MyNode Storage Network

• Basic Info:

  With the introduction of our storage area network (SAN) in 2008, I launched an effort to re-architect user storage. With a user-base that often moves between physical sites (staff transferring to another building, students promoting from elementary to middle to high schools), the underlying storage and computing architecture needs to adapt and move with the user.

  Under the traditional model, user storage is configured on a specific server. When needs change, those files are moved to a different physical server in a new location. The issue KPBSD faced with this approach was a disruptive experience to the user - often, users would have shortcuts pointing to the previous storage location that no longer worked after the move. In addition, reliable automation of storage movement between physical servers was available.

  To address these needs, I developed the MyNode storage system, which used an innovative method to abstract physical IT storage details to the end-user. The result was a method for accessing files that remained consistent regardless of where the user was physically located. Under this new model, users continued to access their files as they always had, but the system tracked the details of which physical server should handle the underlying storage request.

  The MyNode deployment not only minimized user frustration, it opened new avenues for IT to drive efficient storage management. By maintaining an abstraction to physical details, IT could migrate user storage on a regular basis to balance performance across multiple servers. For instance, if one file server became overloaded, some of the load could be migrated to another server without impact to the user.

• Launch Date:

  Spring 2010

• Tools:

  C#, SQL