As the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland, Cork has
watched demand for city services - and the accompanying data
storage requirements - grow. To handle current storage needs and
prepare for future growth, Cork City Council needed an alternative
to its existing storage system, which had become slow and
unmanageable.
The previous system used multiple servers with direct attached
storage and had a single point of failure in the controller card
for the storage devices. Non-critical data had already twice been
lost due to card failures. Each server also needed to be backed up
separately to tape. And, as storage demand increased, back-ups
became unwieldy, maintenance and system management too complex and
costly, and capacity stretched.
Sun Storagetek Professional Services designed and implemented a
tiered information management system using a storage area network
(San) connected by high-speed switches. Sun Storagetek disc systems
ensure the council's critical data and applications are highly
available and online.
The Sun software management suite delivers a single point of
control for managing disc-based storage and back-up. A Sun
Storagetek modular library system provides automated and reliable
tape storage and back-up for the city's less often used data.
Pat Duggan, network administrator at Cork City Council, said,
"Spending so many hours a week on changing tapes was a real
pressure point for us. The new system has vastly improved both our
efficiency and the security of our data and has allowed us to
consolidate our servers and data. Sun Storagetek's Snapshot
Software has also greatly enhanced our
disaster recovery plan."
System benefits
The storage platform has helped Cork to improve data access and
make more efficient use of resources. The council's 700 users have
continuous access to data and applications, and automated back-ups
mean officials no longer worry about losing important data.
Automated back-ups have also dramatically reduced back-up times
by eliminating manual tape changes, allowing IT staff to use their
time more efficiently.
Server and data consolidation and centralised management of
storage systems have helped Cork City Council reduce the cost and
complexity of accessing data. And using a simpler system from a
single supplier has also translated into lower training and
administrative costs.
The storage platform provides plenty of capacity to handle
future needs, and it can be easily upgraded without major service
disruptions or additional software licensing costs, said Sun. In
the long term, system flexibility and easy maintenance will lower
the council's total cost of ownership.
● Sun Microsystems is exhibiting on stands 220 and 585 at
Storage Expo 2007