Sheffield Hallam University Opts for Dell Compellent

Dell Inc. is supporting Sheffield Hallam University‘s efforts to enhance learning and teaching for its 35,000 students with Dell Compellent’s Fluid Data storage solution, which sorts, classifies and stores information in the right place.

Transitioning from aging storage area networks (SANs) to Fluid Data, Sheffield Hallam already has doubled its storage capacity, in turn providing students and faculty with efficient, secure access to relevant data information. With Dell Compellent SANs in the school’s two data centres, information moves intelligently between solid state, Fibre Channel and SATA drives.

Sheffield Hallam provides students with access to digital content and tools, enabling them to collaborate and learn anywhere, any time. For example, students at Sheffield Hallam capture and upload video content onto the computers as part of their coursework. University faculties then leverage the school’s burgeoning IT infrastructure, which consists of 3,000 computers and 350 physical and virtual servers, to review and assess the students’ work.

Fluid Data also is helping the university meet its environmental goals, reducing campus energy use and the university’s carbon footprint. Each of the Dell Compellent SANs delivers twice the capacity, and performance is also doubled, yet the Fluid Data storage consumes the same amount of power as legacy SANs, making them twice as energy-efficient. The university also has reduced its hardware footprint by more than 60 percent. Specifically, for each SAN, capacity has expanded from 23TB to 50TB, performance has doubled from 10,000 IOPS (input-outputs per second) to 20,000 IOPS, and the university’s storage footprint has decreased from 84 to 30 rack units.

By using Dell Compellent Remote Instant Replay the university can also replicate data between its two data centres without using full-volume clones. This significantly reduces the bandwidth requirements and expedites recovery in the event of disaster. The built-in automation makes it possible for the university’s small IT department to easily protect data for students and staff.

Compellent Fluid Data technology combines a data movement engine, intelligent software and modular hardware that can help cut costs up to 80 percent. The Fluid Data architecture provides block-level intelligence to automatically place data on the right storage tier to optimise performance and maximise cost savings. Dell Compellent’s open design integrates seamlessly with applications and infrastructure, enabling customers to scale on a single platform and add capabilities without onerous ‘forklift’ upgrades.

Dave Thornley, head of networks infrastructure at Sheffield Hallam University, said:" In addition to being the only solution that could actually deliver the performance we needed, the amount of flexibility we get from the Dell Compellent architecture in terms of administration and management is phenomenal. It’s very, very simple to use."

Stephen Murdoch, vice president and general manager of Dell’s EMEA Public Sector and Large Enterprise business, said:" Sheffield Hallam is at the forefront of deploying an infrastructure that supports access to digital content in curriculum and across the campus. Dell Compellent Fluid Data technology is the perfect solution as the Sheffield Hallam IT team enhances the learning environment while managing data growth, reducing long-term costs and simplifying the management of the school’s infrastructure."