Littlegarth School streamlines backups and boosts recovery with Redstor

From slow restores and missed data to robust cloud backup

Snapshot

• Industry: Education
• Environment: Onsite servers, Microsoft 365
• Location: UK

Key details

• Littlegarth School eliminated the complexity of managing multiple backup systems by switching to Redstor’s unified platform.
• Backup reliability and restore speed dramatically improved, giving the school total confidence in its disaster recovery.
• By moving to Redstor’s cloud-first solution, Littlegarth avoided a costly hardware refresh while improving cyber resilience.

The challenge

Littlegarth School previously relied on a fragmented backup setup, using separate vendors for onsite backups and Microsoft 365. However, this system was riddled with problems.

“Restores often failed with no particular error code or useful feedback”, said Dan Fountain, Littlegarth’s IT Manager. “The restores that did go through were painfully slow. In our situation as a school, if we’ve got a stressed teacher on the end of the phone, is it really acceptable to ask them to wait for 15 minutes while we restore from our onsite backup system?”.

Using two different systems also created operational headaches for Dan. The school’s Microsoft 365 backup had an oversimplified interface that made it difficult to verify what was actually being backed up. This became a serious issue when entire Microsoft 365 sites were discovered missing from protection.

Littlegarth also felt they weren’t getting value for money:

“The price kept going up for exactly the same system – no particularly useful additions or innovations. Just the same system regurgitated for a higher price!”

To make matters worse, renewing the licence created additional problems, requiring hour-long support calls each year just to get it working. Meanwhile, the school’s other vendor was running on ageing hardware that couldn’t be relied on forever.

The solution: Simplicity, reliability, and confidence

When it came time to upgrade, Littlegarth initially considered replacing its backup server. However, the costs were steep and the idea of investing in more onsite infrastructure didn’t feel like the right move.

That’s when trusted IT partner Converge introduced Redstor.

“Converge were the only supplier that offered something different; something cost effective, but also highly reliable”, said Dan. “I could completely dispense with the usual ‘bare metal’ approach and rely on cloud backup and restoration. Converge have been brilliant throughout… Meeting Redstor’s team at BETT 2025 helped seal the deal. What stood out wasn’t just the cost-effectiveness — it was how intuitive and well-designed the platform felt”.

A smooth switch and instant results

Migrating to Redstor was quick and painless. Littlegarth was guided through the setup and shown how to perform restores:

“I was amazed at its simplicity – it just worked. Simple and straightforward, but complex enough to give us the feeling of reliability and trust in the data backup/restoration process. Clearly a lot of thought has gone into the backup/restoration flow, and it shows. I love how resilient the system is, and it immediately gave me confidence”.

Dan knew he’d made the right decision when a teacher phoned asking him to restore a pupil’s work soon after making the switch:

“Amusingly, I left our old backup system running for a little while, just in case… I logged onto the old system and, surprise surprise, the restoration failed. I logged straight onto Redstor and carried out the restoration, without error, within a couple of minutes! That in itself proves that the system was absolutely the right choice for us”.

Redstor now handles all the school’s backups, from servers to Microsoft 365. Switching to Redstor has also removed Littlegarth’s need for backup servers, which had been costing the school £10,000 annually.

Confidence, control, and real results

Since switching to Redstor, Littlegarth has seen a complete turnaround in backup performance and disaster recovery readiness.

• No more failed restores: Redstor consistently delivers fast, reliable recoveries when staff need them.
• Unified platform: Managing all backups in one place saves significant time and removes complexity.
• Improved governance: The IT Manager can now confidently assure leadership that all data is protected.
• Future-proofed infrastructure: Cloud-based recovery eliminates the need for onsite backup servers or manual processes.

“I can now confidently tell my Governing Body that our data is safe and secure”, said Dan. “I know that if the worst happens, I’ll be able to get our data back. That’s quite an achievement!”

Dan’s advice to other schools still relying on hardware is to update their backup strategy:

“Honestly, think outside of the ‘bare metal’ box! I wouldn’t’ve given it a second thought had it not been for the conversations with both Converge and Redstor directly about how reliable the system is, and being able to see it first-hand”.