4-step action plan: Equip your institution for blended learning

Have you assessed the tools your data science students need to thrive in a hybrid learning environment?

Regardless of their location for study or instruction, data science students and faculty require high-performance computing power. But the quick fixes that IT departments implemented at the onset of hybrid learning environments—like virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and virtual private networks (VPNs)—just aren’t robust enough to meet the intensive computing needs of these academic environments.

Data science students, researchers, and faculty require an experience that is consistent with their powerful workstation, as lag times and unplanned interruptions may inhibit their productivity. The security vulnerabilities inherent in less-secure, homegrown solutions could prove problematic too, increasing the risk of a breach and resulting in unplanned downtime. What’s more, improvised solutions are likely to run afoul of

procurement for education and security regulations. Given the sheer amount, confidentiality, and value of data they work on, data scientists top the list of ideal targets for hackers. When petabytes of sensitive data are being processed daily over at-home or public connections, securing intellectual property and personally identifiable information is imperative. Ultimately, academic institutions must deliver mature blended learning solutions that enable secure remote access to the horsepower that an on-campus setup provides.

Educational decision-makers can utilize the steps outlined in this guide to select the optimal tools that enhance the productivity of their faculty, researchers, and students who depend on workstation-class resources.

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Step 1: Assess your current learning environment

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The first step is to take stock of how well your existing learning environment serves the needs of compute-intensive data scientists. This assessment will help you understand where the strengths and weaknesses lie in your current approach.

The shift to having hybrid data teams for the long haul brings challenges and opportunities to rethink the current learning environment, compared to one that is built and optimized specifically with flexible workstation access in mind. HP Anyware is remote desktop software that connects any device to a Z by HP Workstation. It delivers an excellent user experience, cost efficiencies over other approaches, and secure remote access to workstation resources.

Start with end-user devices Can laptops or your current desktops and workstations provide all the compute performance your students and instructors need?

Identify data-access requirements and regulations Do your data teams need regular, fast access to data stored on-site? What specific regulations must they follow in the storage and processing of the data?

Factor in complexity Is there money appropriated for initial expenditures on virtual learning environments as well as yearly funding? Will you be able to deliver the performance needed, and will virtual learning environments be secure enough?

A 4-step action plan: Equip your institution for blended learning

Step 2: Plan for performance needs

HP Anyware1 A solution for higher educational institutions

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After assessing your current educational environment, start considering what an optimal blended learning environment for your institution would look like. Delivering workstation performance over relatively slow broadband networks is fundamentally more difficult than doing it over a LAN, so new approaches may be needed to support remote data teams and provide access to applications and data.

Z by HP delivers a purpose-built solution stack for remote workstation access that rivals the experience of working locally, with significant performance, cost, and security advantages over other approaches.

• Z Desktop Workstations can be centralized and rack-mounted, keeping compute power close to the data and providing dedicated remote performance for high-intensity workflows

• HP Anyware provides high performance, high-fidelity remote workstation access

• HP Anyware manages access between data science faculty, students, IT staff and pools of workstations availableEven institutions that are dedicated to server-based or

cloud-based workstation virtualization find that layering HP Anyware on top of their existing solutions can dramatically improve performance and end-user experience.

Survey data workloads: Which are your most performance-intensive workloads?

Determine infrastructure suitability Do virtual or cloud instances offer the performance and security those workloads need?

Investigate infrastructure options How do the cost and performance of various potential solutions compare?

A 4-step action plan: Equip your institution for blended learning

Step 3: Survey system requirements for higher education institutions

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Having identified the current state of your learning environment and begun understanding your institution's overall immediate and future needs, consider the requirements of faculty members, researchers, and students. You may find significant variation, from the frequency of their workstation access to the types of devices they need to access those resources.

HP Anyware offers the unique ability to move desktop workstations from data scientists’ desks to the compute room. Install HP Anyware on Z devices1 and enable them to access those resources both in the office and remotely. HP ZBook laptops can be used at home when only certain tasks require the additional performance of a racked workstation. Individual workstations can have one dedicated user or be available to a broader group of users to be checked out when needed.

Decide what end-user devices are needed Will some work be done from the end-user device, or will the device only be a portal to a remote workstation?

Identify workstation usage patterns Do specific workstation users need constant or more sporadic access than others?

Identify the tasks that require dedicated performance Which workflows need the full workstation performance to ensure projects and assignments are completed in a timely manner without errors?

A 4-step action plan: Equip your institution for blended learning

Step 4: Evaluate security ramifications

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Allowing distributed teams to work on data-intensive projects from outside the controlled confines of campus facilities heightens the need to protect that data. When devices that aren’t institution-issued become involved, IT decision-makers become rightly concerned about unauthorized access and compromise.

Educational institutions that adopt HP Anyware never let data leave their data centers, because HP Anyware is based on a centralized computing model and infrastructure. All processing and visual rendering is done on the racked workstations within a secured environment. The only information that HP Anyware transmits over the broadband network is the pixel information to draw the display on the target user device; the underlying data is never exposed, eliminating that attack surface.

Assess all the locations of your data Are you comfortable having critical data outside IT’s control?

Gauge priorities of performance versus security Could your performance needs compromise the demands of data protection?

Integrate connectivity and security How good is your institution's interoperation with measures like VPNs and single sign-on?

A 4-step action plan: Equip your institution for blended learning

Accelerate data science workflows for educational institutions Strategies for blended learning in an educational environment must satisfy rigorous cost, performance, and security requirements. For institutions, this often means traditional virtualization and remote desktop tools are not the best approach.

HP Anyware offers innovative solutions with world-class performance, security, and reliability at considerable savings and predictable cost.

Z empowers educational institutions with the advanced, data-centric tools they need to streamline academic and administrative data workflows.

1. Network access required. HP Anyware supports Windows®, Linux® and MacOS® host environments and Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS®, Android®, and Chrome OS® end-user devices. For more on the system requirements for installing HP Anyware, refer to the Admin Guides at: https://docs.teradici.com/find/product/cloud-access-software. HP Anyware is basedon the Teradici CAS software and licensing platform and is available through a 1- and 3-year subscription. HP Anyware subscriptions are based on the number of concurrent PCoIP connections used (pay for the number of host connections, not the software) with a minimum order quantity of 5. HP Anyware subscriptions gives you a license key to activate a connection to a hosted desktop as well as support and updates to the PCoIP Agents, PCoIP Clients and the Anyware Manager available for download here: https://docs.teradici.com/find/product/cloud-access-software. For a limited time, an HP Anyware subscription also includes access and support for ZCentral Remote Boost and ZCentral Connect and is available for purchase through an HP Teradici seller or by contacting sales at: hp.com/Anyware

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