Pennsylvania District Bolsters eDiscovery Capabilities with New Archiving Solution

The Chichester School District of Boothwyn, PA has chosen the Mimosa NearPoint content archiving system for its data archiving needs, including record retention requirements, e-mail management, and compliance with electronic discovery, or eDiscovery, regulations, which the United States State Department issues to govern the search and recovery of electronically stored data for use in civil and criminal legal cases.

CSD, which serves 4,000 K-12 students and employs 700 staff, had already had a large and functionally elaborate network, including 40 servers, an HP Procurve backbone, and a NetApp StoreVault SAN designed to support its data backup applications. However, with recent growth in e-mail traffic averaging 35 percent per year, as well as significant annual growth in data storage necessary to comply with various state and federal requirements and regulations, the district simply needed a larger and more efficient system to support and simplify its storage and recovery needs.

"We found that eDiscovery requests could bury our IT staff for up to two weeks," said Tim McGrath, senior network administrator for CSD. "We had to restore old Exchange backups from tape in order to search for requested information. The process was like finding a needle in a haystack--with no guarantee we would find what was needed." He said the NearPoint application was the only software that could simplify eDiscovery, eliminate the limits on e-mail storage, and reduce overall storage needs in one comprehensive solution without adversely affecting the district's Exchange server.

Chichester School District serves students in four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school.

About the Author

Scott Aronowitz is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas. He has covered the technology, advertising, and entertainment sectors for seven years. He can be reached here.

Featured

  • toolbox featuring a circuit-like AI symbol and containing a screwdriver, wrench, and hammer

    Microsoft Launches AI Tools for Educators

    Microsoft has introduced a variety of AI tools aimed at helping educators develop personalized learning experiences for their students, create content more efficiently, and increase student engagement.

  • stack of gold coins disintegrates into digital particles against a dark circuit-board background with glowing AI imagery

    Report: Most Organizations See No Business Return on Gen AI Investments

    Despite $30-40 billion in enterprise spending on generative AI, 95% of organizations are seeing no business return, according to a recent report out of the MIT Media Lab.

  • brass balance scale with a black rotary telephone on one side and a stack of gold coins on the other

    Supreme Court Upholds Universal Service Fund

    In a 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund, the primary funding source behind the E-Rate program.

  • stylized illustration of a desktop, laptop, tablet, and smartphone all displaying an orange AI icon

    Survey: AI Shifting from Cloud to PCs

    A recent Intel-commissioned report identifies a significant shift in AI adoption, moving away from the cloud and closer to the user. Businesses are increasingly turning to the specialized hardware of AI PCs, the survey found, recognizing their potential not just for productivity gains, but for revolutionizing IT efficiency, fortifying data security, and delivering a compelling return on investment by bringing AI capabilities directly to the edge.