Thunderbird School Flies Higher With NetApp

Netapp, Inc. has helped the Thunderbird School of Global Management reduce hardware and administrative costs for its IT network while expanding services for the school’s students.

By implementing NetApp MetroCluster and Ethernet storage solutions, Thunderbird has been able to take its business global while maximizing availability and minimizing costs.

Prior to adopting NetApp technology, Thunderbird was trying to expand its courses and degree programs and move them online for a wider audience. This meant also expanding IT capabilities from supporting local students to supporting students around the globe, who would need access around the clock. Thunderbird worked with regional systems integrator Trace3 to develop a solution based on NetApp technology to take the school’s programs global.

Thunderbird first upgraded its network backbone to 10 Gigabit Ethernet, which dramatically increased speed and reliability. NetApp 10 Gigabit multiprotocol Ethernet storage was flexible enough to support Thunderbird’s NFS with Linux and UNIX servers, CIFS for Windows desktops, and iSCSI for database applications. The ease of sharing and reusing the NetApp storage was a big benefit, as well as supporting different requirements with one storage system. NetApp Ethernet storage also had the benefit of being less costly than the alternative solutions the school looked at.

As Thunderbird’s online business succeeded, the school moved to a clustered storage model based on NetApp MetroCluster and VMware to continue to grow the school’s business and improve availability. With MetroCluster running on two FAS3050 systems, Thunderbird has had continuous availability since the moment the system was turned on, even in the event of hardware failures. The school has also taken advantage of MetroCluster’s integration with VMware ESXi to provide a completely available environment while reducing server and storage equipment in the data center by approximately 40%. Thunderbird has also saved in power, cooling, and operational costs due to reduced hardware and MetroCluster’s automation and administration simplicity.

"NetApp has transformed our ability to respond promptly, and cost effectively, to support the changing needs of our business," said Johan Reinalda, senior director of Network Engineering Administration at Thunderbird. "And with NetApp solutions simplifying storage management and providing continuous availability, we can continue to support our growing business without being constrained by administrative, hardware, or data center space needs."

"Thunderbird’s success in the data center is an example of a confluence of NetApp technologies and partnerships coming together to provide a compelling solution to meet their online business needs," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Solutions and Alliances at NetApp. "By bringing together the right technologies to improve availability and reduce hardware and administrative needs, this school was able to transform and expand its business. We’re proud to help the Thunderbird School of Global Management operate on a global scale."