HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 455880-B21 Dépliant
Codici prodotto
455880-B21
About Premera
Blue Cross
Premera Blue Cross serves
more than 1.7 million people,
from individuals to Fortune 100
companies, with health, life,
vision, dental, long-term care
coverage, and other related
services. The company has 3,200
employees, and serves a network
of over 38,000 physicians and
other healthcare providers and
191 hospitals. Consolidated 2007
revenues were US $3.3 billion.
To learn more, visit:
www.premera.com
Premera is expanding its Web-based services for
consumers and providers to enhance the quality of
care and keep costs in check. Yet data center space to
stage these and other services—in both the company’s
main data center near Seattle and its disaster recovery
(DR) data center near Spokane—is extremely tight.
consumers and providers to enhance the quality of
care and keep costs in check. Yet data center space to
stage these and other services—in both the company’s
main data center near Seattle and its disaster recovery
(DR) data center near Spokane—is extremely tight.
“We were at 90 percent of capacity,” says Fisher,
systems engineer at Premera Blue Cross. “That’s why
we switched to the HP BladeSystem. We can fit a lot
of horsepower in a small location.”
systems engineer at Premera Blue Cross. “That’s why
we switched to the HP BladeSystem. We can fit a lot
of horsepower in a small location.”
Now the company has 200 HP ProLiant server
blades (and the number is quickly growing) in 18
HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosures spread among
both centers. These 200 servers fit in 75 percent less
space than 200 comparable rack-mounted servers
would.
blades (and the number is quickly growing) in 18
HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosures spread among
both centers. These 200 servers fit in 75 percent less
space than 200 comparable rack-mounted servers
would.
1
“It costs us about $250,000 to provision a
server rack row, so avoiding the need to build out is
important,” Fisher says.
important,” Fisher says.
“Our SAN storage costs $35 to $70 a gigabyte,
compared to just a few dollars a gigabyte on an
HP storage blade.”
— Ron Fisher, Systems Engineer, Premera Blue Cross
compared to just a few dollars a gigabyte on an
HP storage blade.”
— Ron Fisher, Systems Engineer, Premera Blue Cross
Simplifying connections to save time and money
There was a major challenge to solve before the
HP BladeSystem could be brought in: how would it be
connected?
There was a major challenge to solve before the
HP BladeSystem could be brought in: how would it be
connected?
“Our network team already had too many edge
switches to manage, and they didn’t want to add
more,” Fisher explains. “An alternative to connecting
the servers with edge switches would be pass-thru
connections—but they add too many cables and
switches to manage, and they didn’t want to add
more,” Fisher explains. “An alternative to connecting
the servers with edge switches would be pass-thru
connections—but they add too many cables and
too much complexity. What enabled us to get the
approval to add a technology such as the
HP BladeSystem is HP Virtual Connect.”
approval to add a technology such as the
HP BladeSystem is HP Virtual Connect.”
HP Virtual Connect is a technology in the
HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure that simplifies how
customers connect their servers to LANs and SANs.
Without it, adding, moving, or swapping out a server
requires a LAN administrator and a SAN administrator
to reprogram switches, as well as a storage
administrator to modify the storage LUN presentation.
HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure that simplifies how
customers connect their servers to LANs and SANs.
Without it, adding, moving, or swapping out a server
requires a LAN administrator and a SAN administrator
to reprogram switches, as well as a storage
administrator to modify the storage LUN presentation.
If HP Virtual Connect is present, LAN and SAN
information is tied to the server bay instead of the
server. That allows the server team to add, remove, or
change servers with minimal involvement from the LAN
or SAN teams.
information is tied to the server bay instead of the
server. That allows the server team to add, remove, or
change servers with minimal involvement from the LAN
or SAN teams.
Hardware
• HP ProLiant BL685c G5 server blades
• HP ProLiant BL465c G5 server blades
• HP StorageWorks SB40c and SB600c storage blades
• HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosures
• HP Virtual Connect Ethernet and Fibre Channel modules
• HP ProLiant BL465c G5 server blades
• HP StorageWorks SB40c and SB600c storage blades
• HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosures
• HP Virtual Connect Ethernet and Fibre Channel modules
Software
• HP Insight Control Environment
• VMware Infrastructure 3
• VMware Infrastructure 3
Operating systems
• Microsoft
®
Windows
®
Server 2003
• VMware ESX Server 3.5
Network protocol
• Gigabit Ethernet
HP Services
• HP Proactive Blade Services
Solution at a glance
1. Rack size of 18 enclosures at 10 EIA units per enclosure = 180 units. 200
rack-mounted HP DL585 servers at 4 units each = 800 units. 800 units -
180 units = 620 units saved, or 75 percent of 800 units.
2