NIKKEI Manages Data More Efficiently by Consolidating Storage With Brocade SAN Routing Solution
biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday April 18, 8:22 am ET
Leading Provider of Business Information Integrates Multiple Storage Area Networks and Builds Disaster Recovery Services with Brocade SilkWorm Multiprotocol Routers
SAN JOSE, Calif., April 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc., (NIKKEI), a leading global publisher of business news and information, is storing its mission-critical data more efficiently and economically using SilkWorm® Multiprotocol Routers from Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (Brocade®) (Nasdaq: BRCD), the world-leading provider of Storage Area Network (SAN) connectivity solutions. The Tokyo-based firm, whose newspapers are the primary sources of business information for Japan's top executives and decision-makers, is trimming its capital and operating costs by using the Multiprotocol Routers to consolidate multiple Brocade-powered SANs that store economic and financial data used in publications, online sites, and operations. The Multiprotocol Routers will also enable NIKKEI to cost-effectively link its storage infrastructure to a disaster recovery site in Osaka, 300 miles away, using its existing Wide Area Network (WAN).
To support the daily delivery of online and print content, NIKKEI must archive much of its data indefinitely, ensuring that subscribers and its staff can access information on demand for historical research on industrial and economic trends. Its newspaper division, for example, stores 60 gigabytes of information weekly, and its online division saves 70 gigabytes every day. To meet this demand for storage access, NIKKEI uses the Multiprotocol Routers to integrate the three Brocade-based SANs of its core divisions into a single Logical SAN (LSAN).
The LSAN consolidates the SANs without physically merging their fabrics, which would have necessitated a costly redesign and rewiring of the systems. As a result, NIKKEI avoids the duplicated management burden and hardware expense required to maintain the separate SANs, while allowing each division to tailor storage to its particular needs. The LSAN also enables the publisher to improve the utilization of its enterprise-wide storage devices while avoiding the risks and complexity inherent in a single, large SAN fabric. In fact, the LSAN facilitates fault isolation, preventing an issue in one SAN from propagating to the other SANs.
"Brocade continues to provide advanced solutions that allow us to effectively store information according to how we operate," said Kazuyuki Kinoshita, System Manager, Information Technology Bureau of NIKKEI. "The Brocade Multiprotocol Routers uniquely permit us to consolidate our SANs for cost savings and greater efficiencies without the expense and headache of rebuilding our entire storage infrastructure. As a result, we obtained a more cost-effective storage architecture, but without disrupting our revenue-generating publishing operations or sacrificing control over our individual SANs."
NIKKEI has consolidated its divisions' three backup storage systems and will next integrate their primary storage solutions, which directly support publishing and business operations. The firm powers all of its SANs with Brocade SilkWorm switches.
Moreover, NIKKEI plans to use Brocade solutions to establish disaster recovery services at its Osaka facility. The firm will build a local SAN with Brocade SilkWorm switches and link it to its LSAN in Tokyo using Multiprotocol Routers. Because the Multiprotocol Routers offer FCIP services that support Fibre Channel Inter-Switch Links (ISLs) across IP networks, the firm will be able to deliver data easily and economically across its WAN, helping protect its vital business assets against potential disasters.
"Thanks to our Brocade Multiprotocol Routers, we're gaining all the efficiencies and cost savings of storage consolidation and still enjoying the benefits of separate SANs, like control and fault isolation," said Kinoshita. "Brocade solutions are vital to our company, and by delivering products like the Multiprotocol Routers, Brocade has proven over the years to be a trusted partner in our success." |
