In Texas, the Livingston Independent School District sought a network solution that would support its more than 4,100 students and at the same time be simple enough to manage internally, without having to bring in costly IT personnel to the rural area.

At the University of Massachusetts, the Isenberg School of Management had outgrown its network storage infrastructure and was seeking to streamline operations, improve storage architecture and conserve resources.

And the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary was looking for a reliable wireless Internet infrastructure for its library and classrooms that would not require a big budget outlay.

What these schools and others worldwide have in common is that they turned to D-Link and its dedicated Government/Education Program to find cost-effective, easy to implement solutions.

Included in the program are a wide selection of products, discounted pricing, state contract listings for easy purchasing, a dedicated education sales force and working relationships with a broad network of technology solution providers and value-added resellers (VARs) who specialize in the government and education markets.

"D-Link understands the need to have the latest computing technology in the education field and we work hard to address those needs," said Keith A. Karlsen, executive vice president, D-Link Systems, Inc. "We offer end-to-end networking solutions for every type of deployment at prices schools can afford, whether simply adding wireless to a few classrooms, implementing connections campus-wide or reconfiguring the entire network."

Sanders USD: D-Link's Switch and IP Camera Solution Helps Improve School Safety

"Many of Sanders Unified's schools are in remote areas, and security is very crucial," said M.D. Dbeis, owner of CS&S Computer Systems, a D-Link VAR. "The schools' main goal is education and they want a surveillance system that is reliable. They'd like to concentrate on educating rather than policing."

The school district installed 200 D-Link Pan/Tilt/Zoom network cameras (DCS-6620), a model that features dual codec support, a 10x optical zoom lens, built-in microphone and low-light sensitivity. It also opted for D-Link's outdoor housings, and 8-port and 24-port Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches.

"We were happy with the results," said Dbeis. "The cameras did a great job -- they're listed in OnSSI's approved camera catalog. The D-Link® Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches are very reliable. All these factors helped us decide to go with D-Link."

UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management: Consolidates Servers and Implements Reliable Storage

"A fibre channel (storage) solution was beyond our means," said Dale A. Starr Jr., Senior Systems Administrator & Project Manager at the UMass school. "I started looking at iSCSI. The key was VMware and ESX. I needed something to make that work as a storage platform. I needed SAN storage where these multiple servers could get at it."

He opted for the D-Link xStack Storage® 1x10GbE iSCSI SAN Array (DSN-3400). "I liked it because it was one of the only storage solutions out there with a 10G port on it," said Starr. "That was a big deal. I wanted to make sure it had enough capacity in terms of bandwidth."

"We are now able to manage machines much easier and we can conduct hardware maintenance without bringing machines off line," said Starr. "We're saving a considerable amount of time -- just in downtime savings, which saves us money in the long run."

Texas's Livingston Independent School District: Serving Up Web-Based Learning Programs

In Livingston, Texas, the school district depends on network and Internet connections for everything from day-to-day administration to classroom learning programs. However, at one time the network switches were so cumbersome and high-maintenance that "it took about three rocket scientists from Texas A&M, plus a support team from around the world in order to get the switch programmed correctly and make it run," according to James Dickens, Livingston ISD's technology director.

Livingston is a rural district and doesn't have the budget for onsite vendor support. "Hiring somebody to come out and fix or program a switch is not acceptable," said Dickens. "The switch needs to be simple enough so a reasonable person can program it."

"We went with D-Link because I was able to learn the program and do everything I needed to do inside the switches in just a few minutes," said Dickens, adding that the district purchased 79 xStack® managed switches over a four-year period. "And with D-Link pricing, I can afford to keep a spare switch on the shelf."

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary: Centrally Managed Wireless Access Points

"In general, the solutions we looked at were way too pricey," said David Middleton, network administrator at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. "I was looking for a switching solution we could control centrally and manage 20 to 30 access points (APs) in separate buildings. Yet we needed something inexpensive."

Middleton came across the right switch -- the D-Link 24-Port PoE Gigabit Wireless-Ready Switch (DXS-3227P) -- while browsing hardware online. In the right place at the right time, he saw a D-Link promotion for a free switch demo. "D-Link gave us the central switch for free," said Middleton. "So that was a big selling point, of course." The price was right, and the DXS-3227P met their requirements for centralized management.

Before, the pursuit of knowledge was stymied without comprehensive wireless access. Now, study areas, meeting areas, and classrooms are all covered with high-performance wireless equipment.