Client story Leading Financial Analytics Company Relies on Insight for Fully Managed Storage Consolidation and Multiplatform Data Migration
By Insight Editor / 2 Mar 2019 / Topics: Data center Migration Networking Cybersecurity
Facts at a glance
Client industry
Finance
Insight provided:
- Project initiation and discovery
- Detailed application analysis and planning
- 4.5 petabytes of new NetApp all-flash and hybrid storage arrays implemented into 2 data centers
- End-to-end fully managed solution involving migration from multiple platforms
- Storage consolidation/ migration/decommission project management and execution
Insight services:
- Consulting
- System architecture
- Project management
Outcomes:
Download the client story
- 10 to 2 data center storage array consolidation and operational readiness
- 1,100+ business-critical hosts successfully transitioned
- Process runtimes reduced from days to hours and hours to minutes
- Unnecessary applications identified and decommissioned
- Simplified IT management
- Foundation for future IT transformations
The client
The client is a leading analytics company and software provider to the financial services industry, and has approximately 3,400 employees at locations worldwide.
The challenge: Install 4.5 petabytes of storage arrays and execute a complex, multisource migration in less than five months
The client came to Insight with limited internal knowledge of the latest infrastructure technologies and seeking end-to-end assistance with a storage upgrade followed by a data migration from different platforms at two locations. Each location had multiple source EMC arrays for both Storage Area Network (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS), and one location had a NetApp® 7-Mode HA pair. Due to the variety of the storage arrays and data types, multiple transition methodologies would have to be used.
Adding to the challenge was the fact that the client needed this engagement to be completed within five months. That included performing a detailed analysis of each of the migration tools that would have to be used and extensive data discovery. Plus, it was critical that key services not be disrupted.
The solution: Modernized infrastructure, merged data centers and a risk-mitigated, non-disruptive data migration
While the client’s infrastructure was being upgraded, producing a 10 to two data center storage array consolidation, our team used the results of the data discovery process to produce a master transition workbook. This detailed map showed the origin and intended destination for every piece of client data. The workbook also indicated the size, permissions and access, ownership, and application for each piece of data.
With that information in hand, we were able to categorize the data and determine what pieces could be moved together and in what order if a particular sequence was required. The client then communicated with application owners and groups to schedule the data migrations as our team gathered the necessary application resources and administrators to manage the migration activities.
Ultimately 22 migration events took place over five weeks. In the process, more than 1,100 hosts were successfully transitioned using NetApp 7MTT XCP / FLI proprietary tools, proving that we are a NetApp partner that is uniquely qualified to perform XCP and FLI data migrations from any storage vendor to NetApp.
The benefits: Extensive scalability, process runtimes reduced from days to hours and a foundation for future IT transformations
The client is now benefitting from highly scalable infrastructure that is also providing greater speed and responsiveness. In some cases, process runtimes have been decreased by more than 50%, from days to hours and hours to minutes, with the associated improvement in customer experience.
The engagement also resulted in the merging of data centers, enabling the client to achieve significant cost savings. The new technology is easier to manage, and the groundwork laid in preparing to implement it has positioned the organization for future IT transformations with new documentation and processes, as well as expanded skills and knowledge for its internal staff.
