The project client is a leading Russian engineering enterprise specializing in the development and manufacture of radio-electronic systems and other complex high-tech products. The company comprises several design bureaus and engineering centers employing hundreds of specialists.
The client faced the task of comprehensively modernizing its IT infrastructure; the goal was to create a modern, secure, and high-performance environment for design engineers utilizing resource-intensive 3D modeling and design software.The enterprise sought an end-to-end solution that would enable a complete transition away from foreign virtualization technologies and establish a secure environment for handling intellectual property.
To execute this project, the company engaged ICL Services, a firm with extensive expertise in building infrastructure solutions based on domestic software. The project was carried out with the involvement of specialists from ICL Astra Services, a joint venture between Astra Group and ICL Services.
Key Challenges
- Create a fault-tolerant platform to host over 300 virtual desktops, including at least 60 high-performance workstations for engineers working with 3D graphics and CAD software.
- Ensure high performance and low latency when running graphics-intensive applications on virtual desktops.
- Enable centralized management of IT resources and data, thereby improving overall manageability and security.
- Reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) of the infrastructure through resource consolidation and the use of thin clients.
Implemented our solution
Project Initiation
The team conducted an in-depth analysis of the future solution's architecture. The result was a comprehensive approach based on an integrated ecosystem, ensuring guaranteed compatibility among all key components.
Instead of a collection of products from various vendors, the team selected a solution where all elements work "out of the box," simplifying deployment, management, and ongoing maintenance.
The key components of the integrated hardware-software solution included:
- "Brest" virtualization platform — a domestic enterprise-grade virtualization system that combined 13 physical servers into three fault-tolerant clusters (for general virtualization, VDI, and 3D VDI) based on the RAFT algorithm;
- Termidesk VDI — a secure remote work solution for virtual desktop delivery;
- LoudPlay VDI solution — for high-performance remote access to graphics-intensive applications with vGPU support;
- Astra Linux Special Edition — Astra Group’s flagship operating system, ensuring the secure and stable operation of all components;
- ICL Techno hardware (servers and storage systems) — guaranteeing high infrastructure availability and performance.
Project Stages
- Analysis and Requirements Gathering
In-depth assessment of the client's objectives, development of specifications and architecture, and testing of the proposed solution in the Astra Group laboratory. - Hardware and License Delivery
Comprehensive delivery of server hardware, storage systems, and all necessary software licenses. - Deployment and Consulting Support
Software installation, cluster configuration, and acceptance testing. The client decided to carry out the commissioning phase in-house, while the ICL Services team continues to provide comprehensive consulting support, assisting with incident resolution and vendor liaison to ensure the cluster achieves peak performance.
Project Outcomes
ICL Services team implemented centralized management and improved the manageability of the IT infrastructure, thereby reducing the administrative burden on the enterprise's IT department.
The client acquired a modern server IT infrastructure based entirely on domestic solutions, ready to handle restricted-access information and undergo necessary compliance audits. The setup also enables secure remote work for employees, ensuring all data and projects remain within the enterprise's secure data center.
Products and technologies
- ICL Techno hardware
- "Brest" PC SV virtualization platform
- OS Astra Linux Special Edition
- Termidesk VDI
- LoudPlay VDI (vGPU)
Results
- A high-performance environment was created for design engineers, enabling efficient use of resource-intensive 3D applications on virtual desktops.
- The new infrastructure's fault tolerance is guaranteed by a 99.9% SLA.
- 300+ virtual desktops were deployed within the secure infrastructure using Termidesk.
- 50+ virtual servers were migrated to the domestic "Brest" virtualization system.
- CAD system performance increased by 35%.
- The client's infrastructure costs were reduced by 40%.
- Access was ensured for over 10 applications that lack domestic equivalents.