Data storage solutions tool
The University of Waterloo has launched a Data Storage Solutions tool to help researchers identify the most suitable storage options for their projects.
The tool provides guidance on a variety of storage solutions, including those offered across campus as well as externally, and allows users to filter by Faculty, risk level, data size, and other criteria to find the best match for their research needs. While the tool is self-serve, it also connects researchers with their Faculty computing units, IST, or library services for additional guidance and support.
While the tool was developed with researchers in mind, it is also broadly applicable for other staff and faculty who may be looking to understand the range of data storage options available to support their work.
This work was the result of a collaborative effort with campus partners in Office of Research, Library, and IST.
Other 2025 accomplishments
Some of the other great work from the past year
Migration from Mailman and Mailservices
As part of the Email Improvement project, IST Client Services worked with the TIS team to plan, test, communicate, support and document the migration of existing IST-hosted Mailman lists to Distribution Lists. To date, many lists have been migrated and more will be completed in 2026. More information about the new DLs can be found at Distribution lists (DLs) in Microsoft Outlook. The legacy Mailservices environment was also successfully shutdown after a multi-year effort to migrate services to supported systems by Microsoft and Cisco.
Operating System (OS) upgrades
In collaboration with IST Client Services, the TIS team worked with Academic Support Units (ASUs) to upgrade capable devices to Windows 11. TIS also rolled out Windows Server 2025, Microsoft's enterprise server platform that enables organizations to run and secure applications, services, and workloads across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud environments.
Upcoming 2026 initiatives
A look at what we'll be working on in 2026
Data centre network refresh
The data centre equipment is approaching the end of its supportable life. To maintain vendor support for security flaws and hardware issues, the equipment must be refreshed. A modern data centre design has been completed and list of required materials generated.
User router and switch refresh
TIS are in the early stages of preparing for a building router and switch refresh. Detailed planning, design, list of required materials, and budget are forthcoming.
Data centre storage refresh
The University of Waterloo data centre is supported by our local primary storage infrastructure, currently two products (Netapp and Nexenta), both reaching their end of life. The storage environment must be upgraded to one or more supported solutions. An RFP was issued and awarded to Netapp to replace both existing Netapp and Nexenta solutions.
Virtualization in the data centre
Broadcom recently acquired VMware and drastically increased the licensing costs. In response to this, TIS investigated alternative virtualization solutions. Redhat was selected with their OpenShift product. The pilot stage of this work is in progress.
PBX/S4B telephone upgrade
The University currently offers multiple telephony and communications options to employees that are nearing end of life. The RFP for this upgrade recently closed and evaluators are actively selecting a replacement of these systems. Deployment and migration will occur in 2026.