Challenges:
Four northeasters dumped several feet of ice and snow on the district in 2018, closing schools for days. The challenge was keeping critical IT systems running, including the payroll system. The district is the largest employer in the area, so if the payroll system is unavailable, staff will not receive paychecks and the local economy will suffer.
Solution:
StoneFly Veeam Backup & Replication.
Results:
- Facilitates ease of DR.
- Delivers hyper-availability of the payroll system.
- Saves $10,000 in IT costs annually.
The Challenge
New England is prone to northeasters, a winter storm that is famous for its pounding rain, hurricane force winds and heavy sleet and snow. In 2018, four northeasters pummeled the region in three weeks, flooding communities, knocking down power lines and destroying homes.
Northeasters wreak havoc on school districts too. Several feet of ice and snow hit the New England School District that year, closing schools for several days.
“Our schools close, but our IT systems have to keep running which includes our payroll system,” said Director of IT at the School District. The district employs more than 400 people who spend thousands of dollars each week at local businesses. Keeping the payroll system hyper-available is a top priority.
Hyper-availability is the new normal for today’s school districts.
It enables faster reaction to a district’s needs and greater agility during times of crisis, including bad weather.
“When you live in New England, you have to be prepared for heavy ice and snow each winter,” the Director of IT said. “You have to be resilient; you have to have a safety net.”
The StoneFly Solution
The StoneFly Veeam Backup & Replication service helped the school district maintain hyper-availability of critical IT systems since 2016.
“Our payroll system would not have survived four northeasters in three weeks without the combination of StoneFly and Veeam, and our local economy would have paid the price,” said the Director of IT.
On one of the coldest days of the year, the School district’s Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) malfunctioned, pulling subzero air into the datacenter. Servers could not function at -8° Celsius, making the payroll system unavailable. StoneFly Veeam Backup and Replication restored it in minutes.
“Restoring that system would have taken up to a month if we didn’t have StoneFly Veeam Backup & Replication, leaving staff without paychecks and the local economy at risk,” said the Systems Administrator at the School District.
The StoneFly Veeam Backup and Replication solution delivers hyper-availability of critical systems through reliable backup, replication and recovery —three prerequisites the district did not have before.
“There is something else about StoneFly Veeam Backup and Replication solution that is unique,” said the School District’s Systems Administrator. “It offers the best technical support in the industry. I spent 30 to 40 hours on the phone with the previous vendor, yet we never had a reliable backup. I spent 10 minutes on the phone with StoneFly, and we had a new disaster recovery strategy.”
The solution helped the district build a better disaster recovery strategy through replication.
“We can restore our entire IT infrastructure easily and quickly in a disaster situation,” said the Systems Administrator. “That is hyper-availability at its finest. Our most critical systems will always be available.”
The student information system is another critical system. It is a hub for student data that includes attendance, grades and transcripts. StoneFly keeps the system hyper available so teachers can intervene when students struggle in school, eliminating the risk of them failing or dropping out. The system also supports district business, such as registration, enrollment and scheduling.
Hyper-availability helps these processes stay on track.
“There is another big benefit when you use The StoneFly Veeam Backup and Replication solution,” said the Director of IT. “It’s affordable. We save $10,000 annually, which is a lot for a small district. We have 2,200 students. In larger districts, a single high school serves that many students. StoneFly helps us maximize our investment in IT.”
Every district strives to be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. The School District surpassed that goal.
“There is no better bang for the buck than the StoneFly Veeam Backup and Replication,” said the Director of IT. “Our return on investment is defined by money saved and features gained. I dare anyone to find a better solution for hyper-availability.”
The Benefits
1. Facilitates ease of DR
“What impresses me most about the StoneFly Veeam Backup and Replication is the ease of DR,” said the System’s Administrator. “Nothing will make you 100 percent confident in your DR strategy until you test it and it works flawlessly.”
2. Delivers hyper-availability of the payroll system
“We sailed through four northeasters in three weeks thanks to the StoneFly Veeam solution,” said the Director of IT. “Our schools closed, but our staff received their paychecks. The solution helps us protect the local economy.”
3. Saves $10,000 in IT costs annually
“the StoneFly Veeam Backup and Replication solution is affordable, and it comes with the best technical support in the industry,” Said the Director of IT. “You don’t need to look any further once you find it. It is the industry leader for a reason. There is nothing better and more cost-effective.
