Case Study: University of Tokyo achieves faster data access and scalable, high-availability storage with Dell EMC Isilon

Leading university meets exacting demands of study and research

The University of Tokyo needed a high-performance, highly available storage platform to support its Educational Campuswide Computing System (ECCS) across three campuses, serving over 30,000 daily accounts and 1,300 terminals. After a public RFP, the university selected Dell EMC, choosing Dell EMC Isilon scale-out NAS (S-Series and NL-Series) and related services to meet strict requirements for fast access, stable long‑running operations, non‑disruptive maintenance, and capacity to handle growing research data.

Dell EMC deployed a 10-node Isilon S210 cluster and a five-node Isilon NL-Series cluster with SnapshotIQ and Secure Remote Support, delivering faster terminal response and uninterrupted maintenance. The solution reduced boot-to-file access to about 60 seconds, almost doubled personal storage allocations (up to 8 GB for students and 16 GB for faculty), and provided scalable, highly available storage that supports big‑data workloads and future growth.

University of Tokyo

Etsuya Shibayama

Professor, Campuswide Computing Research Division