Shurgard opts for state-of-the-art digital storage
Update and optimise storage infrastructure
When Shurgard’s computing environment was centralised in 2006, a choice was made in favour of two HP blade servers, connected to an EMC storage system with fibre channel switch (SAN). By 2012, however, the system was in urgent need of updating.
There were a number of limitations, such as lack of flexibility and manageability. Disk space was also at maximum capacity, and backing up was time-consuming because the system was antiquated. In addition, floor space at the primary data centre was being used to the full, and the latest version of the VMWare management software was needed.
The biggest problem, though, was that part of the storage infrastructure had reached the end of its life, which meant that it was no longer under guarantee and could not count on support from EMC. Together with Shurgard, Computacenter looked around for a flexible, scalable, high-performing, state-of-the-art, easy-tomanage solution.
This project could have had an enormous impact on Shurgard’s day-to-day operational capacity, but thanks to Computacenter’s skilled guidance, support and expertise, the transition proceeded smoothly and imperceptibly. It was a joined effort that was highly successful.
Cindy Verhoeven, Head of Information System Services, Shurgard
Objectives
- Continuous Improvement/Innovation
- Cost Reduction
- Growth/Business Change
- Risk Avoidance
NetApp unified storage system
A total of three-quarters of the existing infrastructure at the primary data centre was updated. A decision was made in favour of a NetApp unified storage system, enabling Shurgard to carry on working with the fibre channel already in use. One blade server was replaced by an HP Blade B700 which was connected with the SAN, as a result of which several virtual servers can now run on one blade server.
The EMC Clarlion CX3-40 was replaced by a NetApp FAS 3240. In addition, the VMWare management software was upgraded to version 4.1, and a switch was made for daily back-ups with the introduction of CIFS deduplication snapshotting on disk.
Outcome
- Elimination of risk with state-of-the-art equipment
- making further expansion possible
- From implementation to migration, the whole project took just two months
