USE CASE - EDUCATION

Overland-Tandberg’s RDX QuikStor complements cloud data integrity

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The Problem:

In the daily operation of a children’s day nursery, a large amount of information is collected and stored. Information can be classified into two categories – essential business operating data to support the day-to-day running of the business and more critical support information for the ongoing welfare of the attending children.

As with most small businesses, the children’s day nursery does not have dedicated IT resource. So, it’s down to the practitioners and the nursery managers to accurately record the progress of each child, whilst the management team secures staff and business information. Therefore, ease of use and robust data capture methods are essential.

Within the company data volumes amount to around 120GB. Data is growing exponentially at around 40 percent year on year, as further technology and applications are embraced and as the business expands its child place allocation. They were initially enticed to look at web-based, or cloud computing, due to significant cost savings and productivity leaps they could make without having to maintain traditional networked hardware devices.

However, ongoing use across 18 months highlighted issues frequently referred to, and documented as, ‘Holes in the Cloud’. At first it was more of an inconvenience, slight delays and taking just a few minutes to access services, upload and retrieve information. As time progressed and their data set grew larger, they noticed significant downtime periods of the cloud, one of which scaled into nine hours. In addition, the supporting bandwidth is dependent on the telecom service provider. An if the service provider fails, the nursery would remain without data.

The Solution:

Therefore, it was becoming obvious that the nursery needed a hybrid solution to capitalize on the cloud that would ultimately provide a watertight mix of web-based computing, but with fast, disk-based backup and retrieval of information locally.

The management team started the process of identifying a fast access, secure, automated backup and recovery solution that was resilient enough to withstand the wear and tear of a nursery environment and could easily be used by practitioners who are dedicated to childcare, not IT provision. They wanted to employ a total “set and forget” solution that was fast, rugged and ultra-reliable. They found the bridge they were looking for with Overland-Tandberg’s RDX QuikStor™ and 500GB RDX cartridge – a solution that combines the simplicity of direct-attached storage with the speed and flexibility of hard disk.

Now that the RDX QuikStor is installed, the nurseries have the capability to simply restore from the RDX system in the event of server failure or cloud outage. The company feels able to confidently draw information from cloud applications onto the server, so all business data is now entrusted to the RDX technology.

 

Reliable data protection plugs the hole

At the end of each day, the RDX cartridges are seamlessly slipped into the managing director’s briefcase and transported home for full disaster protection. The ruggedized casing of the RDX media withstands all vibrations, movement and rough handling for the next ten years. With RDX, the day nursery achieved an ultimate hybrid solution that plugs every hole that cloud computing currently presents to small businesses.

Products Used in the Solution:

RDX QuikStor – reliable, removable and secure

  • 1 RDX® QuikStor
  • 500GB Media

“The RDX system from Overland-Tandberg has given total peace of mind that we are now operating with the best of all technologies but at a great price point per GB. We cannot operate within OFSTED guidelines without permanent and easy access to all the vital information about the children in our care, so being able to demonstrate full compliance, with little ongoing effort, is significant.”

“What we liked about the RDX system from Overland-Tandberg in testing was that it was extremely easy to implement and run – a total plug-and-play solution with automated, seamless backup and recovery, leaving us to focus on what we do best – outstanding childcare.”

Will Pointon

Managing Director, Angmering Day Nurseries