Linux virtual desktops sweeping Brazilian schools

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 18 February 2009 09:49

IT Industry - Market

The companies behind a 356,800 seat deployment in Brazil claim world records for the largest desktop virtualisation rollout, the largest desktop Linux rollout, and the lowest cost per seat.

Canada-based Userful and ThinNetworks of Brazil have been selected to supply 356,800 virtual desktops to schools across Brazil.

Userful's Multiplier allows one PC to drive 10 user desktops through inexpensive video cards and USB hubs.

The idea is that a modern PC wastes much of its processing power when running typical applications. Sharing this resource between several users reduces the average cost while still delivering adequate performance for many purposes.

"This project will bring access to information technology to almost every young student in Brazil," said ThinNetworks president Luiz Ferreira.

ThinNetworks provides the special purpose hardware for the project, while the PCs themselves are being supplied by Positivo, Daruma and Itaultec.

The companies claim this approach is saving the Brazilian government 60 percent on the upfront costs and 80 percent in annual power expenditure, compared with conventional PCs.

So how much does it cost to add extra users to a PC? See page 2.