Part of Step Fwd IT’s job in providing IT support for schools is to ensure our work does not intervene with yours. School support solutions are no different to those in corporate business, and nor should it be. Subsequently, we want school solutions to first consider their IT safety and performance, before worrying about downtime or disturbance. Because to put it simply, we trust our engineers to work without obstruction, and we have the track-record to prove it.
Case Study: Kilbreda College
Step Fwd IT provides managed IT services for schools like Kilbreda College in the form of an IT manager leading critical infrastructure management and monitoring. Initially, upon engagement by Kilbreda, the Step Fwd IT team uncovered several concerning risks within their infrastructure:
Potential for Disruption
Their configuration of infrastructure meant that server operations were only optimal when all equipment was in operation. This meant, failure of any component had a direct impact on all servers.
Insufficient Backup
The backup “solution” was not capable of backing up all servers, leaving critical systems and data at risk. Additionally, the restoration of these critical servers could typically take up to four days to complete.
Ageing Infrastructure
A significant portion of the critical equipment was nearing, or had already reached, the end of the warranty date.
Step Fwd IT's School Solution
Without doing a technology deep-dive, the Step Fwd IT team proposed a 3-node server solution that utilised the latest Microsoft Storage Spaces technology. This Hyper-Converged solution eliminates the need for a dedicated storage device by centralising each server’s internal storage to work as one.
Above all else, we had to fulfil our promise to provide a disruption-free experience to the school. This was undeniably achieved as the project was successfully implemented over a school holiday period so that the school saw no downtime in their operations.
Reaping the Rewards...
These changes have provided significant benefits to Kilbreda’s digital learning solutions:
Reduced Costs
Through unification and reinforcement of storage, the school has experienced a reduction in their IT system complexity and subsequently their costs.
Minimised Risk
By removing the dependence on a dedicated storage device, the risk of lost data and failing systems is drastically lowered.
Bolstered Adaptability
This improved adaptability comes via increased availability and redundancy by sharing storage across the 3-node system. With this in place, the school’s system can tolerate the failure of any two nodes at a single time and remain functional.
Improved Scalability
Each node can have its storage and performance capacity increased with the addition of disks and hard drives. In addition, a further node can be added to the cluster to obtain the same type of improvements.
Reduced Environmental Impact
Point often overlooked, Step Fwd IT were able to re-purpose numerous parts of the school’s old infrastructure to form part of the new backup solution. This minimised the price of constructing an entirely new system and limited any ecological consequences.
Read the full Kilbreda College Case Study Paper here:
Need IT Solutions for your School?
Step Fwd IT delivered Kilbreda with both an infrastructure refresh and a fortified backup solution, giving them a sound disaster recovery system. Ultimately, this means their data and servers can be restored within seconds and minutes, rather than days and weeks.
We can deliver the same school support solutions for you.
If your school needs disruption-free IT solutions, get in contact with the Step Fwd IT Team today!
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