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Port Regis School Switch to Proxmox

The school was founded by Alfred Praetorius in 1881 and named Port Regis in School 1921. The School moved to Motcombe Park in 1947, where it has been ever since. It is renowned for its exceptional staff and academic credentials, as well as its first-class facilities set within 150 acres of stunning grounds in rural Dorset.

Port Regis engaged Blueloop to help with a significant price rise of their VMware licensing.

Project Overview

  • Driver: cost escalation of VMware licensing
  • Review and assess alternative virtualisation platforms

Project Benefits

  • Switch to Proxmox and reduce the pressure on the IT budget
  • Utilise Promxmox hyper-converged infrastructure capabilities to avoid a costly storage upgrade

The Challenge

Port Regis School faced escalating costs following the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom. The school’s management recognised the significant price increases associated with renewing a three-year VMware deal and anticipated further cost hikes in the future. These constraints created a critical moment for the school to explore alternative solutions that would maintain high performance and resilience without straining the budget. The priority for the school was the continued delivery of an outstanding education, whilst concurrently improving its infrastructure and achieving value for money.

The Solution

Blueloop brought extensive expertise to the table, offering tailored consultancy and implementation to meet the school’s specific needs.

  • Independent Product Review: Blueloop conducted an impartial assessment of available virtualisation solutions that aligned with the school’s operational and financial goals.
  • Recommendation: Proxmox, an open-source hypervisor solution, was proposed as an alternative to VMware. Blueloop’s confidence in this recommendation stemmed from successful deployments of Proxmox in similar environments.
  • Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Implementation: Utilisation of server disks to enable Proxmox’s built-in shared storage functionality provided robust snapshots and data protection. This also avoided the need for a costly new SAN, achieving a cost-neutral infrastructure upgrade.
  • Seamless Migration: The migration process was meticulously planned and executed, ensuring zero business disruption.
  • Enhanced Backup Support: With the release of Veeam’s support for Proxmox, Blueloop implemented an efficient backup strategy tailored for the new environment. Leveraging their vast experience, Blueloop took on the responsibility of monitoring and managing backups, alleviating any concerns for the school.

The Impact

Port Regis School commended the seamless upgrade process, which exceeded expectations and underscored Blueloop’s expertise in delivering cost-effective and reliable IT solutions.

  • Cost Savings: The shift to Proxmox eliminated recurring VMware licensing fees, offering significant long-term savings.
  • Streamlined Operations: Proxmox’s hyper-converged capabilities simplified infrastructure management.
  • Smooth Transition: The migration was completed without disrupting the school’s day-to-day operations, a testament to Blueloop’s skilled team.
  • Future-Ready Infrastructure: With Veeam’s support for Proxmox, the school now benefits from a modern backup solution optimized for its needs.

Why Blueloop

Blueloop specialises in helping organisations make strategic IT decisions that align with their goals while staying within budget. For Port Regis School, the team’s deep technical knowledge, independent approach, and commitment to excellence ensured the success of this project.

For all enquiries, please call 01460 271055 or use the enquiry form below.

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