Cisco UCS Breathed New Life into the IT Infrastructure of the Pojišťovna České spořitelny Insurance Company
This insurance company has been operating in the Czech market since 1993. It offers quality life insurance products throughout the extensive network of Česká spořitelna branch offices and its renowned external partners. It is a leading provider of bancassurance in the Czech market. In 2012, the total premiums written by the insurance company amounted to CZK 10.7 billion.
In comparison with the previous solution, we really save up to 30% more on hardware maintenance and 40% on power supplies. The time and space saved are also substantial. Dušan Drdla, Director of the ICT Department of Pojišťovna České spořitelny
Task
To completely renew the outdated hardware in the company’s IT infrastructure
From the very beginning, the customer had a clear idea of the final form of its new server room. The basic requirement was to use blade servers so that the physical space requirements could be significantly reduced.
Solutions
Having thoroughly considered all the options, the Infinity team proposed transferring the system from its current platform to a modern Cisco solution. “Even during the initial phase, we took the customer’s original wish to apply Nexus 1000V as the virtualization solution one step further, to a complex data centre solution which allowed better server consolidation and higher whole system performance,” explained Petr Odvárka, the head of the Network Infrastructure Department at Infinity. This solution supports of the whole environment.
Forty Cisco UCS B230 M2 blade servers and eleven Cisco UCS C260 M2 rack-mount servers were used. Among other advantages, the Cisco UCS C260 M2 servers enable greater space savings than more common rack servers. Both applied models have sockets for the Intel Xeon E7 processors, which are suitable for virtualization purposes.
The new servers are diskless and the implemented Storage Area Network (SAN), used for connecting backup systems to servers externally, enables “boot from SAN”, i.e. booting the operational system of servers and data loading from the network. The diskless blade servers remain as a source of operational system and memory, while the operational system and data are accessible within a connected disc array. This significantly increases system safety and accident resistance. If a specific server fails, it can be replaced with another one very quickly. It is not necessary to install an operational system or reconstruct anything. It is only necessary to abide by the same hardware configurations of the server which is being replaced. This network has a 40 Gps aggregate throughput, which was the value required by the client.
The whole solution is covered with Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) Manager, enabling fully integrated administration of all the hardware and software components of the system.
Achievements
The most obvious advantage of the Cisco UCS Manager is in the substantially decreased expenditure on the whole infrastructure administration, which often forms the biggest part of the IT department budget. The system deployment, maintenance, and change management are now executed considerably faster and more economically. “In comparison with the previous solution, we save up to 30% more on hardware maintenance and 40% on power supplies. The time and space savings are also substantial,” confirmed Dušan Drdla, Director of the ICT Department of Pojišťovna České spořitelny.
The deployment of modern technology combined with virtualization made work easier for the IT staff of the insurance company and for other employees and clients as well. The increased availability of applications is beneficial, especially for cooperation with partner organisations on operating their branches, round-the-clock services, and supporting the call centre operated by Česká spořitelna. In addition, employees and business partners of the insurance company can now easily make use of remote access.
Business Impacts
The increased availability of applications is beneficial, especially for cooperation with partner organisations on operating their branches, round-the-clock services, and supporting the call centre operated by Česká spořitelna.
In comparison with the previous solution, the client saves up to 30% more on hardware maintenance and 40% on power supplies. The time and space savings are also substantial.