U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Uses Dozen of NAS

Iomega Corp., an EMC company, announced that the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), the national governing body for Olympic skiing and snowboarding and the parent organization for the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding, has standardized on Iomega’s industry-leading small and midsized business network attached storage (NAS) devices for all of the networking storage requirements at its new state-of-the-art training facility in Park City, Utah.

While USSA-trained athletes are winning medals in Vancouver, the USSA is utilizing more than a dozen of Iomega’s small and mid-size business rackmount and desktop NAS units to consolidate data backup, provide mass storage for athlete data files, and network compatibility with existing VMware virtualization systems.

"The management and safe-keeping of an organization’s data is often vital to its overall success, and that’s certainly the case with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team," said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega and Consumer and Small Business Products Division of EMC. "At Iomega, we take a lot of pride in knowing that a sophisticated organization like the USSA has standardized on our NAS products to store, manage and protect the data behind some of the greatest athletes in the world."

Jon Larson, Information Technology Director for the USSA, said finding the right networking storage solution was the final element in putting together the IT backbone of the USSA’s new Center of Excellence.

"During the transition from the old facility, the IT department was able to update the majority of the infrastructure including phone, network, audiovisual and security systems," said Larson. "The missing piece was finding a cost effective storage solution that would allow us to consolidate our backup solutions, provide mass storage for our content repositories, and provide compatibility with our existing VMware virtualization systems. This is where Iomega’s NAS storage solutions shine, exceeding my expectations with features like replication, active directory integration, and media serving."

To manage all of the digital data coming from the action on the slopes as well as USSA’s strength training systems, computer lab, multimedia rooms for performance analysis, equipment workshops and a full sport science lab, Larson is utilizing several units each of Iomega’s StorCenter ix4-200d 8TB Desktop NAS Server and Iomega’s StorCenter Pro ix4-200r NAS Rackmount Server, in 2TB and 8TB capacities.

Benefits and Features
of the Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d NAS Server
Based on industry-leading enterprise-class EMC storage technologies, the affordable four-drive StorCenter ix4-200d is a desktop NAS appliance for small businesses, distributed offices and home office networks that require advanced data storage and protection features. Â Up and running in a matter of four mouse clicks and a few minutes, the StorCenter ix4-200d provides up to 8TB of networked storage that easily integrates with existing infrastructure for expanded storage, file-sharing and backup of critical business data.

The StorCenter ix4-200d delivers advanced features such as iSCSI block-level access for efficient storage utilization, device-to-device replication to network targets for business continuity and file recovery, multiple RAID configurations for the highest level of data protection, Windows Active Directory support, remote access and management, IP security camera support, a front panel LCD and QuikTransfer button for easy one-touch copying of selected files, and a first in this category of NAS products: VMware certification for virtualization installations – all at a starting price of less than $700.00.

Benefits and Features of the Iomega StorCenter Pro ix4-200r Rackmount NAS Server
Powered by the robust EMC LifeLine Linux operating system, the StorCenter Pro ix4-200r delivers economical file sharing, fast data throughput, cross-platform support and world class enterprise level features for today’s small to medium businesses and remote work groups.

The StorCenter Pro ix4-200r provides up to 8TB of networked storage to business users that require the easiest and most technologically advanced way to share, secure and protect their most important data. This four-drive NAS rackmount server offers such advanced features as iSCSI block-level access, multiple RAID configurations, folder quotas support, jumbo frames, Windows Active Directory support, remote access and management, IP security camera support and a first for its rackmount storage capacity and price category: VMware Ready certification for virtualization installations – all at a starting price of less than $1,600.00.

USSA’s Center of Excellence
Opened last May on five acres in Park City, UT, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association’s Center of Excellence is a national training and education center providing world-class training facilities and serving as an educational resource for the USSA’s athletes, coaches, officials, clubs, parents, volunteers and other stakeholders nationwide. The national center is designed to bring the sport together as a unified team and is an international showcase for American skiing and snowboarding. It is the most significant project for athletes in the USSA’s more than century-old history.

Designed to serve today’s athletes with world-class facilities and to strengthen the development of tomorrow’s Olympic skiers and snowboarders, the Center was funded with private donations from the USSA’s Legacy Campaign endowment fund started in 1999. The 85,000-square foot Center of Excellence blends the best of high-performance athletic facilities including strength-training areas, a gymnasium, ski and snowboarding ramps, trampolines, a nutrition center and recovery/rehabilitation facilities. It also encompasses educational areas for athletes, coaches and clubs such as a computer lab, multimedia rooms for performance analysis and equipment workshops, as well as a full sport science lab.

The USSA has more than 30,000 members, including athletes, coaches and officials.

Compatibility
The Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d and StorCenter Pro ix4-200r NAS Servers are compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux PCs. The interface is localized for 11 languages (including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, German, and Russian).

Price and Availability
The 2TB Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d NAS Server is available worldwide for $699.99, the 4TB model is $899.99, and the 8TB model is $1,899.99.

The 2TB Iomega StorCenter Pro ix4-200r NAS Rackmount Server is available worldwide for $1,599.99, the 4TB model is also available worldwide for $2,399.99, and the 8TB model is available for $3,599.99. (All prices are U.S. suggested retail.) All models include a three-year warranty (with registration).