Calor Gas has overhauled its IT storage infrastructure
in partnership with storage integrator
B2net to
improve its operations and cut costs.
B2net’s Storage Area Network (San) solution has enabled Calor
Gas to simplify and integrate its disparate enterprise data storage
and back-up systems.
As a result, Calor Gas is consolidating 50 of its large estate
of 90 servers down to just four. It also now has a more robust
storage and data back-up infrastructure.
Calor Gas’ simplified storage solution includes a Network
Appliance 3020 Cluster Server, four VMware virtual servers, and
PlateSpin to convert servers to virtual storage devices.
The solution also incorporates Symantec Enterprise Vault for
e-mail and file archiving, NTP Software’s QFS Storage Firewall
solution, and Overland Tape Library for back-up.
Andrew Browne, Calor Gas network manager, said, “B2net proved
they had the capability and expertise to deliver an enterprise
server consolidation. Their impartiality is a strength, and they
provide an end-to-end solution, unlike some vendors that often have
to pull in experts from a wide range of sources.”
Previously, Calor Gas had a large number of outmoded, disparate
servers where applications were isolated or didn’t sit comfortably
alongside one another.
The inefficient infrastructure meant that a lot of time and
resources were spent maintaining and supporting out of date
servers. It also meant available storage couldn’t match growing
demand.
Browne said, “The new server approach will enable us to have as
close to a 24/7 operation as we can. The aim was to significantly
reduce the maintenance we needed to run on the old system in terms
of patching, upgrades and downtime.”
He said, “By moving to a virtual storage environment, we can
maximise storage efficiency and demand and reduce the cost base of
the infrastructure. We had to make the project as cost neutral as
possible, by removing physical barriers and reutilising our newer
servers for other projects instead of purchasing new ones.”
Calor Gas cuts manual payments
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