Based in Glasgow, Scotland, the University of Strathclyde is one of the UK’s top 20 research-intensive universities, with more than 22,000 students. Strathclyde is a leading international technological university, committed to providing innovative research of true societal value to tackle the major challenges of the 21st century. But the University had concerns about its aging IT infrastructure that was nearing the end of its useful life. Many researchers and academic departments were also reaching the upper limit of the storage capacity assigned to them by the IT team and were unable to store everything they needed within the University’s IT environment.
With the education sector experiencing a period of great change, the University looked to take advantage of the opportunity to provide students, staff and researchers with an enterprise-class solution to set them ahead of the field. The University therefore sought new IT infrastructure capable of significant scale to manage an anticipated significant expansion in volumes of data stored by its students and researchers. Since implementation, there has already been a twenty-fold increase, jumping from 14TB to 280TB in the first year alone. This can be attributed to the ever-increasing data requirements of researchers, and the adoption of better data-management habits.
“In reviewing our research data we found many of our researchers using solutions we wouldn’t recommend – storing information on local hard drives, memory sticks and using consumer file-sharing services. We worked with Hitachi Data Systems to implement a solution better suited to our needs, which meant not only significantly increasing available capacity, but also ensuring high-performance, reliability and flexibility,” said Bruce Rodger, head of infrastructure services, University of Strathclyde.
Hitachi Data Systems worked with partner, Capita, to provide an enterprise-class solution covering NAS, SAN and backup based on Hitachi Unified Storage VM with accelerated flash, designed to provide a single platform for all data types. The University maintains an established strategic technology partnership with Capita, focused on delivering technology enhancements for the benefit of student, staff and partners. With the latest implementation, Hitachi Data Systems was able to provide a guarantee of 100 per cent data availability to give the University the nondisruptive, reliable service required to enable students to work securely 24/7.
Through increasing capacity twenty-fold to 2PB and implementing the single management platform provided by Hitachi Command Suite, the University’s IT team is now able to provision resources more quickly and improve end-user experience. The new solution also supports the roll-out of the University’s secure file sharing and storage service, Strathcloud, providing students, researchers and staff with the tools they need to communicate and innovate.
“The University of Strathclyde and Hitachi share similar strategic visions, with a goal of enhancing society through innovation and technology. We are delighted to assist the University on its journey towards a research-led future, supported by an agile, reliable and future-proof infrastructure,” said Richard Gadd, managing director, Hitachi Data Systems, UK and Ireland.
