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Success StoriesNetherlands / KPMG - Optimum use of technical infrastructure thanks to Storage Area Network and Storage-Virtualization
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Based on IBM TotalStorage SAN Volume Controllers (SVCs) combined with IBM FastT600 storage systems, a storage infrastructure was set up that spans two physically separate locations. This enables KPMG to place business-critical production data at two locations, which means the configuration also offers a solution in the framework of Disaster Recovery. The Virtualization concept of the SAN Volume Controller offers KPMG an extremely high level of flexibility in terms of storage management (allocating and, if desired, moving storage capacity). The 'open' character of IBM’s Total Storage SAN Volume Controllers also delivers a high level of 'freedom of choice' in terms of later expansions. Storage arrays by various manufacturers and/or arrays of different performance levels can be included in the SAN Volume Controller environment and managed as a collective pool of storage capacity. This enables KPMG to make choices and adjustments in the storage environment based on application behavior and application type without requiring any downtime from the connected servers. Many people know KPMG from the striking building in Amstelveen that houses the Dutch headquarters. Less familiar is the fact that the company has another site in Amstelveen, as well, which houses the KPMG computer centre. For some time now, the two sites have been connected by a Fiber Channel, which currently contains dark fiber. This link was installed in the framework of a project for modernizing the company’s technical infrastructure in such a way that the company’s employees and customers can access their business data and other information any time they want from any location. KPMG makes this possible using an advance form of virtualization of both the storage capacity and the servers with which the company works. Anytime, any place "A combination of factors motivated KPMG to conduct this project," explains Chief Information Officer (CIO) and partner Hans Zwart. "Whereas in the past it was sufficient to have an approach by which it could take two days after a disruption before the data was available again, these days such a situation is unacceptable. 'Columbus' alone, an information system that our customers use as a remote bookkeeping and portal system, demands continuous availability." "We studied the situation meticulously in order to make our technical infrastructure more robust. We had already taken quite a number of measures for dealing with or preventing technical disruptions, fire, water damage, and the like, but what was still missing were resources for increasing the availability of the data by placing the data at multiple locations." We has a problem at KPMG: the large number of Windows servers and the low average utilization of 6 to 7 per cent per system, not to mention that as much as 50 percent of the disk space on these systems was frequently not utilized. Zwart wanted to improve this situation. His solution? Virtualization of both the 'server farm' and the storage capacity. KPMG asked COMPAREX to work out a proposal for how both the availability of data and the utilization of the storage capacity could be improved using a Storage Area Network. Virtualization Virtualization is not a simple concept, Zwart explains. "What, at first glance, appears to be a simple network for linking storage systems to one another is conceptually something of a completely different order. Where in a traditional ICT environment each server has its own hard disk for storage - the so-called 'direct attached storage' - or DAS model - with a Storage Area Network (SAN) all storage capacity is connected to the server via a network. In our case a network based on a Fiber Channel. A server no longer has its own storage, but uses the SAN to store data. If virtualization is applied on top of that, then - no matter what the individual physical capacity of the disk memory used - the available storage capacity can be allocated as desired to servers and applications. It also no longer matters what information is stored on what disk; the virtualization software keeps meticulous track of what is where." Thanks to progressive insight, Zwart goes on, what originally began as a plan to acquire a SAN evolved into a project whose objective is to create a central location for the management of all storage systems and of all the information recorded. Given KPMG’s previously defined need to ensure that data is available to employees and customers anytime, from any location, it cannot matter where this data is created or where it is needed: at the office, at customers’ sites, on the road or at the employee’s home. Three phases During the initial phase of the project, the computer systems involved were consolidated. COMPAREX implemented the Storage Area Network, which is constructed based on two IBM SAN Volume Controllers. During the period the glass fiber cable was also laid between the two sites in Amstelveen. In phase two a new backup infrastructure was installed. In the third and last phase of the project, it was ensured that an exact copy of all business-critical data is stored at both sites. When asked about the 'return on investment' for the project, Zwart reveals a pragmatic approach to the phenomenon 'ROI' have. "If I simply compare the cheap storage systems in a DAS environment versus the more expensive storage in the SAN, I am looking at a payback time of 5 to 5.5 years. But I believe the situation is much more complicated than that. We see the SAN as an investment in 'disaster recovery: Thus it is, in fact, a type of insurance premium. What I then wonder is how do you calculate the R0I on an insurance premium?" Summary COMPAREX has installed a dual-data center storage virtualization platform for business-critical applications. Storage virtualization offers managers a very high level of flexibility in terms of (on-line) additions and changes in disk capacity. This solution also offers an open platform for growth, if desired using storage products from different suppliers and/or of different quality levels.
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