HPE H7B47A Product Data Sheet
Case Study
W.B. Mason transforms its SQL
Server-driven business with
Objective
Support rapid business growth with more
scalable, cost-eective infrastructure
for mission-critical Microsoft SQL
Server database
Approach
Modernise entire Microsoft environment
with HPE Superdome X Servers, HPE
3PAR StoreServ Storage, and HPE
Proactive Care Advanced Service
IT Matters
• Optimised CPU utilisation to improve SQL
Server performance and eiciently handle
business growth
• Accelerated inventory accounting process
from 24 – 36 hours to 8 hours
• Increased the number of batch requests
per second, speeding query requests
and reporting
Business Matters
• Enabled business to double in size on
existing infrastructure
• Assured timely order fulfillment to meet
customer expectations
• Increased workplace productivity by
enabling employees to perform their
jobs faster
HPE Superdome X
Oice products leader boosts workplace
productivity, unleashes business growth
Delivering legendary,
personalised customer service
The company’s slogan, “Who But W.B. Mason,”
is apt. Who else delivers the kind of personalised
service and customised solutions to meet
any imaginable oice products need that an
organisation might have? There’s only one
answer: W.B. Mason.
Founded by William Betts Mason in 1898, the
company has grown to become the largest
privately owned oice products dealer in the
United States. The key to this long history of
success is a passion for delivering outstanding
service and value. Customers get an assigned
sales person, an assigned customer service
rep, even an assigned driver who personally
brings each order into the customer´s facility.
Case study
W.B. Mason
Industry
Oice products
“HPE has beat all expectations of what we were looking to gain from
Superdome X and 3PAR.”
— Mike Yarosh, Director of IT Services, W.B. Mason
Page 2
To make sure its 750 trucks roll out every
morning with precisely the right orders, W.B.
Mason relies on a large Microsoft® SQL Server
database running Microsoft Dynamics AX
enterprise resource planning (ERP). Every
order, whether coming in through the web
or personally keyed in by sales reps, goes
through SQL Server. In fact, everything
needed to run the business—inventory,
supply chain, shipping, invoicing, financial
reporting, etc.—is managed in SQL Server.
To say it’s critical is an understatement.
Mike Yarosh, director of IT services at W.B.
Mason, remarks, “Any hiccup, any slow-down
in SQL Server and everyone feels it. If orders
aren’t processed on time, our drivers don’t
have anything to deliver. No one is happy.
Our job in IT is to never let that happen.”
To that end, W.B. Mason has long relied on
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) servers
and storage to run SQL Server. However, as
the company was growing 10 – 12% each year,
its traditional blade infrastructure struggled
to keep up. The company was purchasing new
servers nearly every year, each time requiring
a long, labor-intensive migration. Yet,
despite its most recent upgrade, CPUs
were consistently running at a dangerously
high 95% utilisation rate. Without taking fast
action, IT risked running out of compute
power before year-end—just prior to the
company’s busiest period in January.
Modernised infrastructure for
mission-critical SQL Server
Working with HPE, W.B. Mason embarked
on a dramatic infrastructure transformation
to enable IT to support its business growth.
To do this, the company required greater
scalability with increased performance and
high availability for its critical SQL Server
environment. W.B. Mason chose HPE
Superdome X running Microsoft Windows®
as the core platform for SQL Server and
Dynamics AX. The Superdome X is loaded
with four Superdome BL920s Gen9 server
blades configured as two electronically
isolated partitions, called nPars. No other
major x86 vendor offers this type of
electronic isolation, which enables W.B.
Mason to achieve extraordinarily high
reliability by linking the two nPars with
SQL Server clustering.
Loading...