Lipson Community College is a secondary school based in Plymouth with 1450 students
between the ages of 11 and 18. The specialized nature of the school’s curriculum, combined
with Lipson’s focus on each matriculating student, requires a robust IT infrastructure to
support the school’s daily communications and data storage needs. Indeed, Lipson was the
first school in the region to use electronic white boards for classroom instruction, and over the
years they’ve invested heavily in information and communications technology.

But, as Colin Hampton, Lipson’s Network Manager admits, with user base of 1700, it’s a
challenge to address every IT need on a limited fixed budget. It’s a particular challenge to
meet the ever-increasing demand for data storage – a daunting challenge for any learning
institution, let alone one as diverse and specialized as Lipson. According to Hampton, “Just
throwing more capacity on to the network did not seem a cost effective or efficient solution to
the problem. A combination of user education with flexible storage quotas seemed the
answer.”

Hampton is charged with managing an information and communications network (ICT) that
consists of Windows 2003 Server and Windows XP Pro client PCs on a mainly wired LAN
with a 1G fibre backbone distributing the LAN to main areas of the College and 100Mb
switched copper to the desktop. Small wireless LANs have been installed in specific areas.
Servers include two domain Controllers which are also file and print servers and five
application servers. The ICT encompasses over 750 PCs and laptops.

“We tried using the built in Windows disk quota feature but that was difficult to manage and it
was not flexible enough,” said Hampton. “We searched the Internet and learned about
Northern Storage Suite, which offered the flexibility, centralized management and reporting
we needed, as our storage needs continued to escalate.“

Hampton originally installed Northern Storage Suite in 2002/2003 and has since standardized
their storage management on the Northern storage platform.

“Northern Storage Suite has allowed us to regulate the use of storage space to suit the
resources we have available while enabling us to meet increased demand in a planned
manner – without resorting to the typically reactive, quick-fix approach of just adding more
storage.”

Hampton uses the suite to set quotas on an individual or group level. He also finds the file
blocking feature powerful and effective, and its integration with Active Directory simplifies
overall management. The reporting engine gives Hampton insight into usage trends and is
instrumental in anticipating and meeting demand and maximizing existing storage capacity.

“Northern Storage Suite has enabled us to manage users’ storage requirements efficiently,
effectively and flexibly without necessarily resorting to additional expenditure on hardware,”
Hampton says, adding, “Plus, Pillar, our value added reseller, has always provided very useful
1st level support, usually resolving issues that crop up over the telephone. When we had a
particularly difficult problem that required more in-depth investigation, they assisted by putting
us in touch with the correct people at Northern, helping with the data gathering and enabling
us to reach an expeditious resolution.”

Hampton sums up by emphasizing that Northern Storage Suite “achieves what it sets out to
do” – which may appear to be a simple thing, but as anyone who’s experienced firsthand the
gap that often exists between a software’s promise and what it actually delivers, it is about as
good an endorsement as a software vendor can hope for.