<b><i>Case Study:</b></i> A Windows Server 2008 Early Adopter Talks About Taking The Plunge

Quattlebaum, Grooms, Tull & Burrow PLLC (“QGTB”) is a regional law firm with offices in Little Rock, Springdale and Jonesboro, AR. Founded in July 2000 with nine lawyers, our firm has grown to employ 32 attorneys, with five more expected to join us in the next six months. With our firm increasingly serving larger corporations, we are positioning our attorneys and support staff ' whether they are working in the office or at remote locations ' to better organize and present evidence during trials and settlement negotiations.

Our Business Needs

Last year, we recognized that our computer network was no longer providing quick and secure access to our applications and resources. We have about 90 workstations and 10 servers equipped with Windows-based platforms that run some very large, database-heavy software, including CT Summation iBlaze. This solution enables us to track, store and organize all of our case materials, such as scanned or electronic transcripts, documents, pictures and audio or video files. During a trial, we often have thousands and thousands of these images that our professionals need to immediately retrieve from wherever they may be working.

Trying to access this information over a virtual private network (“VPN”) line or even a dedicated T1 line was just too slow, cutting into our productivity and ability to efficiently serve our clients. Some users tried to work around this challenge by copying particular cases to a local hard drive and then taking this second computer with them along with their laptops. But allocating a second computer was not a viable, long-term solution. In addition to the extra cost and maintenance, we had too many people working offline with potentially dated information instead of relying on current information from the network application. Plus, many of our cases are highly complex with too much information to store on a portable hard drive.

The Solution

In October 2007, we began discussions for a long-term IT solution; one that provided flexibility, security and offered centralized access to our software applications. We wanted our professionals working on local workstations and remotely be able to share, view and access the same, latest information and files. Under the advisement of our local IT vendor, The Computer Hut LLC, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, our firm agreed to deploy Windows Server 2008 with the Terminal Services (TS) RemoteApp.

We were comfortable with our vendor's recommendation that Windows Server 2008 would offer faster and more reliable remote access and eliminate the need for those second computers. Although we would be among the first law firms to install the new software, we were eager to take advantage of its advanced features that would increase our speed and ability to access programs.

The Deployment

In November 2007, we purchased a new server with the plan to run Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services in parallel during the transition. We considered the 32-bit version, but chose the 64-bit for its increased memory limit and as a forward-looking choice. Our local vendor built the server manually over a period of approximately 20 hours, including setup and verifying functionality. We went live with surprisingly few complications related to application compatibility.

We migrated to Windows Server 2008 as new Hewlett-Packard (“HP”) servers were purchased and continued upgrading existing servers as needed. Our deployment included these Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services applications:

• Terminal Services (TS) RemoteApp. Enables the firm to provide access to standard Windows-based programs from virtually any location to users of any Windows Vista or XP Professional based client.
• Terminal Services (TS) License Service. Allows terminal servers to obtain and manage Terminal Services client access licenses (“TS CALs”) for the firm's devices and users that are connecting to a terminal server.
• Terminal Services (TS) Web Access. Enables users to access RemoteApp programs or the full terminal server desktop from a Web site. By default, the TS Web Access Web site enables our lawyers to point to a single terminal server or to a single terminal server farm to populate the list of RemoteApp programs that appear on the site.

The Results

Our implementation has provided a more convenient, flexible and cost-effective way for our lawyers and support staff to access centralized network resources without the need to provide the whole remote desktop. Applications running remotely can now be integrated with our local users' desktops ' so it all looks, feels, and acts like local applications.

Specific outcomes that we are achieving include the following.

• Improved security by using a HTTP connection (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer) without needing to provide access via a VPN or opening up unwanted ports on firewalls;
• Enabled our professionals to easily and effectively work from any location with no downtime or lengthy network delays;
• Reduced costs by diminishing the need for additional desktop hardware (at approximately $2,000 per extra computer plus maintenance). Our professionals can now run an additional instance of business software on the same computer and run it side-by-side with the local copy;
• Reduced time necessary to train our professionals on applications through Application Presentation, which lessens the complexity needed to provide secure remote access to applications and data; and
• Improved application performance with load-balancing spreading sessions among the least-loaded available resources.

My firm has also realized improvements in support utilities and hardware features since using the HP servers. In particular, access to the HP Integrated Lights-Out (“iLO”) features has provided more reliable remote recovery of servers and services in the event of a serious system error.

Next Up: Increased Security, Virtualization

Increased Security for Remote Users

We are next planning to increase the role of Windows Server 2008 from a security standpoint while responding to the expectations of a growing number of people at our firm who want to work remotely. Our plan is to restrict VPN access to the network to company-owned computers, and anyone working remotely will simply get a URL for TS Web Access. This will reduce the security threat to our network due to a smaller, controlled set of machines gaining full network access by way of VPN. It would also simplify the process of granting remote access to these users.

Server Consolidation and Resource Optimization with Hyper-V

Industry studies show that on average servers operate at far below their capacities, with as much as 80%-90% of their processing power unused. We found that this was also the case at our firm, with some of our servers only utilizing 3%
of their power. This is just wasting our resources while costing us
to maintain them. To address this issue, we are investigating virtual machine technology, which can apply to both server and client hardware. Virtual machine technology enables multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single machine. In particular, Hyper-V, which is a feature of Windows Server 2008, enables one or more operating systems to run simultaneously on the same physical system.

With the support of our local vendor and Microsoft, we plan to install Hyper-V to gain a scalable, reliable and highly available virtualization platform that will enable single physical servers to host the workloads of multiple lines of business servers. We expect that Hyper-V will help us to achieve optimal use of our hardware resources, save costs and provide us with increased agility to support our growing business and client expectations. By consolidating resources, we should put an end to having servers that are for the most part sitting idle while other servers are being stressed out and operating at full capacity. This will also help us with maintenance as we have some applications that are on different maintenance schedules without affecting the performance of other systems that our lawyers are trying to access.

Quattlebaum, Grooms, Tull & Burrow PLLC (“QGTB”) is a regional law firm with offices in Little Rock, Springdale and Jonesboro, AR. Founded in July 2000 with nine lawyers, our firm has grown to employ 32 attorneys, with five more expected to join us in the next six months. With our firm increasingly serving larger corporations, we are positioning our attorneys and support staff ' whether they are working in the office or at remote locations ' to better organize and present evidence during trials and settlement negotiations.

Our Business Needs

Last year, we recognized that our computer network was no longer providing quick and secure access to our applications and resources. We have about 90 workstations and 10 servers equipped with Windows-based platforms that run some very large, database-heavy software, including CT Summation iBlaze. This solution enables us to track, store and organize all of our case materials, such as scanned or electronic transcripts, documents, pictures and audio or video files. During a trial, we often have thousands and thousands of these images that our professionals need to immediately retrieve from wherever they may be working.

Trying to access this information over a virtual private network (“VPN”) line or even a dedicated T1 line was just too slow, cutting into our productivity and ability to efficiently serve our clients. Some users tried to work around this challenge by copying particular cases to a local hard drive and then taking this second computer with them along with their laptops. But allocating a second computer was not a viable, long-term solution. In addition to the extra cost and maintenance, we had too many people working offline with potentially dated information instead of relying on current information from the network application. Plus, many of our cases are highly complex with too much information to store on a portable hard drive.

The Solution

In October 2007, we began discussions for a long-term IT solution; one that provided flexibility, security and offered centralized access to our software applications. We wanted our professionals working on local workstations and remotely be able to share, view and access the same, latest information and files. Under the advisement of our local IT vendor, The Computer Hut LLC, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, our firm agreed to deploy Windows Server 2008 with the Terminal Services (TS) RemoteApp.

We were comfortable with our vendor's recommendation that Windows Server 2008 would offer faster and more reliable remote access and eliminate the need for those second computers. Although we would be among the first law firms to install the new software, we were eager to take advantage of its advanced features that would increase our speed and ability to access programs.

The Deployment

In November 2007, we purchased a new server with the plan to run Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services in parallel during the transition. We considered the 32-bit version, but chose the 64-bit for its increased memory limit and as a forward-looking choice. Our local vendor built the server manually over a period of approximately 20 hours, including setup and verifying functionality. We went live with surprisingly few complications related to application compatibility.

We migrated to Windows Server 2008 as new Hewlett-Packard (“HP”) servers were purchased and continued upgrading existing servers as needed. Our deployment included these Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services applications:

• Terminal Services (TS) RemoteApp. Enables the firm to provide access to standard Windows-based programs from virtually any location to users of any Windows Vista or XP Professional based client.
• Terminal Services (TS) License Service. Allows terminal servers to obtain and manage Terminal Services client access licenses (“TS CALs”) for the firm's devices and users that are connecting to a terminal server.
• Terminal Services (TS) Web Access. Enables users to access RemoteApp programs or the full terminal server desktop from a Web site. By default, the TS Web Access Web site enables our lawyers to point to a single terminal server or to a single terminal server farm to populate the list of RemoteApp programs that appear on the site.

The Results

Our implementation has provided a more convenient, flexible and cost-effective way for our lawyers and support staff to access centralized network resources without the need to provide the whole remote desktop. Applications running remotely can now be integrated with our local users' desktops ' so it all looks, feels, and acts like local applications.

Specific outcomes that we are achieving include the following.

• Improved security by using a HTTP connection (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer) without needing to provide access via a VPN or opening up unwanted ports on firewalls;
• Enabled our professionals to easily and effectively work from any location with no downtime or lengthy network delays;
• Reduced costs by diminishing the need for additional desktop hardware (at approximately $2,000 per extra computer plus maintenance). Our professionals can now run an additional instance of business software on the same computer and run it side-by-side with the local copy;
• Reduced time necessary to train our professionals on applications through Application Presentation, which lessens the complexity needed to provide secure remote access to applications and data; and
• Improved application performance with load-balancing spreading sessions among the least-loaded available resources.

My firm has also realized improvements in support utilities and hardware features since using the HP servers. In particular, access to the HP Integrated Lights-Out (“iLO”) features has provided more reliable remote recovery of servers and services in the event of a serious system error.

Next Up: Increased Security, Virtualization

Increased Security for Remote Users

We are next planning to increase the role of Windows Server 2008 from a security standpoint while responding to the expectations of a growing number of people at our firm who want to work remotely. Our plan is to restrict VPN access to the network to company-owned computers, and anyone working remotely will simply get a URL for TS Web Access. This will reduce the security threat to our network due to a smaller, controlled set of machines gaining full network access by way of VPN. It would also simplify the process of granting remote access to these users.

Server Consolidation and Resource Optimization with Hyper-V

Industry studies show that on average servers operate at far below their capacities, with as much as 80%-90% of their processing power unused. We found that this was also the case at our firm, with some of our servers only utilizing 3%
of their power. This is just wasting our resources while costing us
to maintain them. To address this issue, we are investigating virtual machine technology, which can apply to both server and client hardware. Virtual machine technology enables multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single machine. In particular, Hyper-V, which is a feature of Windows Server 2008, enables one or more operating systems to run simultaneously on the same physical system.

With the support of our local vendor and Microsoft, we plan to install Hyper-V to gain a scalable, reliable and highly available virtualization platform that will enable single physical servers to host the workloads of multiple lines of business servers. We expect that Hyper-V will help us to achieve optimal use of our hardware resources, save costs and provide us with increased agility to support our growing business and client expectations. By consolidating resources, we should put an end to having servers that are for the most part sitting idle while other servers are being stressed out and operating at full capacity. This will also help us with maintenance as we have some applications that are on different maintenance schedules without affecting the performance of other systems that our lawyers are trying to access.