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Research Institute at the University of Maryland Offloads Large Library of Files to RAID Storage

Rewarded with Lower Costs, Improved Storage Utilization and Faster Time to Disk

The National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) is a research institute at the University of Maryland that works to define current and future language needs of the United States and helps build capacity to meet those needs. Since its founding in 1986, the NFLC has served as the nation's principal institutional resource for strategic planning and drafting of policy for language in the country.

Until recently, all of the NFLC's 40+ users had relied on the organization's existing Windows-based Dell PowerEdge 2600 server with internal disk only for storing their data, audio and video files. With the server quickly nearing capacity, IT support specialist James White knew that it wouldn't be sufficient for much longer. "When I realized that we had accumulated 300-400GB of data in less than two months, it was clear the time had come to find a new storage solution."

White took to the Internet, and his search for "storage units" led him to value-added reseller RADirect. Because he was still unsure of capacity required and budget, RADirect presented him with a range of RAID storage options. His search didn't end with RADirect though. The university issued a call for bids, which resulted in proposals from several additional vendors, including Dell.

Ultimately, RADirect won the bid. The NFLC purchased a fully-populated (8 x 500GB drives) 4TB Nexsan SATABlade SATA array. For White, the decision was easy. "The SATABlade from RADirect cost us about $2,500 per terabyte. None of the other vendors offered enterprise class solutions that even came close to that."

Although price for capacity was the biggest selling point, the SATABlade also offered other features that made it an attractive choice. The compact 1U high form factor, top load design with individual drive independence for easy access, and unique cooling design for unrestricted air flow were all, as White puts it, "a nice bonus".

RADirect arranged for a quick delivery of the SATABlade unit, and it wasn't long before White had it up and running. "After setting up the disks in the Drive Manager, I had to re-boot the server to make them visible to the rest of the system, and voila! All volumes are visible on the network, and access is fast."

Initially, White had a few users test the access with a few large Word and Adobe Acrobat files. Once these proved successful, they began migration of a 500+GB chunk of files to the SATABlade. Noted White, "We were all very pleased to discover that the SATABlade was fully compatible with our Exabyte VXA PacketLoader and Veritas Backup Exec system. Migration would have been stymied if I could not guarantee a backup of the data."

Today, the SATABlade is dedicated to a specific group of "power" users with the largest need for data. These users rely heavily on thousands of large audio (MP3 and WAV) and video/movie files, in addition to smaller text, spreadsheet and database files. User feedback so far has been positive. "Everyone is thrilled that it's now so much easier and faster to access and copy files," says White. The remainder of the users with smaller storage requirements continues to use the Dell server which has now re-claimed much of its storage space previously hoarded by the large audio and video files.

While White is still unsure as to how long it will be before the SATABlade reaches full capacity, he is certain that when the time comes, he will undoubtedly choose another RAID storage solution from RADirect. Of his experience with RADirect he says, "From systems engineering to sales, everyone I dealt with was absolutely focused on getting this project quoted, sold, shipped and up and running within a remarkable timeframe. Thank you!"