HP AJ037A Leaflet
3
An open-and-shut case for saving space and energy
“We have eight server blades in the BladeSystem
enclosure,” says Reisdorff. “These blades take half the
rack space eight rack-mount servers would take. We
consolidated three racks into one and a half racks –
and we have more servers. Our data center is very
small, so that is a critical benefit.” The server blades
also use an estimated 30 percent less energy and
generate 30 percent less heat than the same number
of rack-mounted servers.
“We have eight server blades in the BladeSystem
enclosure,” says Reisdorff. “These blades take half the
rack space eight rack-mount servers would take. We
consolidated three racks into one and a half racks –
and we have more servers. Our data center is very
small, so that is a critical benefit.” The server blades
also use an estimated 30 percent less energy and
generate 30 percent less heat than the same number
of rack-mounted servers.
“Our technology staff really likes HP Integrated
Lights-Out 2 (iLO 2) Advanced software,” continues
Reisdorff. “iLO 2 Advanced lets us control the system
from out of the office. We have only three people,
which made it tough on weekends, holidays and
vacations if you had to go into the office to fix
something. It’s great to be able to make necessary
changes remotely.”
Lights-Out 2 (iLO 2) Advanced software,” continues
Reisdorff. “iLO 2 Advanced lets us control the system
from out of the office. We have only three people,
which made it tough on weekends, holidays and
vacations if you had to go into the office to fix
something. It’s great to be able to make necessary
changes remotely.”
HP software also simplifies storage management.
“With our previous EMC storage, there were three
different utilities you had to get in and out of just to
control the disks,” says Reisdorff. “HP EVA Command
View software controls the whole storage environment
from one screen, and it is very simple to use.”
“With our previous EMC storage, there were three
different utilities you had to get in and out of just to
control the disks,” says Reisdorff. “HP EVA Command
View software controls the whole storage environment
from one screen, and it is very simple to use.”
Speeding up the legal process
The combination of new HP servers and storage,
along with new Cisco switches, a fiber optic network
and Fibre Channel connection between SAN and
servers has made the network much faster. “The
network is very fast now,” says Reisdorff. “For
example, we see much improved response time from
the SQL database. One report that used to take 20
minutes to generate now takes two minutes.”
The combination of new HP servers and storage,
along with new Cisco switches, a fiber optic network
and Fibre Channel connection between SAN and
servers has made the network much faster. “The
network is very fast now,” says Reisdorff. “For
example, we see much improved response time from
the SQL database. One report that used to take 20
minutes to generate now takes two minutes.”
Backups are also faster. NEL uses Veritas Backup Exec
software to back up first to the EVA SAN and then
to an HP MSL4048 tape library with LTO-4 Ultrium
drives. “Before, it took three days to back up the
whole network,” says Reisdorff. “When the weekend
backup ran into Monday, it slowed down production,
so we had to cancel the backup, which had significant
risks associated with it. And if someone needed a
restore, we may not have been able to provide it.
Now we complete the full backup in 14 hours. It starts
on Friday night and finishes Saturday morning.”
software to back up first to the EVA SAN and then
to an HP MSL4048 tape library with LTO-4 Ultrium
drives. “Before, it took three days to back up the
whole network,” says Reisdorff. “When the weekend
backup ran into Monday, it slowed down production,
so we had to cancel the backup, which had significant
risks associated with it. And if someone needed a
restore, we may not have been able to provide it.
Now we complete the full backup in 14 hours. It starts
on Friday night and finishes Saturday morning.”
User testimony supports adaptive infrastructure
The upgrade gives NEL an adaptive infrastructure
that lets them deliver new solutions quickly and with
little additional cost. “For example,” says Reisdorff,
“we wanted to migrate our ERP system database from
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005.
Before, we would have had to buy another server,
load the application, test it, and then move the data
to the new server. With the new HP data-center
environment, we just add a virtual server, carve out
space on the EVA, test the application, and turn on
the new virtual machine. It’s already paid for. We
have the disk space already, and creating another
virtual server is easy – and free.”
The upgrade gives NEL an adaptive infrastructure
that lets them deliver new solutions quickly and with
little additional cost. “For example,” says Reisdorff,
“we wanted to migrate our ERP system database from
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005.
Before, we would have had to buy another server,
load the application, test it, and then move the data
to the new server. With the new HP data-center
environment, we just add a virtual server, carve out
space on the EVA, test the application, and turn on
the new virtual machine. It’s already paid for. We
have the disk space already, and creating another
virtual server is easy – and free.”
HP wins the technology judgment
“Four years ago, our network died for five days,” says
Reisdorff. “Direction from our deans was very simple:
they told us to build a highly available network. But
we did not start with HP. We started out using Dell
servers and EMC storage products, and we were not
successful. There were communications problems – the
servers didn’t talk to the SAN very well, and network
administrators needed costly specialized training.”
“Four years ago, our network died for five days,” says
Reisdorff. “Direction from our deans was very simple:
they told us to build a highly available network. But
we did not start with HP. We started out using Dell
servers and EMC storage products, and we were not
successful. There were communications problems – the
servers didn’t talk to the SAN very well, and network
administrators needed costly specialized training.”
Revisiting the issue, the NEL technology team looked
for vendors who could supply complete solutions
– including SANs, blades and networks. “The
companies on the final list were Sun, IBM, HP and
Hitachi,” says Reisdorff. “We compared technology,
and we concluded that HP would be the best fit for
us.”
for vendors who could supply complete solutions
– including SANs, blades and networks. “The
companies on the final list were Sun, IBM, HP and
Hitachi,” says Reisdorff. “We compared technology,
and we concluded that HP would be the best fit for
us.”
Just as important as technology, says Reisdorff,
was HP’s end-to-end capability. “HP is a company
that is always improving its products, rather than
just commoditizing them. They have the whole
infrastructure, all tested together, all under the same
name, and it all works together and communicates
together. And when we talked to other customers
about service, the best recommendations we got were
for HP.”
was HP’s end-to-end capability. “HP is a company
that is always improving its products, rather than
just commoditizing them. They have the whole
infrastructure, all tested together, all under the same
name, and it all works together and communicates
together. And when we talked to other customers
about service, the best recommendations we got were
for HP.”
“With our previous EMC storage, there were three
different utilities you had to get in and out of just to
control the disks. HP EVA Command View software
controls the whole storage environment from one
screen, and it is very simple to use.”
different utilities you had to get in and out of just to
control the disks. HP EVA Command View software
controls the whole storage environment from one
screen, and it is very simple to use.”