Jim LaPlante (left), and David Thompson

The Goal

To transform the basic campus network at an all-girls independent school into a robust, state-of-the-art infrastructure—providing faculty and students with tools to enrich the learning experience and continue the school's tradition of academic excellence for years to come.

The Assignment

  1. Analyze existing technology to determine areas in need of improvement
  2. Enhance the backend systems infrastructure with new hardware—able to support the school’s dynamic, creative, and challenging environment
  3. Implement an Open Directory-based server environment, enabling campus-wide integration with a centralized user management system
  4. Provide a strategic roadmap for future network enhancements to achieve the school’s demanding growth objectives

David Thompson, owner of Digital Transitions, has dedicated his professional life to delivering server-based solutions. With over ten years experience in his field, David takes pride in staying on the cutting edge of technical innovations and supporting his clients' most advanced systems requirements. It was this commitment to providing solution excellence that propelled David to establish Digital Transitions in 2001, after many years of working as a technician for the school boards in Toronto, Canada.

In addition to his server expertise, David holds numerous Apple certifications, providing full-spectrum network services for his 100-plus clients. From small design firms to entire school districts, Digital Transitions boasts a nearly 100% repeat-business rate. David chooses to work with clients who strive to inspire, enjoying the opportunity to consult with schools whenever possible. It is because of this special connection and his experience working with educational institutions that Havergal College became one of Digital Transition’s largest and most successful clients.

“David has provided excellent support for the growth of the IT infrastructure at Havergal College.”

— Jim LaPlante, IT Director
    Havergal College

The infrastructure for innovation.
An independent school for girls, Havergal College greatly values their responsibility for shaping and preparing the women of tomorrow. With approximately 1000 students in Kindergarten through Grade 12, Havergal fosters critical thinking by providing a dynamic and creative atmosphere.

At the outset, Havergal’s computing environment included a centrally managed pool of 600 workstations, each configured with the school’s standard software environment. The school was faced with a growing population of laptop and mobile users, primarily self-managed who demand fast, reliable access to information hosted on the school’s network. Havergal had outgrown its original two-server network as system utilization continued to increase exponentially. As the faculty of approximately 200 integrated more cutting-edge tools, the computing, storage, and performance needs of the school population prompted the need for a greater technology investment.

With the growing demands on their network infrastructure, Havergal College recognized a need for expert advice. The school turned to Digital Transitions and David Thompson because of his experience with the Mac platform and his expertise in deploying server networks.

The Solution

Over a 2-year period, David Thompson delivered a series of solutions to address the different networking challenges faced by Havergal College. The first step was to streamline the management of the school’s networked workstations by deploying an image server that enabled the IT technicians to more easily update their workstations with a standard software image using Netboot and NetRestore. Redeploying an older Power Mac G4 minimized the school’s investment.

The next challenge was to rebuild the backend network infrastructure. Focusing on the school’s objective to improve uptime and network performance while minimizing expense, David assessed how much of the existing technology might be reused and methods to optimize new technology purchases. This included recommendations for hardware purchases, software licensing and support options. 

Finally, David focused on the school’s longer-term needs of managing users and increasing network accessibility by transitioning their network from Active Directory Servers to Open Directory, thus integrating all users into a single sign-on scheme with the use of Kerberos Network Authentication Protocol. Since a large percentage of Havergal’s workstations are Macintosh-based, this new environment provided optimization while easily integrating Windows-based users and saving costs.

Specialized expertise matches technology with solution needs.
To support their productivity goals, the school’s customized solution required a migration from their current two-server system to a more robust environment. With an eye towards future growth and flexibility, Digital Transitions distributed the workload across six-servers. Xserve G5 servers were deployed for the upper school and faculty, as well as for utilities such as login, Network Time Protocol (NTP), and print services. A customized student information system, driven by FileMaker Pro Server, was also implemented. The original Xserve G4 was repurposed as the Junior School server, and the original Power Mac G4 became the Backup and Restore Utility (BRU) server. Lastly, dual Xserve RAIDs hosted the home directories for faculty and students.

With the new hardware in place, David then designed an Open Directory-based infrastructure, integrating all users into one common directory to allow centralized account maintenance and shared utilities. This modularized approach to the infrastructure improved the users’ ability to access the school’s network and central resources while enhancing the IT staff’s ability to manage user accounts. This improvement also increased capacity and provided resources for hosting a new media lab. The transition took approximately two years. It was a significant investment for the college, but one that will serve their needs for years to come—enabling them to expand their educational reach and to grow their usage without concerns about performance or stability.

“By using Xserve and Xserve RAID, Havergal College has maximized the ROI on their technology. It’s given them a five-plus year window of not having to worry about reliability or replacing older technology.”

— David Thompson, owner, Digital Transitions

The Results and Benefits

With the help of Digital Transitions, Havergal College now has an impressive computing infrastructure to match their 100-year reputation of superior education. David Thompson has played a pivotal role in transforming how the school uses technology. For the IT staff, updating and rolling out new workstations takes one-third of the time. Faculty, staff, and students, all with unique usernames and passwords, can now access their personal files and preferences from any machine at the school, whether from desktops or wireless laptops. Mobile users can log into the network and find the resources they need, with the added confidence that even their remote data is being backed up regularly.  The increased storage space, additional servers, and centralized user information offers excellent performance for everyone at Havergal.

The relationship between Havergal College and Digital Transitions is ongoing. Though Havergal has an in-house technical staff, David Thompson continues to provide added value for the college, offering expert assistance with any system problems that arise as well as consulting on potential future enhancements. The next investment will be the implementation of a Storage Area Network (SAN) to enable further expansion. As Havergal continues to provide the best tools for its faculty and the finest resources for its students, Digital Transitions will help them reach their most challenging technology goals.