) with
• 30 x ProLiant DL380 G5p
servers administration functions, which are now accessible 15 HP t5730 terminals.
Primary software from any workstation.
Each server is installed with the HP Image Manager
• HP Image Manager
Financial and technical benefits application, which allows each workstation to be
“Thanks to this solution, which involved ‘virtualising’ displayed virtually. As soon as it is switched on, it
the workstations, we were able to first estimate then goes to the server to find its personalised
achieve a saving of €150,000 per year compared to configuration, which cannot be changed. If there are
installing 300 PCs, a third of which would have to be problems, the terminal merely needs to be rebooted
renewed every year,” explains Marc Cohen, “not to restore it to full working order. These updates are
forgetting that an HP Thin Client was and remains carried out remotely on the dedicated classroom
much more affordable than a PC. What is more, the servers from an administration console managed by
HP terminals are extremely flexible, with simple, the IT team.
customisable updates using excellent administration
There are now more than 100 Thin Clients installed
tools.” As soon as they connect, all users can access
in the schools, and no physical intervention is
a user-friendly Windows environment and
required. Because of the savings made, the number
applications as a function of their access
of Thin Clients can be gradually increased in the
permissions. The result is that IT support for the thin
computer rooms from 18 to 20 terminals, not to
clients is considerably reduced and adding an
mention the increasingly high-performance
industry-specific application is merely a question of
peripherals. There is also a central filtering
updating the fleet of servers.
solution which prevents the children accessing
Marc Cohen emphasises that “we can also take banned sites.
control of a workstation remotely in conjunction with
Working towards a web-oriented environment
the user if they have a problem with an application,
In 2010, Marc Cohen, who now heads a team of six,
or close the terminal if they are not there, all from our
will be carrying out a comprehensive migration of the
administration console. Finally, in terms of the
technical architecture. The users of the HP Thin
environment, which is something very close to the
Clients at the town hall will use an intranet and a
town's heart, Thin Clients consume considerably less
web interface to open ‘applets’ corresponding to the
energy than PCs: 30 W compared to 200 W, which
industry-specific applications. The HTML environment
has drastically reduced the electricity bills.”
will considerably simplify the use of the computer
Thin Clients for schools system. Not only that, but some of the physical HP
As the use of HP terminals at the town hall was a servers in the computer room will themselves be
success, the idea came about of deploying them in virtualised in order to increase their processing
schools. This made sense as the public office was capacities without the need for a user interface and
responsible for IT support for the existing PCs and the additional electrical energy.
To learn more, visit www.hp.com
© 2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change
without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements
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4AA1-6808EEW, January 2010