Case Study: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology achieves high-performance, scalable VDI and frees IT staff with Pure Storage

HKUST creates a Better Learning Environment with Pure Storage

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), a leading research university with about 15,000 students, depended on a campus VDI to deliver standardized, high‑performance desktops for teaching and research. Running VMware Horizon on legacy disk storage, the VDI suffered slow login times, boot‑storm performance issues and capacity constraints from persistent desktops, creating a poor user experience and heavy administrative burden for the IT team.

HKUST migrated to a Pure Storage FlashArray//M10 all‑flash solution, eliminating storage bottlenecks and supporting up to 1,000 concurrent users with faster, more reliable desktop performance. The self‑managing array reduced administration time, cut physical footprint, achieved a 19:1 data‑reduction rate, sped deployments by ~30%, and freed IT staff to focus on innovation—allowing students and faculty to run intensive applications smoothly even on basic laptops.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Samuel S.K. Kwan

Director, Information Technology Services Center