Background
Given the current information revolution and data explosion, people find their lifestyles are changing and so are their expectations - especially those concerning access to and use of public services. The challenge for the public sector in this new era is to meet those expectations and deliver quality services - whilst, of course, meeting budget restrictions.

Capacity and backup issues
The Scottish Borders Council's IT users span local council staff and primary and secondary schools in the region, with a total PC count of around 2,000. The technology platform is primarily NT and Solaris based. Over the past four years, Scottish Borders Council had opted for a midrange tape library storage solution with each tape's capacity at 40 gigabytes.

The original storage solution had become limited and inefficient, following a continual growth in data. Gavin Innes, desktop services manager for Scottish Borders Council, said, "The data the council generates is increasing almost exponentially. This is fuelled by a number of factors, but all indicate the increased use of IT by the council staff, which has amplified disk space and, therefore, backup needs. Not only were we struggling with limited capacity, but our full, weekly backup window left no room for manoeuvre, running from 7 p.m. on Friday night to late Sunday afternoon."

Opting for StorageTek's L20 tape library
As a TriSys customer for four years, the local authority worked with this value added reseller to find an alternative solution. After assessment of the full environment, issues and requirements, TriSys recommended a StorageTekR L20 tape library combined with Legato NetWorker for NT software.

Improved automation, backup and consolidation
This was a decision that, according to Innes, was absolutely the right one. "The StorageTek L20 Open Systems solution provided a high-performance tape automation system with scalability and an easy upgrade path for future growth requirements. It met all our key objectives of improved capacity, backup, automation, future proofing and cost efficiency."

The replacement device from StorageTek cost less than the original hardware purchased by Scottish Borders Council. Each tape is capable of storing 200 gigabytes of data, meeting the council 's requirement of increased capacity. It also solved the council's backup window problem, cutting its backup time from 30 to 14 hours - a reduction of over 50 percent.