Information Technology Division Media Contacts: Jude Davis, 919 515-1075 Alan Galloway, 919 515-5483 More quota! Bigger, more stable, easier to use - The university’s new data storage management system will enhance many IT services As January 2005 signals the start of a new calendar year and semester, it also marks the beginning of a new model for centralized data storage at NC State. The Information Technology Division (ITD), in collaboration with NC State colleges, Resource Management and Information Systems, NCSU Libraries and the Office of the Provost, is pleased to announce the launch of the university’s new Storage Management System (SMS). In addition, ITD has developed an innovative web-based Quota Manager to enhance the usability of the new SMS for NC State students, faculty and staff. The first improvement most NC State students, faculty and staff will notice is that they can now double their basic allocation of 150 megabytes of combined IMAP email and network/web network storage in the Unity computing environment. This storage space is also known as “disk space,” “personal file space,” “storage allocation” or simply “quota.” By simply going to the SysNews web site and logging in to "User Info," Unity computing account holders can click on "Quota Manager" and increase their total quota allocation to 300 megabytes. ITD staff expect to make more quota available to Unity account holders in the coming months as they assess and analyze usage patterns for the new system. The new Quota Manager is a first-of-its-kind application that provides computing account management options not available at other universities. Unity account holders can choose how they allocate their total quota among IMAP (email), AFS (personal/web space), and Novell (user profile files), depending upon their individual needs. Since users can more easily manage their own quotas, this is an advantage to IT support staff as well. The university purchased four Dell/EMC Clarion CX700 Enterprise Storage Management Systems in May 2004, and thorough testing and preparation for the conversion to the new system began soon afterward. During the fall, technical staff migrated more than 35 terabytes of data from the existing storage infrastructure to the new SMS. The move was successfully completed in late December. The Enterprise SMS has an initial storage capacity of 96 terabytes, which was split between two separate sites on campus. The data from one site is mirrored to the other site. This provides full disaster recovery capabilities and will enhance the speed and stability of many IT systems, including email. The new SMS system represents a significant investment in the modernization of the NC State technology infrastructure. The purchase was made possible by campus-wide collaborative efforts and innovative cost sharing among academic, administrative and student funding sources. “The expanded capabilities provided by the SMS help prepare the campus for next-generation LITRE activities, Grid computing and other emerging technologies for teaching, learning and research,” according to Sam Averitt, vice provost for Information Technology. “The new SMS will also streamline institutional data storage and reduce the cost per unit.” “The modular architecture of the Enterprise SMS is designed to be highly scalable,” says Alan Galloway, director of ITD Systems. “It will enable the campus to more cost- effectively meet rapidly growing needs for file storage space.” The university’s former file storage system had reached the limit of affordable scalability to meet the file and email storage requirements of the university. Requests for substantial increases in storage allocations for academic computing had grown more urgent in recent years. The outmoded system also led to hardware failures, system outages and the increased risk of data loss. Beginning January 7, 2005, NC State students, faculty and staff can obtain their quota increase by logging into the ITD SysNews site and clicking on “Quota Manager”: http://sysnews.ncsu.edu/ For more information about the features and availability of the new SMS and the Quota Manager, contact the NC State Help Desk at 919-515-HELP, email help@ncsu.edu or visit . http://sysnews.ncsu.edu/. Send your feedback and comments to help@ncsu.edu. Information Technology Division ###

North Carolina State University, Information Technology Division, Hillsborough Building, 2620 Hillsborough Street Raleigh, NC 27695 (919) 515-HELP (4357); help@ncsu.edu Last modified, 01.10.05 Policy Disclaimer