Case Study: Ageing Server Estate to Future-Ready Infrastructure
Our case studies showcase how important partnership is to us as well as the transformative impact of technology on teaching and learning.
Bideford College’s server estate had grown over many years, and VMware licensing costs were becoming hard to justify. iCT4 moved all 21 virtual servers to a new Microsoft Hyper V platform over the school holidays, with no downtime for staff or students.
Background
Like many education settings, Bideford College had built its server infrastructure incrementally over the years. The virtualisation platform, running VMware ESXi, had served the college well, but VMware pricing has risen sharply since Broadcom’s takeover and licensing restrictions made it very difficult to justify at renewal. The move to Microsoft Hyper-V on a Windows server 2025 cut costs significantly and let the college run unlimited servers on the same host. This means that the college has plenty of room to grow.
No downtime for staff or students
Like all big infrastructure projects, this one was timed for the school holidays. However, it was important for both students and staff to access the server with as little disruption as possible.
iCT4 managed a live migration of 21 servers, allowing the college to access the new server and old server without any downtime.
iCT4 built and configured two new hosts running Windows Server 2025 Datacenter linked them together as a team, so if one needs maintenance or breaks, the other takes over automatically. Staff and students won’t notice any interruption.
Resilience baked in
New security features such as Secure Boot, Virtual TPM and Shielded VMs were enabled to protect sensitive data.
Paired servers, such as the domain controllers, were placed on separate storage areas, so if one fails its partner keeps the service running. This method provides additional security and if one storage area fails, the other twin keeps the service running.
"Moving away from VMware to Microsoft Hyper-V has been a smooth and vital upgrade for Bideford College. The migration was handled remotely with zero disruption to our daily operations, and the enhanced stability and performance have made a significant difference to our IT infrastructure."
Denver Gown
Network Manager, Bideford College
Impact across the secondary school
With the foundations now in place, Bideford College is well positioned to continue developing its digital environment.
The college can now grow without significant extra hardware, and it no longer pays for an unnecessary license. Both savings are very welcome while costs are rising elsewhere.
The college have been able to reinvest this money in achieving their vision of ensuring outstanding progress for all students.
The partnership between the college and iCT4 has been strengthened and they can proceed confidently having full visibility and control through familiar Microsoft tools.
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