Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


SDSU Library Implements Storage Hypervisor To Improve VDI Performance

San Diego State University Library has implemented storage hypervisor software to improve the performance and capacity of its virtual machine storage and enable automated bulk provisioning.

SDSU Library embarked on an initiative in 2009 to virtualize its data center, a project that is now 85 percent complete. Following the success of the data center virtualization, the university began looking at ways to expand the initiative to include desktop virtualization infrastructure (VDI). SDSU Library implemented VMware View but needed a solution to manage its storage arrays and deploy solid state disks (SSDs) in a way that would improve performance.

The university selected Virsto for vSphere storage hypervisor software. According to the company, Virsto for vSphere can maximize VDI host density and storage capacity, improve desktop performance, and integrate with VMware View provisioning workflows. SDSU Library IT administrators can use Virsto's scalable snapshots and high-performance writable clones to provision virtual desktops in bulk operations. Virsto also manages the VDI system's SSD and rotating disk storage.

SDSU may expand its implementation of Virsto for vSphere beyond the library. "We have begun receiving favorable feedback from other departments on campus, and a high level of interest in how the product makes VDI more accessible to other areas within SDSU," said Kyle E. Murray, Lead of Library Digital Technology Initiatives for SDSU in a prepared statement.

San Diego State University serves over 35,000 undergraduate and graduate students and employs more than 5,000 faculty and staff. It is the oldest and largest higher education institution in the San Diego region. SDSU provides open laboratories with nearly 800 public access computers for research and general use and 24/7 access to software and applications for faculty and students.

Further information about Virsto for vSphere is available on the Virsto site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • artificial intelligence on laptop

    OpenAI to Combine AI Products into Desktop 'Superapp'

    OpenAI is reportedly developing a desktop application that would combine several of its emerging AI products into a single platform, according to reports, marking the latest step in the company's effort to transform ChatGPT from a standalone chatbot into a broader productivity and automation environment.

  • woman surrounded by virtual hologram icons

    Beyond AI Adoption: Designing Learning for an Age of Abundant Intelligence

    Higher education was designed for a world in which access to knowledge, expertise, feedback, mentorship, and authentic learning experiences were inherently scarce. By making many forms of intelligence increasingly abundant, AI is inherently redefining the existing paradigm.

  • digital brain with network connections

    Microsoft Moving to Internally Developed AI Models in Office Apps

    Microsoft is reportedly using its own in-house artificial intelligence models to handle some workloads in Excel and Outlook, offering new evidence that the company is moving its AI strategy beyond model development and into large-scale cost reduction.

  • Profile silhouette of a person thoughtfully touching their chin, overlaid with transparent data visualizations and digital interface elements suggesting artificial intelligence and analytics.

    The Institutional Knowledge Shift Is Reshaping Higher Ed IT

    Higher education IT leaders are navigating a quiet but consequential transition: Experienced team members are retiring or leaving for private-sector roles, and the teams replacing them are smaller, newer, and often stretched thin. The result is a structural shift in how technology decisions are made, executed, and sustained.