Credit: TCNJ

Shawn Sivy has been part of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) for over 34 years, quietly powering the ELSA HPC cluster behind-the-scenes to keep the School of Science computational needs running smoothly. As a HPC System Administrator, he’s responsible for ensuring the infrastructure supports the school’s research, teaching, and growing data needs.

Located in central New Jersey, just outside the state capital of Trenton, TCNJ is widely recognized for its academic excellence and is consistently ranked as the top public college in its region. But even the best institutions must evolve with technology, and that’s exactly what prompted Shawn to refresh the school’s aging high-performance computing (HPC) storage system.

Outgrowing the Old Setup

Credit: TCNJ

Previously, the school’s high-performance computing (HPC) storage was built on a Dell JBOD system, something that had worked fine for a while. However, it was becoming clear that it wouldn’t scale much further.

“We were outgrowing it,” Shawn explained. “And honestly, we didn’t want to get more deeply locked into a proprietary setup that we couldn’t adapt or manage ourselves.”

That’s when the search for something better began.

Discovering 45Drives

Shawn found 45Drives after some searching online and watching their YouTube videos. The messaging from them was straightforward: open hardware, no vendor lock-in, and technical support from real people with deep technical expertise.

“That approach just clicked with us,” Shawn said. “We wanted something that wouldn’t tie our hands. With 45Drives, we had open standards, Linux, ZFS, it gave us the flexibility to swap components and manage things our way.”

That kind of openness was important to TCNJ. As a public institution, they’re conscious of both budget and longevity. The ability to swap in parts as needed, rather than being stuck with end-of-life hardware or locked into high-cost replacement cycles, was a big deal. With support from National Science Foundation (NSF) grants and state bond funding, Shawn made the bold leap and began transitioning their storage infrastructure to a 45Drives solution.

A Simple, Powerful Combo

Credit: TCNJ

In the end, Shawn went with a setup that balanced performance, capacity, and simplicity: four XL60 servers along with a Stornado F2 and a C8. This combination gave the school exactly what it needed to support its high-performance computing workloads while staying flexible for future growth.

The install was handled in-house, with configuration guidance and support from 45Drives. With that backing, everything came online smoothly—no hassle, no finger-pointing, and no vendor maze to navigate.

“I like that it wasn’t a black box,” Shawn said. “I could see how it was put together. If we ever need to upgrade or change something, we can.”

What stood out just as much as the hardware and ongoing support was that Shawn had a consistent point of contact at 45Drives — someone who stayed with him throughout the entire process and knew the system inside and out.

“They weren’t just reading from a script. They knew ZFS, they knew how everything fit together, and they were always just a call away. It felt like they genuinely cared about what we needed, not just about closing a sale,” said Shawn. “When I reached out, the technical support was prompt and knowledgeable. It gave me a lot of confidence.”

45Drives’ open architecture and deep Linux and ZFS expertise aligned perfectly with what TCNJ was looking for. The single-point of accountability made the whole process feel easier. For Shawn, it felt more like working with a colleague than dealing with a support line.

The system gave Shawn the flexibility and control he was looking for. And with years of hands-on experience in tech, he quickly took a liking to Houston UI, the web-based storage administration system developed by 45Drives.

“I’ve used a lot of management tools over the years,” he said, “but Houston just works the way I want it to. It’s clean, easy to use, and doesn’t overcomplicate things. It allows me to visualize the 45Drives hardware and its ZFS storage pools in a way that the command-line cannot.”

Looking Ahead

With this new system in place, TCNJ’s storage is running faster and more efficiently than before, and it’s built on tech that’s built to last. As Shawn looks ahead, he’s focused on continuing to grow and evolve the system as needs change. “We’re in a good place now. We’ve got a solid system that we understand and can grow with.”

The Bottom Line

For Shawn and the College of New Jersey, what made the biggest difference wasn’t just better performance, it was control. Choosing 45Drives meant getting out of the cycle of vendor lock-in, choosing open-source tools, and working with people who actually get it.

“In the end, we needed a system that worked for us. 45Drives made that happen.”