Case Study: San Diego State University achieves 5× faster backups and lower storage costs with Microsoft Azure

University learns how to cool the cost of data storage

San Diego State University was overwhelmed by rapidly growing digital data—several hundred terabytes across Veeam, Commvault and campus video streams expected to approach 1 PB—while tape backup capacity, cost and offsite retention limits forced short (three-month) retention. The university needed to eliminate tape without replacing its existing backup tools and to find a scalable, secure way to preserve, verify and restore expanding archives.

SDSU deployed the CloudLanes Cloud Data Platform with Microsoft Azure Storage to unify its backup streams into a single cloud-preservation solution. After a quick proof of concept and a network upgrade, backups ran up to 2.6 TB/hour (about five times faster than tape), older data moved to Azure cool Blob storage with a 30-day on-prem window, on-prem storage costs fell, and CloudLanes’ verification and audit features preserved chain-of-custody while easing rollout for Commvault and future video archives.

San Diego State University

Ray Rodriguez

Systems Analyst