Su!e" S#$yTorti Gallas Avoids $45,000 per Day Loss with NetApp, Cisco, VMware, and Presidio

Customer ProfileTorti Gallas and Partners, Inc. is a global architecture, planning, and urban design firm based in Silver Spring, Maryland, with a 59-year history of design innova-tion. With additional offices in Los Ange-les; California; Washington, DC; and Istanbul, Turkey, the firm has a creative staff of nearly 100 people with expertise in urban design and town planning; resi-dential, mixed-use, and neighborhood revitalization; and military housing proj-ects. The firm’s commitment to innovative design work has led to more than 400 international, national, and local awards.

The ChallengeTransform an aging, inefficient data centerTorti Gallas is committed to creating designs that match the context of its environment and are both aesthetically innovative and economically sensible. When the firm recently assessed its data center, it identified opportunities to transform the infrastructure into a more innovative, cost-effective environment. As a firm that understands the inextri-cable tie between great communities and great buildings, Torti Gallas set out to enhance and revitalize the IT infra-structure that serves as the foundation for the award-winning staff.

Data growth, server sprawl, and storage inefficiencies led to significant IT man-agement challenges, system performance issues, and rising data center costs. “We had 25 servers on direct-attached storage to support our business needs,” says Omer Mushahwar, senior associ-ate at Torti Gallas. “From the standpoint of data center and management costs, backup and recovery needs, and sup-porting our staff, our IT environment was highly inefficient and definitely needed to be overhauled.”

In the file share environment, for example, six different network servers supported mission-critical files spread across the organization. Storage limitations resulted in disparate storage volumes and content redundancies, with files that were hard to find and hard to manage. Staff members had to try and locate everything from design specifications to CAD drawings based on variables such as with which applications they were created and when they were produced.

The firm also experienced periodic data center outages due to severe weather such as extreme heat or intense thun-derstorms. Disruptions to business operations affected client service and could cost the firm $45,000 per day.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

IndustryArchitecture, planning, urban design

The ChallengeSupport business with storage limitations, scalability challenges, and high power and cooling costs.

The SolutionUtilize Presidio’s consultative services to design and implement a cost-effective solution leverag-ing VMware® vSphere® built on NetApp® FlexPod® from NetApp and Cisco.

BenefitsDecreased storage requirements by 60% from 10TB to 4TBIncreased space savings up to 75% Reduced physical servers by 84% with virtualizationDecreased storage racks from 4 to 1, reducing power and cooling costsEliminated periodic downtime; avoiding $45K/day costsReduced network bandwidth by 70%

Another NetApp solution delivered by:

“By deploying VMware vSphere on FlexPod from NetApp and Cisco, we’ve reduced our physical servers from 25 to 4, eliminated 3 of 4 storage racks, and decreased our data center power and cooling costs.”Omer MushahwarSenior Associate, Torti Gallas and Partners

The firm needed a more reliable data center environment and sound disaster recovery plan.

IT management decided that to improve service levels, lower data center costs, make sure of business continuity, and position the company for growth, the company needed to move to server vir-tualization and an enterprise-class data center environment. Working closely with technology partner and IT solu-tions provider Presidio to investigate its options, the firm zeroed in on the FlexPod data center solution.

“We were sold on VMware for virtualiza-tion, so it was imperative that the stor-age technology integrated seamlessly with VMware,” says Mushahwar. “Repu-tation in the storage marketplace was also critical, and everyone we consulted with had great things to say about NetApp. The VMware on FlexPod solu-tion was the clear choice for our virtual-ization and cost-efficiency goals and offers all of the capabilities we need for a scalable, agile, secure enterprise.”

Mushahwar stresses the vital role that Presidio played in the FlexPod deploy-ment. “We utilized Presidio’s consulta-tive services to design and implement a cost-effective solution, with a flexible finance option that allowed us to acquire the equipment up front and spread the costs over four years,” he says. “With

assistance from Presidio, we were able to deploy a single integrated compute, storage, and network architecture that meets today’s IT objectives while posi-tioning us for growth.”

The SolutionA single architecture with broad flexibilityAssisted by data center virtualization experts at Presidio, Torti Gallas imple-mented FlexPod solutions in its primary data center in Silver Spring, Maryland, and secondary data center in Laurel, Maryland. Leveraging the single unified FlexPod architecture with advanced vir-tualization capabilities and built-in effi-ciencies, Torti Gallas consolidated its infrastructure and streamlined IT management.

“By deploying VMware vSphere on FlexPod from NetApp and Cisco, we’ve reduced our physical servers from 25 to 4, eliminated 3 of 4 storage racks, and decreased our data center power and cooling costs,” says Mushahwar. The firm has virtualized mission-critical environments, including Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008, Microsoft Exchange 2007, Deltek Financial Management, and WebArchives Intelligent Digital Asset Management (iDAM) software, all running on NetApp.

The NetApp storage systems are sup-ported by the NetApp Data ONTAP® 8.0

system operating in 7-Mode, with 64-bit aggregates that store entire databases on a single aggregate while simplifying database management. NetApp deduplication helps the com-pany optimize storage resources and keep control over a threefold data increase in the past three years. The integrated FlexPod design enables Torti Gallas to dynamically provision pools of server, network, and storage resources rather than individual components, drastically reducing provisioning time.

The IT staff manages, monitors, and pro-visions storage in the VMware vSphere and ESX® 4.1 virtual environment, which includes 15 virtual servers, through vCenter™ using NetApp plug-ins. Solution integration enables the team to easily move between VMware, Cisco®, and NetApp consoles such as NetApp OnCommand® Operations Manager for a seamless management experience. Integration across NetApp OnCommand, Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS™) Manager, and Cisco Nexus® NX-OS components enables Torti Gallas to manage the FlexPod platform at the infrastructure layers. Open APIs allow the IT team to easily integrate FlexPod technologies with other orchestration management solutions.

Torti Gallas protects onsite data by creating incremental copies using NetApp Snapshot™ technology and recovering

deleted data using SnapRestore®. Additional protection is provided by SnapManager® for SQL Server and the backup and recovery feature of Virtual Storage Console. The IT team also pro-tects data by performing disk-to-disk backups with NetApp SnapVault®, Snap-shot technology, and NetApp deduplica-tion to provide point-in-time backup copies in native format.

The firm’s enhanced disaster recovery plan, which helps protect business- critical company and client data, uses NetApp SnapMirror® to replicate data twice daily from the production site to the 100% virtualized colocation facility. SnapMirror simplifies data replication for Torti Gallas across multiple NetApp storage systems and the firm’s iSCSI and NFS protocols for any application in its virtual and physical environ-ments. SnapMirror integrates with VMware Site Recovery Manager, pro-viding the firm rapid, reliable, and cost-effective automated disaster recovery and enhanced application protection for its virtualized applica-tions such as Microsoft SQL Server.

Business BenefitsAchieving new IT and operational efficienciesAs a leader in low-impact and sustain-able design, Torti Gallas is reducing its data center footprint through server

virtualization made possible by the FlexPod data center solution. Physical storage requirements have decreased from 10TB to 4TB in the virtualized FlexPod environment. NetApp dedupli-cation is freeing up 35% to 75% of the firm’s storage space in various storage areas, reducing some drives by tera-bytes. SnapMirror is reducing network bandwidth utilization by 70% with built-in network compression. The larger 64-bit volumes of the Data ONTAP 8 operating system help optimize storage efficiency and performance while paring down administration time.

The company is leveraging additional operational efficiencies since moving away from silos of IT operations and data to the unified, virtualized FlexPod infrastructure. While the previous direct-attached-storage environment distrib-uted file shares across different servers, the integrated FlexPod architecture centralizes the firm’s architectural design, client billing, proposal, and other important files on NetApp storage.

“Our teams can now look in one place for the content they need to perform their jobs,” notes Mushahwar. “We are also seeing performance gains in the data center environment where we deployed FlexPod, which further improves the availability and accessibility of our vital project content.” Torti Gallas IT staff leverages Web-based NetApp My

AutoSupport™ applications to assist in monitoring system health and taking proactive steps to help optimize sys-tem performance and make sure of system availability.

Keeping operations up and runningWith an enhanced disaster recovery plan and improved system perfor-mance, Torti Gallas protects valuable data, reduces risk, maintains availabil-ity, and meets 2-hour recovery point and 4-hour recovery time objectives. A FlexPod solution in the company’s secondary data center stores a mirrored copy of production applications and data, which the IT team can quickly recover in the event of a system, site, or regional outage.

“The FlexPod solution and integrated disaster recovery capabilities from NetApp, VMware, and Cisco have allowed us to take a big step forward in business continuity,” says Mushah-war. “The solution helps prevent the loss of $45,000 per day during power outages and empowers us to serve our clients and generate revenue without skipping a beat.”

About PresidioPresidio architects purpose-built IT solutions and services that enable cus-tomers to solve their most challenging problems and achieve extraordinary success. Presidio brings a unique

Figure 1) VMware vSphere built on FlexPod at Torti GallasThe FlexPod data center solution is composed of NetApp FAS3210 storage system, Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) C250 M2 Rack-Mount servers, Cisco Nexus 5020 switches, and VMware vSphere and vCenter for virtualization. A FlexPod solution in the company’s secondary data center stores a mirrored copy of production applications and data.

Primary Data Center

Cisco Unified Computing

System (UCS) C250

NetApp SnapVaultNetApp Snapshot

NetApp SnapRestoreNetApp Deduplication

NetApp SnapMirrorVMware Site

Recovery Manager

Cisco Nexus 5020 Switch

NetApp FAS3210 running Data ONTAP 8.0

Cisco Unified Computing

System (UCS) C250

Cisco Nexus 5020 Switch

NetApp FAS3210 running Data ONTAP 8.0

Secondary Data Center

Microsoft SQL Server 2008Microsoft Exchange 2007

Deltek Financial Management

NetApp OnCommand Operations Manager

NetApp SnapManager for SQL ServerNetApp Virtual

Storage Tier

VMware vSphere and vCenter

NetApp OnCommand Operations Manager

NetApp SnapManager for SQL ServerNetApp Virtual

Storage Tier

VMware vSphere and vCenter

Microsoft SQL Server 2008Microsoft Exchange 2007

Deltek Financial Management

NetApp creates innovative storage and data management solutions that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and accelerate business breakthroughs. Discover our passion for helping companies around the world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.

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© 2012 NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved. No portions of this document may be reproduced without prior written consent of NetApp, Inc. Specifications are subject to change without notice. NetApp, the NetApp logo, Go further, faster, AutoSupport, Data ONTAP, FlexPod, OnCommand, SnapManager, SnapMirror, SnapRestore, Snapshot, and SnapVault are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft and SQL Server are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. ESX, VMware, and vSphere are registered trademarks and vCenter is a trademark of VMware, Inc. Cisco and Cisco Nexus are registered trademarks and Cisco Unified Computing System and Cisco UCS are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such. CSS-6558-0512

client engagement framework that minimizes risks associated with tech-nology adoption and ensures the highest quality of service, including:

Consulting ServicesNetwork AssessmentsFinancing OptionsManaged Services and Support

“The FlexPod solution and integrated disaster recovery capabilities from NetApp and VMware have allowed us to take a big step forward in business continuity. The solution helps eliminate the $45,000 per day cost of downtime and empowers us to serve our clients and generate revenue without skipping a beat.”Omer MushahwarSenior Associate, Torti Gallas and Partners

SOLUTION COMPONENTS

FlexPod ComponentsNetApp FAS3210 storage systems

Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) C250 M2 Rack-Mount Servers

Cisco Nexus 5020 Switches

Virtualization ComponentsVMware ESX 4.1

VMware vSphere and vCenter

VMware Site Recovery Manager

NetApp SoftwareData ONTAP 8.0 system operating in 7-Mode

OnCommand Operations Manager

Snapshot technology

SnapRestore

SnapManager for SQL Server

Virtual Storage Console

SnapMirror

SnapVault

Deduplication

My AutoSupport

Third-Party ProductsMicrosoft SQL Server 2008

Microsoft Exchange 2007

Deltek Financial Management

PartnerPresidio 7601 Ora Glen Drive Greenbelt, MD 20770 www.presidio.com