Cisco Cisco UCS B230 M1 Blade Server Guida Informativa

“In the past, we designed and built 
system platforms for individual business 
applications, so servers and other 
machines proliferated, and operation 
got complicated as well. By modeling 
the required service levels according to 
availability and administrative process 
priority, and using an integrated 
virtualized system platform to deliver 
them, we aimed to slash our system 
development and operating costs.” 

Mr. Hitoshi Kirita

Senior Executive 
Manager
Information Technology 
Management Office
PMP (Project 
Management 
Professional)
NTT Data Corporation

“Cisco UCS has the innovative system 
architecture optimized for a virtualized 
environment. As such, we determined 
that UCS would maximize the TCO 
reduction resulting from this integrated 
virtualization.” 

Mr. Masakazu 

Yamada

Deputy Manager
System Engineering 
Business Unit
System Platforms Sector
NTT Data Corporation

and the software was 
no longer supported 
by the manufacturers. 
To move ahead with 
strategic IT investment 
in the future, we 
also needed to 
reduce spending on 
system upkeep and 
operation.” 

In September 2009, 
NTT Data set about 
planning a next-
generation system platform to solve these problems. “By modeling the required 
service levels according to availability and administrative process priority, and using an 
integrated virtualized system platform to deliver them, we aimed to slash our system 
development and operating costs,” explains Mr. Kirita. 

“At first, we thought about installing 2U rack-mounted servers,” adds Mr. Masakazu 
Yamada, Deputy Manager, System Engineering Business Unit, System Platforms 
Sector, NTT Data Corporation. However, having determined that 2U servers would not 
deliver enough of a reduction in maintenance costs in an integrated virtual environment 
of moderate size or larger, the company changed its mind and made plans to install 
blade servers instead. After carrying out a theoretical comparison of products provided 
by a number of leading server vendors, in terms of function, operation and cost, NTT 
Data ultimately decided to adopt Cisco UCS. 

Cisco UCS’s radically-innovative architecture was rated highly

Good cost-performance was another point in its favor

So, why did NTT Data adopt Cisco UCS for its company-wide information system 
platform? “The fact that Cisco UCS offered functions such as service profile and fabric 
integration, enabling us to adopt a new approach in the development and operating 
phases, was a big attraction,” says Mr. Yamada. He explains how this prompted the 
company to use integrated virtualization in order to maximize TCO-reduction benefits. 
He then points out that this architecture offered, broadly speaking, three advantages. 

First, it makes for a very simple system structure. Cisco UCS is designed for extreme 
architectural simplicity, and the system as a whole has far fewer structural elements 
than a regular blade server. The network is carried by the Fabric Interconnect, so 
there are very few cables. The storage network can also be integrated with the Fabric 
Interconnect, so fewer SAN switches and storage connection cables are needed. Also, 
because UCS Manager can be used for integrated management of the whole system, 
operation management is simplified, which helps cut costs. 

The second advantage of the architecture is its pronounced network-affinity. In 
order to “cloudify” a system platform through integrated virtualization, it is crucial to 

Current scenario, with system-

specific IT platforms

Different IT platforms are built separately 

in each system

 (apps are also developed separately)

Apps are developed on a shared, 

integrated IT platform

(migration to private cloud)

Desired scenario, with shared 

IT platform

In terms of eliminating complexity in design and building, and for maintainability, 

a simple architecture is best. Cisco UCS offers simplicity in its product 

architecture and product policy.

In cloud-building, eliminating network complexity is key. The architecture of 

Cisco UCS was designed with network interoperability in mind. 

In order to reduce overheads and eliminate operational complexity through 

virtualization, interoperability with the virtualized layer is important. Because 

Cisco UCS products have always been based on virtualization, they're one step 

ahead of the competition. 

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