As universities increasingly rely on data-driven operations, modernizing IT infrastructure has become a strategic priority. In line with this shift, Hitachi Vantara has enabled the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) to transform its IT environment with a hybrid cloud solution. Working alongside Sonio AG, the university has successfully deployed an integrated storage architecture that connects on-premises systems with cloud services while enhancing cyber resilience.
With over 14,000 students and 3,200 employees, FHNW depends heavily on secure and uninterrupted access to data for teaching, research, and administrative functions. Therefore, the institution sought a solution that could not only improve performance but also strengthen protection against evolving cyber threats. As a result, the new infrastructure now safeguards more than 1,100 virtual machines, around 350 TB of data, and over 150 TB of Microsoft 365 cloud data.
Moreover, the implementation has delivered significant performance improvements. Backup transfers are now up to four times faster, while recovery processes that previously took days can now be completed within minutes. Consequently, the university has dramatically improved operational efficiency and reduced downtime risks.
“Data sits at the heart of our teaching, research, and administrative operations,” said Patrick Gebhard, System Engineer Data Center at FHNW. “Restoring deleted data used to be a long, manual process tied to short retention time on disk and an inefficient way to copy restore points. Now we can recover the right data within minutes during interactive support sessions with our users. The experience is faster, smoother, and significantly improves service quality and user satisfaction.”
Strengthening Cyber Resilience and Business Continuity
To ensure robust data protection, FHNW implemented a comprehensive backup and recovery strategy that combines Veeam Backup & Recovery with Hitachi’s Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) block storage. In addition, backup data is automatically copied to object storage with Object Lock enabled, enforcing immutability for a 30-day retention period.
As a result, once data is stored, it cannot be altered, deleted, or encrypted until the retention window expires. This approach not only aligns with industry best practices but also delivers a highly resilient backup architecture designed for long-term data protection. Consequently, FHNW can maintain continuity across teaching and research operations even during cyber incidents or system disruptions.
Driving Efficiency and Sustainability
Beyond security and performance, the new solution also contributes to FHNW’s sustainability goals. By optimizing its primary backup storage, the university has reduced both costs and power consumption by 40%. At the same time, it has decreased reliance on legacy infrastructure, operating with 40% fewer tape drives.
Enabling a Unified Data Platform
At the core of this transformation is Hitachi Vantara’s Virtual Storage Platform One (VSP One), a unified storage solution that integrates block, file, and object storage into a single data plane. Designed for high performance and AI-driven data management, the platform also offers a 100% data availability guarantee, ensuring consistent access to critical information.
“Object storage, such as VSP One Object, is increasingly becoming the foundation of modern IT infrastructures – not only for backups, but also for AI workloads and data analysis. By partnering with Hitachi Vantara, FHNW has built a scalable data foundation that can grow with its requirements,” said Michael Roth, General Manager Switzerland at Hitachi Vantara.
Supporting Future-Ready Data Operations
Furthermore, the collaboration with Sonio AG has enabled FHNW to adopt industry best practices, including the widely recognized 3-2-1 backup rule. This ensures multiple copies of data are stored across different media types and locations, further strengthening resilience.
“With the Hitachi Vantara storage solution developed by our partner Sonio, we can finally follow backup best practices such as the 3-2-1 rule,” summarizes Gebhard. “All in all, we benefit from faster backup performance and improved resilience against cyber threats and other security risks.”
“With our comprehensive expertise in cloud and data solutions, we understood exactly what FHNW needed. Hitachi Vantara object storage provides the university with new object storage capabilities to optimize and standardize operations and helps the IT team adapt to changing regulatory requirements and innovate,” added Sasa Gržinić, Head of Marketing & Partner Management at Sonio AG.
Ultimately, this deployment highlights how modern hybrid cloud architectures can deliver both performance and protection. By combining scalability, speed, and cyber resilience, Hitachi Vantara is enabling institutions like FHNW to securely manage growing data demands while preparing for future digital challenges.
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