Improve storage efficiency and data mobility with IBM SmartCloud Virtual Storage Center

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/solutions/storage-hypervisor/

thinkASG is honored to be an IBM Beacon Award finalist for 2011 in the category of Best Competitive Solution.  Our solution comprised IBM Power System Servers and DS8000 Enterprise Storage to replace a 10+ year Sun and EMC installation in a Fortune 50 company.  The division that installed our competitive take-out solution selected the IBM technology for a number of key factors:

1.  A sister division of the Fortune 50 company, running a scaled down but similar IBM solution, had operated for years with almost no unscheduled downtime and with a materially smaller IT staff than the other divisions running the Sun and EMC solution.

2.  The processing power and ability to optimize workloads on the IBM Power System Servers significantly rivaled the performance of the similarly sized Sun and EMC solution.

3.  thinkASG was able to demonstrate a better initial investment and a far greater efficiency with the IBM solution.

Read the full press release and call thinkASG for complete details on how IBM servers and storage can be implemented to simplify the operations of your IT environment and demonstrate irrefutable ROI through an expertly designed and implemented solution.   This solution can be replicated in businesses of all size.  Whether your business is very small or very large, you need a solution that is rock solid so you can focus on running your business rather than running your IT department.

The LSI SAS switches are very economical and may be daisy chained to connect up to 1,000 end devices with up to 25 meters between SAS switches. Coupled with the IBM DS3500 line of disk storage which all have (2) SAS connectors for each controller in the base product and can be double with a daughter card. We see this as a perfect solution for small to large ESX clusters for either departmental needs or development.

A small ESX server cluster with (2) IBM 3650 M3s with memory up to 288GB and a DS3512 with up to 24TB of shared storage allows for this configuration to be a robust high available versatile solution. Add to this a LTO 5 SAS tape drive or site to site replication built into the DS product line and you can have local or remote backup.

Next time you come by our innovation center please ask to see a demo. I think you will be surprised.

• Eliminates the costs of SAS-based “storage islands” in direct-attached storage (DAS) environments and enables independent growth for servers and storage in traditional SANs
• Allows for multiple servers to connect to one or more independent external storage systems enabling more efficient “scaling out” of both storage and servers in data centers and other large storage installations

A Partner approaches customers with the intention of working with that customer for decades – and as such, provides the customer with excellent service to foster that mutually beneficial relationship. ThinkASG has been in business for 16 years now, and while we add new clients every year, and are still working with the same customers we started out with in 1995. We are well into our 2nd decade of working with these clients – as such, we know their business very well and are their trusted advisors.

“Direct” relationships are quite different. The “Directs” are out to close, but at all costs no matter what. The business is driven, and in many instances forced, to produce a result in a given quarter. In addition, it is certain that the “direct” reps and roles will change annually (if not more often). The end result is that customers often feel deserted after the sale. In fact, in many “directs” the model is to change accounts once the sale is complete. This model may fund large yachts for the few, but it does not support long term, valuable relationships between “directs” and customers.

If you are interested in establishing a greatly beneficial, high-value, long term partnership, then I invite you to meet with us. You will be glad to did.

Managed Back-up Cloud Video

David Browning, thinkASG’s CEO, kicked off the event with introductions, review of the days agenda, and the instructions on how to use the Plain and Peanut M&M’s to cast the vote for SAN or NAS. During the morning session the participants were encouraged to drop an M&M for every time something tipped the scale of either technology. The goal was to determine which break out session would best meet the participants to storage requirements. I think I saw more M&M’s eaten than dropped in the cup. Who could blame them?

David Howard, thinkASG’s Storage Architect, presented a high level overview of both SAN and NAS solutions discussing the pros and cons.  During his presentation customers were encouraged to voice their opinions, and a few of them were not shy.

Lee Graham, from Fresh n Easy, was passionate and provided a great argument why he would not use anything but traditional FC SAN for both performance and availability.  Ed Young, from Qlogic, raved about his NAS and that he couldn’t imagine backing up all his data without one. Ed noted how easy their NAS was to use and support. The one thing that both Ed and Lee agreed upon, was how critical it is to maintain proper discipline in managing the network fabric.

We took a look at yesterday’s SAN and NAS pros and cons.

We discussed the trends and improvements in both technologies as they continue to tip the scales back and forth.

At the end of the opening sessions all participants counted their M&M’s (what was left of them) to determine which breakout session to attend.

Aaron Hoobler, thinkASG’s Solution Architect, lead the discussion on NAS solutions and demonstrated the various hardware and software offerings of the IBM N series storage. Dispelling the common stereotype that NAS solutions cannot scale.

Sudheesh Vadakkedath, IBM’s XIV Sr Solution Architect lead the discussion on IBM’s exciting XIV Grid Storage Solution. Discussed XIV’s unique value proposition “Tier 1 performance at Tier 2 price” as well as demonstrated the simplicity and ease of use of SAN based storage. Sudheesh easily dispelled the stereotype that SAN’s are too complex and expensive.  

David Howard, thinkASG’s Storage Architect, presented the value of IBM’s Storage Volume Controller (SVC) and demonstrated why SVC is the number one storage virtualization product in the market.

Lunch was served but the conversations didn’t stop then. The battle of SAN vs. NAS continued on throughout lunch and onto the golf course. Of course once the golf event began the focus became who will have the longest drive, closest to the pin, and lowest team score. Ed Young was the big hitter of the day winning the two longest drive awards. Tim Nguyen, from thinkASG and his customer team consisting of Bob Howard, Cheng Yeh and Steve You, won the lowest score.  Cheng Yeh was a big winner a 2^nd time with a closest to the pin, along with Dru Murphy, our own thinkASG Account Executive.  Congratulations for a great game of golf to all!

As we wrapped the day the ultimate question was still left to be answered.

SAN vs NAS – “Which one is right for me?”

There must have been a politician in the room when the answer came back “It depends”

Obviously, there is no single answer. Each customer has unique challenges and different business needs.

So, the correct answer is to contact “The Human Drive” at thinkASG to help you build a solution to meet your needs.

1. P7 delivers better performance and depending if you’re replacing P5 or P6 you see between 3:1 and 4:1 increase

2. P7 will allow you to do more with less processors therefore cutting your software lics cost. In some cases, the savings of software lics will pay for the hardware

3. P7 uses less energy consumption and takes up less space

4. P7 will lower your maintenance cost. In some cases the cost of maintenance on older boxes can pay for new hardware and ROI is less then 3 years.

I hope this helps.

We met at the VIP entrance to be escorted by the Kings Ice Girls and straight to the arena floor.  The, straight out to Center Ice for a perspective few but the athletes get to enjoy – where we took a picture of our winning team!  We marched back inside to find the Ducks playing a little soccer/volleyball as warm-up in the hallways of the Staples Center…it was all our crew could do not to stop for a George Parros autograph! 

Our group broke into  two groups representing those interested in IBM/Intel EX5 offerings and those interested in SAP ERP & related offerings from Bramasol. Brian Houlihan from IBM discussed IBM’s eX5 technolgoy and our ability to do more with less with highly scaleable virtualized server consolidation tactics.  Kathryn Brandt from Bramasol discussed cost efficencies via enterprise integrated best of breed application suites.  The dialogue was lively and lots of great Q&A resulted….so much so that we found ourselves rushing back to our suites for the National Anthem and puck drop.  As King’s and Duck’s hockey fans know, from there we saw a 1-0 become a 2-1 that was recalled to a 1-1 at end of regulation. The local teams went thru full overtime play and it wasn’t until the sixth shot in the shoot out that the outcome was determined – the Ducks were the victors! 

thinkASG thanks our clients and prospects for joining us at the Staples Center for a fun night of hockey!

VMware is working aggressively to encourage the world to embrace cloud computing by building critical infrastructure resources into ESX (the base technology of vSphere).   vSphere 4 enhances the infrastructure capabilities of VI3 to enable  customers to implement internal clouds with security, high availability, and fault tolerance.  Customers are building internal clouds with plans to enhance their environments with vSphere for expanding their infrastructure to incorporate utility based computing – allowing internal and external clouds to securely federate between one another.

While cloud computing has quickly become an industry buzzword, virtualization is the only way to get there.  So, it figures that customers are implementing vSphere – the industry’s most mature virtualization OS for x86 systems.  Implementing a virtualization infrastructure requires planning with a long term view of the global cloud infrastructure.   As an Enterprise level VMware partner in Orange County, thinkASG has the sales and technical skills to help you make the move to vSphere 4 and Cloud Computing.