Local Authority at City of Hof Adopting PoINT Softare and Systems

PoINT Software & Systems GmbH announces that the town of Hof has adopted the PoINT Storage Manager to make more efficient use of its available storage space.

This software has enabled the Bavarian local authority to automatically transfer inactive data off its primary storage system. With regard to operating, maintenance and investment costs, the implementation amortized itself within the first year.

An analysis revealed that around 70% of the data on the Hof local authority’s file servers was inactive, meaning that it was no longer being used by employees.

“Users create and save data, but generally don’t delete it. So we started looking for a software solution that would automatically move older data to a cheaper storage system after – in our case – two years,” said Dieter Knöchel, head of data processing, communication and networks, Hof local authority.

During his search, he stumbled across the PoINT Storage Manager, a software solution that distinguishes between ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ data, transferring the latter type within a multi-tier storage structure based on the rules it is given.

In the case of the Hof local authority, this structure involves a two-tier architecture comprising primary and secondary storage. Access to data on the secondary system is preserved, as the PoINT Storage Manager retains a stub on the primary system.

The town of Hof uses the software PoINT Storage Manager to automatically off-load inactive data.

“As a result, the PoINT Storage Manager does exactly what we want, transparently moving more than two-thirds of the total data off our primary storage units. No alternative came close, since the biggest advantage with PoINT Software is that the user doesn’t even notice all of this,” said Gerd Schmidt, head of technology, Hof local authority.

Given the results this solution has produced, the Hof local authority is considering expanding its use of PoINT products.