School's Cool for EMC

Start 'em young, that's EMC Corp.'s (NYSE: EMC) motto. Math and science students in Massachusetts are getting their hands on networked storage systems and software from the local vendor (see EMC Donates Storage to Schools).

Selected schools in Franklin, Hopkinton, Milford, Upton, Westborough, and Worcester are deploying more than five terabytes worth of Clariion storage systems from EMC, thanks to a donation from the Hopkinton-based firm. Thats a whole lot of storage. Put in teenage terms – five terabytes is the equivalent of five million books or, more relevantly, up to 300,000 MP3 files.

Tech-savvy students at Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School in Upton, which received a Clariion box to support its electronics department, are already tinkering with the kit. Mike Norton, department head for electronics, says, “I have kids already playing with this stuff – anything that EMC gives us is like candy to them.”

Having the Clariion linked up to the network in the school’s electronics shop also makes life easier for teachers, according to Norton. He says, “I have a 70-gigabyte hard drive, and I have to keep wiping it out every three months. Now, this machine can handle up to 17 terabytes, so I can go all year without having any problems.”

The Clariion also enables the school to offer hands-on training to the next generation of storage specialists. Norton says, “This means that when the kids go out into industry, they will be very familiar with EMC stuff.”In addition to the Clariion boxes, EMC is donating more than 200 laptop and desktop systems to schools in Hopkinton, Franklin, Milford, Northborough/Southborough, Westborough, and Worcester.

EMC also has an eye on the future. In a statement released today, EMC Chairman Mike Ruettgers says, “If our state’s innovation industries are to keep growing, then we have to ensure a steady stream of students who are curious about and comfortable with technology... and ultimately replenish the pipeline that supplies tomorrow’s scientists and engineers.”

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum