Cisco Cisco UCS B420 M4 Blade Server Guide D’Information
Solution
Having evaluated solutions from its existing server vendor and from Cisco, RUN
chose the
chose the
(UCS) for its technical superiority,
even though the Cisco solution was slightly more expensive. UCS utilizes the
framework of the
framework of the
, a modular approach
to defining an architecture and adopting the technologies that best suit an
organization’s business needs.
organization’s business needs.
“Cisco UCS was much more convincing than conventional blade systems from a
technical point of view, particularly the concept of extended memory which allows
better utilization of CPUs in a virtualized environment,” says Fabian Seyr, Project
Manager, Business and Consulting Department. “Another interesting feature was
the single management interface because it reduces the time you spend on admin.
That is a big issue for a small company like ours, with relatively few engineers and
an increasingly diverse service portfolio and customer base.”
technical point of view, particularly the concept of extended memory which allows
better utilization of CPUs in a virtualized environment,” says Fabian Seyr, Project
Manager, Business and Consulting Department. “Another interesting feature was
the single management interface because it reduces the time you spend on admin.
That is a big issue for a small company like ours, with relatively few engineers and
an increasingly diverse service portfolio and customer base.”
RUN purchased the Cisco UCS B200 M2 Blade Server containing four
half-width blades, each with two of Intel’s latest Xeon 5600 series
multicore processors. The company installed the UCS in one of its
data centers, which is the first node in its MetroCluster environment,
and placed all four of its existing servers in the second node at the other site. RUN
has already moved about 30 virtual machines on to the UCS platform and has
created about 40 virtual servers, bringing the total on both platforms to about 100.
The company has also moved some services over to UCS, including:
half-width blades, each with two of Intel’s latest Xeon 5600 series
multicore processors. The company installed the UCS in one of its
data centers, which is the first node in its MetroCluster environment,
and placed all four of its existing servers in the second node at the other site. RUN
has already moved about 30 virtual machines on to the UCS platform and has
created about 40 virtual servers, bringing the total on both platforms to about 100.
The company has also moved some services over to UCS, including:
•
The Cisco Unified Communications Manager application, which provides
IP telephony services
IP telephony services
•
Cisco Unified Contact Center Express
•
A new VDI service that RUN is currently testing.
Although RUN is currently using UCS in combination with the existing data center
environment, the longer-term strategy is to replace the servers in the second node
with UCS as well. In the meantime, RUN is putting all of its new services on to
UCS and is also moving towards a fully virtualized environment, with most physical
servers and dedicated resources gradually being phased out. Taking advantage of
the built-in scalability of UCS, the company expects to add at least 60 more virtual
machines to the current system before purchasing any additional blades.
environment, the longer-term strategy is to replace the servers in the second node
with UCS as well. In the meantime, RUN is putting all of its new services on to
UCS and is also moving towards a fully virtualized environment, with most physical
servers and dedicated resources gradually being phased out. Taking advantage of
the built-in scalability of UCS, the company expects to add at least 60 more virtual
machines to the current system before purchasing any additional blades.
RUN implemented UCS in one day, with help from a Cisco partner, in a fast and
trouble-free deployment. “We installed UCS ourselves, although we had some
support, and we were surprised at how quickly we did it and how easy it was to
integrate UCS with our existing systems,” says Seyr.
trouble-free deployment. “We installed UCS ourselves, although we had some
support, and we were surprised at how quickly we did it and how easy it was to
integrate UCS with our existing systems,” says Seyr.
Results
Because the UCS is a single, cohesive system that brings together computing
resources, networking, virtualization, and storage, RUN’s engineers now spend
less time on managing data center resources and more time on other tasks,
including revenue-generating activities. Adding new hardware such as blades,
for example, now takes about 80 percent less time than previously. “We haven’t
been using UCS for long enough to have collected and analyzed a lot of data,
but we estimate that our engineers are spending at least 10 percent less time
on management,” says Werth.
resources, networking, virtualization, and storage, RUN’s engineers now spend
less time on managing data center resources and more time on other tasks,
including revenue-generating activities. Adding new hardware such as blades,
for example, now takes about 80 percent less time than previously. “We haven’t
been using UCS for long enough to have collected and analyzed a lot of data,
but we estimate that our engineers are spending at least 10 percent less time
on management,” says Werth.
Fabian Seyr
Project Manager
Project Manager
Business and Consulting Department
RUN AG
Customer Case Study
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Cisco UCS B200 M2 Blade Server