Customer Success Story
Nuvera Fuel Cells
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Problem:
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Data classification, grooming and management for ILM
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As the inaugural IT manager for Nuvera Fuel Cells, Brian Landry was challenged by rapid data growth right from his first day. After six years, with locations in Cambridge and Milan, Nuvera has become one of only five out of 500 companies with “commercial-ready” fuel cell products. Staying in front of this extremely competitive market meant managing large quantities of data.
“Nuvera’s 110 engineers are well organized,” say Landry, “but they generate large amounts of data, which they like to keep indefinitely. They also send each other lots of email with many large attachments. As Nuvera’s engineering staff has grown, so has our data. Exponentially.”
With assistance from Abrevity reseller, TriAxis Storage Solutions, Inc. in Auburn, Mass., Brian initially implemented a low-cost DAS solution, but plans to move to a high-end iSCSI SAN in the future. Given their exponential data growth, Data Classification quickly became critical through an unexpected heavy use of Exchange after Nuvera migrated from Lotus Notes at 4.5 GB. In just three and a half months, with all their attachments, Nuvera’s users hit Exchange’s limit, causing it to shut down. They were using Exchange as a data repository, adding lots of folders and sending attachments at an ever-increasing rate.
Brian implemented Abrevity’s FileData Classifier™ for easier data classification, data grooming and effective file management. It allowed him to classify data with an easy-to-use “drag and drop” interface, and transparently migrate files and emails to other tiers or to archive tape with scheduled policies. FileData Classifier leaves stubs (shortcuts) in all previous file locations—no matter how times files are moved—and allows users to find specific files for recovery, audits, etc. using a powerful discovery and search window. This helped Brian manage an exponential boom in data growth as he could tier the data and migrate it transparently.
After the iSCSI network is in, Brian will transition Milan into a Branch Office Box (BOB) configuration in order to centralize the data in Cambridge. He’ll handle disaster control through daily D2D backups with tape once a week and use Abrevity to empower data grooming and lifecycle management for more efficient backup and archiving.
Brian’s IT leadership has been continually challenged by the unrelenting growth in data and network usage. As the fuel cell market begins to heat up, Brian’s planning ability and leadership, in concert with Abrevity’s FileData Classifier solution and expert IT storage solution provider, TriAxis, will help enable Nuvera to become a dominant player in their market.