News

Liberty U Improves Storage Technology and Processes

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/03/09

Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA is making improvements to its digital storage solution with the implementation of Symantec's Veritas NetBackup and the selection of an off-site location for data storage. With the new system, contents in storage are now more easily recoverable in case a user accidentally deletes a file and is accessible via VPN. Along with the installation, the IT organization is formalizing backup procedures, scheduling, and documentation.

"Having reliable backup storage is a must for any school and is a particularly massive undertaking for a school of Liberty University's size," said Brian Rider, IT project manager. "These projects do a great job of setting up a foundation that can be used to build out a full-fledged disaster recovery model for Information Services."

As of this spring, users are being notified when they approach their individual space limit giving them time to delete old or unwanted files or initiate a request for additional space without affecting business processes that rely on access to the network disk storage system, which is nicknamed "Molly." Notifications for departmental storage space will begin in the summer.

"The e-mail based notifications will ensure that business processes that rely on Molly can operate efficiently and not be impacted by a shortage of storage space," Rider added.

The university has 11,300 residential students and 24,000 students in its distance learning programs.