CASESTUDY Ecker Enterprises,Inc. ConstructsIPSAN Infrastructurewith DR365U ©2020StoneFly,Inc.|AllRightsReserved
AboutEcker Enterprises,Inc. EckerEnterprises,Inc.,oneofthelargestspecialtysubcontractorsinthe country,embracescontinuousinnovationandabest-practices philosophytodeliverthehighestlevelsofqualitymulti-tradeservices StartedbyMorrisEckermorethan80yearsagoinChicago,the employee-ownedenterprisenowoperatesofficesinfourstatesand hasbuiltastellarreputationforstreamliningtheplanningand managementofcommercialandresidentialconstructionprojects, includinghomes,officebuildings,hotels,schoolsandretailcenters Overthedecades,Eckerhasrepeatedlyproventhattheabilityto consolidatemultipletradesunderonecontractsignificantlyimprovesthe coordinationofdifferenttradespecialtiesincludingdrywall,painting, stucco,plastering,carpentry,insulation,windows,stoneveneer,and acousticaltile Withemployeesdispersedacrossvariousfieldlocations andjobsites,thecompanyhadtakenamuchmoredecentralized approachtomanagingitsburgeoningIToperation CASE STUDY / PAGE 2
Challenges
WhenBillPolymenakos,DirectorofTechnology, joinedtheorganization,hewasconcernedthat allthedifferenttypesofhardwareandsoftware platformswerecreatingmajorcompatibilityand performance problems.
“OurtechnologyenvironmentresembledanIT museumwithoutdatedtechnologythatcouldn’t supportthelatestversionsofcriticalbusiness applications,”notes Polymenakos. “Ourdirectattachedstoragewascrawlingalong andbackupswereflat-outunreliable”
Furthermore,therehadbeennostorage standardizationacrossthedifferentlocations, whichcausedcontinualproblemsfortheIT team “OurPhoenixofficekeptrunningoutof storage,”headds.
Asthefieldlocationsbeganrelyingmoreheavily onestimating,schedulingandothercore businessapplications,Polymenakosgrew increasinglyworriedaboutthe efficiencyandconsistencyoffieldbackups.Still, histwo-personITteamwasconstrainedinits abilitytosupportthefieldofficesandsothey trainedlocalstafftoperformnightlybackupsto tape Thisprocess,whichtook approximatelysevenhoursateachlocation, frequentlyfailed
“Mybiggestworrywasourineffectivebackups,” recallsPolymenakos “Atleastonebackupnightly bombedandmanagingtheentireprocesswas anightmare”Themethodofrestoringfileswas equallytroublesome.Often,thelocalteams insertedtapeaftertapebeforetheITteamwas abletofindonethatcontainedthefiletheywere seeking
ItwascleartoPolymenakosthatEcker’sIT infrastructureneededasubstantialupgradeand theever-worseningbackupproblemshadtobe fixedfast Tothatend,hesetouttobuildanIT foundationthatwouldprovidetheregionalstaff withallthetoolsneededto dotheirjobsfromthefieldwhileproviding advanceddataprotectionforallmission-critical applications Withanextensiveevaluationof differenttechnologyplatforms underway,anonlinedatabackupandrecovery servicewaschosentoprovide immediatebackupandrecoveryrelief
Overthenexttwoyears,theITteamresearched, testedandbudgeteddifferentsolutionsthat wouldprovidetheoptimalmixofleading-edge technologyandeasy-to-useproductivitytools Notlongafter,EckerembarkedonamajorIT upgradetoMicrosoftWindowsServerforits serveranddesktopplatformswhiledeploying CitrixMetaFramePresentationServerforondemand,remoteaccesstobusinessinformation anddesktopapplications Onthestoragefront, thedecisionwasmadeto consolidatemassstorageonaStorageArea Network(SAN),buttheexactdeployment scenariorequiredafurthercostandbenefit analysis
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Solution
StoneFlyDR365U-UniversalBackup&DRAppliance
EckerevaluateddifferentSANplatformstosupporttheincreasingmigrationofpaper-basedforms andprocessestoanautomatedsystem,whichputadditionalpressureonfindingahighlyreliable, availableandscalablestoragesolution Initially,aFibreChannelSANwasconsideredideal, untilthecostsforadditionalhardware,software,consultingandtrainingweretallied
“TheFCSANsolutionsweevaluatedcameinaround$150Kforthestoragealone,whichwascost prohibitive,”explainsPolymenakos “WehadlookedatIPSANsseveralyearsbackanddecidednow totakeacloserlook”
PolymenakoshadwatchedStoneFlydemonstrateanIPSANseveralyearsearlierataWindows Decisionsconferenceandhadbeenimpressedwiththeeaseandspeedwithwhichstorage volumescouldbeserved Atthatsameconference,healsosawademoofCommVaultSystems’ backupandrecoverysoftware Herecallslikingthefactthattheirhandlingofincrementaland disk-to-diskbackupswassimilartotheonlineserviceEckeralreadyhadinplace
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Solution
Theone-stopshopapproachwithStoneFly’s solutionappealedtotheresource-constrainedIT department,asdidthepromiseofgreatly simplifyingroutinebackupandrecoveryprocesses. TheadditionofStoneFlySCVMstorageOS,to increaseperformanceandnear-termdata availabilitybyreplicatingbackupstoaremoteIP SAN,wasanothercompetitiveadvantage Furthermore,Polymenakoswanteda straightforwarddisk-to-disk-to-tape(D2D2T) solutionwithouthavingtodealwithsoftware virtualization.
“StoneFly’solutionedgedoutHPLeftHandonseveral fronts,”explainedPolymenakos “Wereallylikedthe combinedStoneFlyandCommVaultapproach, whichgaveusasinglepointofcontactor‘one throattochoke,’ifanyproblemsarose While comparablypriced,DR365Uofferedtwicethe storageoftheLeftHandconfiguration,givingEcker 42TBofrawstorage,whichprovidedathree-tofouryeargrowthpath.Moreover,theLeftHand solutiondidn’tcomewithequivalentbackupand recoverysoftware,whichwouldhaverequired buyingandinstallingadditionalsoftware “Whenwe factoredintheadditional$30Ktopurchasethe backupandrecoverysoftwarewiththeLeftHand solution,nottomentionthechallengeofintegrating itourselves,wedeterminedthatStoneFly’sturnkey approachdeliveredmuchmorevalueoverall,” saysPolymenakos “WithDR365U,weachievedour goalofincreasingthespeedandresiliencyofour backupswhilealsotakingadvantageofmovingto acentralized,affordableSANenvironment”
TolearnmoreaboutDR365U,clickhere.
CASE STUDY / PAGE 5
Results
WithinanhourofinstallingDR365UatEcker’s Chicagodatacenter,theteamwasableto provisionstoragevolumes “Theentireprocess tookmuchlesstimethanweanticipated,” notedPolymenakos.Initially,atechnicalproblem wasdiscoveredwheresharedvolumesforfile serviceswoulddropoff,butStoneFlytook ownershipandquicklyresolvedtheissuewithHP andMicrosoft
MoreBackup&RestoreOptions–LessNetwork Consumption
Almostimmediately,Eckerbeganreapingthe benefitsfromitsDR365Uimplementation The abilitytooffloadbackupandrestoreoperations fromthecompanylocal-areanetworkontoa dedicatedEthernetIPSANmadetheentire processcompletelytransparenttothe company ’sendusers ThisLAN-free approacheliminatedthepreviousperformance problemsthatusedtoaffectthenetworkona regularbasiswhenbackupbottlenecksslowed overallperformance
BackupWindowsReducedfromaDaytoLess thananHour
FullD2Dbackupscanbeperformednowinless thananhour,avastimprovementoverthefulldaybackupsEckerusedtoencounter.D2D2T backupsarenowcompletedseamlesslyand withoutanyinterventionfromfield-officestaff Restores,oncesoproblematic,arenowinitiated quicklyandeasily “Restores,whichusedtobe completelycumbersome,timeconsuming andunreliablearenoweasyandfast,takingless thanaminutetocomplete,”notesPolymenakos
EffortlessBackup&DRAutomation& Orchestration
AnotherplusisDR365U’s“pushbutton automation,”whichreducesmanualintervention andalleviatespressureonEcker’srestrictedIT resources “Eventhoughwe’reonlyatwo-person ITdepartment,weneedtobeveryresponsiveto thefieldoperation,”saysPolymenakos.“DR365U letsuschange,addordeletestorage allocationson-demand,makingiteasytokeep upwithrapidlyincreasingstoragerequirements”
StorageforNetwork&DesktopApplicationsfor NineServers
WhilethemajorITupgradeisstillinprocess, storagefornetworkanddesktopapplicationsfor nineserverswillbeconsolidatedontoDR365U Withsubstantialroomforexpansion,storageof imageddocuments,includingcontracts, estimates,schedulesandtake-offdrawings,will beaddedtotheIPSANasthecompany continuestomovetowardmorepaperless operations “WithDR365Uinplace,wehavethe confidencetostoremoreimportantdataonline, knowingthatwehavemaximumprotectionfor ourvitalfilesandapplications”
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CASE STUDY / PAGE 7 MoreRoomforFutureIntegrations AnexpandingbusinesscontinuityeffortalsogetsadditionalsupportfromDR365U Oncethe technologyupgradetoWindowsandCitrixiscompletecompanywide,Eckerwillundertakeafull disasterrecoveryinitiativetoreplicateallfilesandapplicationshousedinChicagotoasecondaryIT facilityatthecompany’sLasVegasoffice Tosupportthisproject,PolymenakoswilluseDR365U’s asynchronousmirroringfunctiontoreplicatecriticalinformationoverthecompanyWANtotheLas Vegaslocation PlanstobackupEcker’sUnix-basedEnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)systemonDR365Uarein theworksaswell Eventually,thecompanywilleliminatetherecurringcostofitsonlinerecovery servicebytransitioningallbackupandrecoveryrequirementstoStoneFlyDR365U Inthelongrun, DR365UprovidesasolidstoragestructurethatcansupportEcker’sbusinessgrowthandfurther adoptionofautomatedtoolsandapplicationstoboostprojectproductivityandprofitability “StoneFlyDR365Uwillgrowwithus,safeguardingourbusinessandprovidinganintegrated,stable storagefoundation,”concludesPolymenakos “DR365Ustreamlinesourevolvingbackupandrecoveryoperationsforthe mostefficientresourceutilizationpossible.” AsynchronousReplicationtoRemoteSites,Unix-BasedERPSystem Deployment,&More
SetupDR365U
UniversalIPSANstorageandbackup&DRsolution
AboutStoneFly,Inc.
StoneFly,Inc.,headquarteredinCalifornia,wasfoundedtodeliverupon thevisionofsimpleandaffordablestorageoptimizationanddisaster recoveryprotectionthroughIPSANsolutions StoneFlyisaleading manufacturerofhigh-performanceNetworkAttachedStorage(NAS), StorageAreaNetworks(SAN)–iSCSIsystems,Hyperconverged systems,andRAIDsystems.StoneFly’srangeofenterpriseproductsalso includescloudstoragesolutions,cloudstoragegatewaysolutions,and datamigrationservicesforenterpriseworkloads
Email: sales@stonefly.com Phone: +1510265-1616 Website: www.stonefly.com
