Overview

York University’s research, teaching, and student systems generate vast amounts of data every day.

But as the university grew, so did its data sprawl. Storage lived everywhere across legacy systems, isolated servers and departmental silos creating inefficiency, risk, and escalating cost.

The I.T. team needed clarity, control, and a partner who could simplify without disruption.

That’s where Synapse came in.

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The Challenge

York’s storage environment had evolved organically over time — with different departments procuring and managing their own storage solutions.

This led to:

• Fragmented and duplicated data sets

• Inefficient storage utilisation and escalating costs

• Complex management and inconsistent performance

• Limited visibility across the data estate

The university wanted to bring everything together into a single, scalable environment — one that could grow with future research and compliance demands.

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The Synapse Solution

Synapse worked with York’s infrastructure team to design and deploy a consolidated Dell PowerScale (Isilon) environment — unifying all storage into one intelligent platform.

This project delivered:

• A single source of truth for research, teaching, and administrative data

• Seamless scalability, allowing the university to expand capacity as needed

• Simplified management, freeing internal teams from manual oversight

• Improved performance and reliability across data-driven services

By rationalising data sprawl and aligning workloads to one adaptive architecture, Synapse helped York unlock both efficiency and long-term agility.

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The Results

• Centralised unstructured data into one PowerScale platform

• Reduced operational overheads through simplified management

• Improved performance across academic and administrative workloads

• Future-ready scalability supporting research and digital growth

The outcome: total visibility and control over the university’s data — transforming complexity into clarity.

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Don’t Just Take Our Word For It

“Synapse helped us take years of accumulated storage complexity and turn it into something clean, centralised, and future-proof. It’s the foundation for everything we build next.” Head of Infrastructure, University of York

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Why It Matters

Modern universities run on data — but without structure, data becomes noise.

Synapse’s Adaptive Cloud model, powered by Dell PowerScale, helps education institutions create clarity and control, making information accessible, scalable, and secure.

Because when storage works intelligently, innovation follows naturally.

MAKE COMPLEXITY SIMPLE

Start where it matters most — bring your data together, take control, and build a foundation for innovation.

Talk to Synapse

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