Storage | News
Management School Cuts Costs with Software-Defined Storage
Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, AZ has implemented a software-defined storage (SDS) system that has
freed it from vendor lock-in and resulted in significant cost savings.
When Thunderbird's previous storage area network (SAN) controller was
approaching its end of life, the school was faced with the prospect of an
expensive upgrade. The school's volume of data was also growing significantly,
and it needed a cost-effective solution to increase storage capacity.
After investigating its options, the IT team opted to move its "mission
critical storage to a software-based DataCore
SANsymphony-V storage virtualization platform," according to information on
DataCore's site. The school's new software-defined data center runs
SANsymphony-V and VMware on HP servers and storage. Even with the purchase of
all new storage hardware, along with the SANsymphony-V licenses, the new system
cost 60 percent less than a partial hardware upgrade of the old system,
according to the company.
"The DataCore solution has allowed us to take a cost-effective approach when
addressing our storage needs," said Johan Reinalda, senior director of network
infrastructure and support services at Thunderbird School of Global Management,
in a prepared statement. "Due to the software-defined storage approach of
DataCore's SANsymphony-V, we are free to choose any hardware and no longer
locked in to a storage vendor, which gives us greater purchasing power."
Nova Southeastern University, a private
research university in Florida, plans to implement its own software-defined
storage (SDS) system, with Dell PowerEdge servers, DataCore SANsymphony-V and
managed service from Host.net. According to DataCore, the system will enable the
university to virtualize its storage devices and create a centrally managed pool
of unified storage services.
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].
