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See why Align is the Trusted Data Center Migration Team for Universities
Columbia University engaged Align’s migration solution to physically relocate 130 assets from their on-campus data center in Washington Heights, NY to a Digital Realty colocation data center in Piscataway, NJ. The 130 devices in scope varied between network, compute, and storage technologies.
Over a three-week period, Align inventoried the assets, implemented QR-code tracking, developed a move schedule, and procured and installed over 250 CAT6 copper cables at the target site to meet the execution date. All equipment was disconnected, un-racked, packed, transported, delivered, unpacked, racked, connected (patched), and brought online during the planned window within a 12-hour period.
Columbia University considered the move a success, stating that they were “no issues” when powering up their assets.
Within the span of 1 year, University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) engaged Align to assist with the planning and execution of three separate relocation projects to their Fort Worth and Austin data centers. The projects consisted of nearly six hundred devices in three separate data centers. For each engagement, Align’s team conducted physical inventory of all devices in each scope, as well as a meticulous cable trace of over five hundred copper and fiber cables.
Attention to detail and technical expertise allowed Align to relocate the mission-critical equipment seamlessly, exceeding the customer's expectations.
It is because of this quality of work that UTD and Align have “open door” communication for all the university’s information technology needs.
Herzing University partnered with Align to physically relocate the infrastructure that powered their online learning platform/classroom from Menominee Falls, WI to a Rackspace colocation facility in Elk Grove Village, IL. Align followed its streamlined, phased process conducting an initial inventory of all devices in scope. Herzing University also requested Align do a complete end-to-end cable trace of the devices at the source site. Based on the results, Align developed the patching schedule and installed cabling prior to the migration to limit the downtime of the relocating devices and minimize patching tasks during the execution.
In two waves spanning two consecutive weekends, Herzing University’s 100 assets were transported and installed successfully. The first wave included five core network devices to establish and test connectivity. The second move wave was comprised of the entire online classroom infrastructure.
Herzing University confirmed that their connectivity verifications were completed without a single issue and stated that Align’s efforts put them ahead of schedule.
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