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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].

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