Qlogic SANbox 8200 Supplementary Manual

Weizmann
Institute of
Science

Improving Datacenter Efficiency
by Combining the Power of
Virtualized Servers and Storage

Challenge

Reduce the cost and time needed to effectively manage
heterogeneous SAN-based storage resources across a
virtualized server environment

Solution

An affordable Integrated Business Solution featuring
QLogic SANbox 8200 Storage Services Platform and
StoreAge software

Results:

Quick and simple deployment, providing the Weizmann
Institute with centralized management of its heterogeneous
storage devices, while maintaining interoperability with
existing SAN infrastructure.

C A S E S T U D Y

Background

A growing number of companies of all sizes are using virtualization technology as
a means to increase infrastructure flexibility and utilization. These companies have
moved beyond the hype of virtualization and harnessed the technology into tangible
results. The resulting benefits seem to be quite compelling as companies who
have become comfortable with the notion of virtualization, are quickly expanding
the use of virtualization technologies within their organizations.

The practical usefulness of virtualization technology extends well beyond large
Fortune 500 enterprises. The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of
Science (ACWIS) is a prime example of a smaller organization reaping the rewards
of combining server and storage virtualization within a single data environment.
Virtualization has broad market appeal because the technology can be applied across
nearly any size and type of server or storage device. For example, larger RAID arrays
can be virtualized as easily as modular “Just a Bunch of Disks” (JBOD)

Challenge

Prior to looking at storage virtualization technology, ACWIS had already implemented
VMware to reduce the number of servers needed. With VMware, a single physical
server is partitioned into multiple virtual servers that run independently – even with
different operating systems. Fewer physical servers are needed, meaning overall
resource utilization is significantly enhanced and management is simplified

Pleased with the results attained from server virtualization technology, ACWIS next
focused upon it’s storage environment. ACWIS was seeking to more effectively and
efficiently manage storage resources across their Storage Area Network (SAN).
They were having difficulty achieving the level of control and flexibility desired in
allocating and provisioning storage to various server environments.

The American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science is enjoying
the dividends of leading the way with virtualization

Weizmann Institute of Science

C AS E S T U DY

Solution

The required solution needed to simplify storage provisioning for all
storage connected to the SAN, while supporting the various server
operating environments including VMware, Windows, and Netware. In
addition, the solution needed to virtualize all storage resources, including
their principle RAID array.

ACWIS implemented a solution based on QLogic’s Storage Service Platform
running StoreAge’s management software, which provides a virtualized
storage environment for easier storage management, as well as mirroring,
snapshot and replication features for cost-effective replication and DR
capabilities. The integrated solution offers a highperformance, highly
available approach to deploying a variety of storage management and
data protection capabilities within any SAN environment. The combined
QLogic/StoreAge solution simplifies deployment, providing a centralized
location to add and grow various storage services.

Benefits

Using the integrated QLogic/StoreAge solution, ACWIS was able to achieve
their goal of simplifying storage management within their VMware virtual
server environment. “With the SANbox 8200 platform and StoreAge SVM,
adding and managing storage is more economical and simpler compared
to our previous proprietary solution. We can now add storage quickly and

easily to the SAN and partition it as needed to different virtual machines”
said Aron Morgulis, Director of IT.

Within the ACWIS environment, the solution lowered the cost of
storage management by reducing the complexity and time needed
to perform common and repetitive management tasks. Prior to
implementing the current SANbox 8200-based solution, ACWIS would
need to repeatedly bring additional physical storage capacity online
as needed, and then manage the storage on each separate system
independent of all other storage.

By adding the QLogic/StoreAge solution, ACWIS enjoys:

Fast and easy storage provisioning for virtualized server environments

•

Single management point for storage management

•

Capability to add complimentary data protection services such as

•

replication, mirroring and snapshot to bolster DR and backup.

ACWIS is well positioned to manage further storage and server growth
needs efficiently, because storage services are deployed in the storage
network independent of physical storage and server resources. This
provides ACWIS exceptional flexibility to select bestof- breed storage
and server assets and avoid vendor-lockin which can be common when
deploying proprietary solutions.

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SNOO30982-00 Rev A 3/06