VMware vSphere & vSAN Infrastructure Refresh for K-12 School District

Modernized VMware vSphere 8.0 and vSAN 8.0 Environment with Dell PowerEdge Servers and Juniper Networking

The Challenge: Aging Virtualization Infrastructure and Unsupported Hardware

This Maryland K-12 school district needed to modernize its virtualization infrastructure to maintain compatibility, improve performance, and support future growth. The district’s existing VMware environment was running on aging hardware that no longer aligned with supported versions of VMware vSphere and VMware vSAN.

To remain on a supported platform, the district required a complete infrastructure refresh capable of supporting VMware vSphere 8.0 and vSAN 8.0 with Express Storage Architecture (ESA). In addition, the organization needed to maintain existing encryption policies while implementing a more resilient and scalable key management solution.

The project also required significant networking upgrades to support high-speed storage and virtualization traffic, including redundant connectivity, vMotion capabilities, and optimized vSAN performance. The district sought a comprehensive solution that would modernize compute, storage, networking, and encryption management while minimizing disruption to existing workloads.

The Solution: VMware vSphere & vSAN Infrastructure Refresh with High-Speed Networking

Data Networks delivered a complete VMware vSphere and vSAN infrastructure refresh designed to support the district’s evolving virtualization and storage requirements.

The deployment included:

• Four (4) Dell PowerEdge R760 servers configured as VMware vSphere 8.0 hosts and vSAN Ready Nodes
• Two (2) Juniper EX4650 48x25G + 8x100G switches deployed as top-of-rack switches
• Four (4) Entrust/HyTrust Key Management nodes, including three on-premises deployments and one Microsoft Azure-hosted instance

Data Networks configured the Juniper switching environment with 100Gbps virtual chassis links and aggregated server connectivity to deliver high-speed, redundant networking for LAN, vSAN, vMotion, and fault tolerance traffic. Each Dell PowerEdge server was configured with multiple 25GbE and 1GbE interfaces to separate management, storage, and virtualization workloads for optimized performance and resiliency.

The team deployed a new VMware vSphere cluster and configured distributed switches for production, vSAN, and vMotion traffic. Using VMware vSAN Enterprise 8.0 with Express Storage Architecture, Data Networks created a high-performance storage cluster capable of supporting advanced storage policies and volume-based encryption.

To secure the environment, Data Networks redeployed the Entrust/HyTrust Key Management infrastructure, including three local virtual appliances leveraging BOSS Controller storage and one cloud-based instance hosted in Microsoft Azure. Synchronization between key management nodes was validated to ensure resiliency and secure encryption management across the environment.

The new infrastructure was designed to support seamless vMotion of existing virtual machines from the legacy cluster into the new vSAN environment, enabling the district to transition workloads while maintaining operational continuity.

The Outcome: High-Performance, Secure, and Future-Ready Virtualization Infrastructure

Through this VMware vSphere and vSAN infrastructure refresh, the district now benefits from a modern, scalable, and fully supported virtualization environment capable of meeting current and future demands.

The deployment of 4 Dell PowerEdge R760 vSAN Ready Nodes and 2 Juniper EX4650 switches provides the performance and redundancy required for mission-critical workloads, while VMware vSAN ESA delivers improved storage efficiency and faster data access.

The implementation of Entrust/HyTrust Key Management and VMware vSAN encryption strengthens the district’s security posture by protecting sensitive data and ensuring compliance with modern cybersecurity standards.

By modernizing its virtualization, storage, networking, and encryption infrastructure, Data Networks delivered a resilient platform that improves operational efficiency, enhances workload mobility, and positions the district for long-term growth and innovation.

Tags: K-12, K12, education, data center, datacenter