ESD, meet SAN. This little guy is on a mission to keep our stored data accessible, reliable and economical.

If you ask the IT Team where to find the “brains of the ESD,” they’ll point you to an unassuming black box called the Storage Area Network (SAN).

Recently installed, SAN is the primary piece of equipment that runs the ESD’s Information Technology services. What does that mean for ESD users?

  • Improved server performance
  • Improved reliability (most systems have a backup in place)
  • Decreased cost of operation due to less need for space, power and air conditioning
  • Additional capacity for the ESD to grow into over the next five years

Case in point: Did you notice that one of ESD’s servers died in mid-April? No? Neither did anyone else, except the IT Team! Thank SAN.

How much does such a powerhouse cost? The original price quoted to the IT Team was $120,000.

Want to know what IT Director Curtis Ellis told the sales rep? “There are places in the country where that’s a house. Get me down to a car range.”

Over the next four months, he and computer/software support technician Don Wells continued the conversation with the SAN purveyor. And they got the price down to $35,000.