Compellent Highlight

To continue the topic of storing data more effectively, let’s take a look at one of the fastest growing storage companies in America, Compellent.

Compellent is quickly growing into a strong contender for leadership in the storage marketplace because they have developed some of the most advanced tools to manage disk space and performance.  Compellent storage can connect via FC or iSCSI, use SSD, FC, SAS or SATA drive technology in one management space & typically features the industry’s lowest cost per Byte ratio.

Strengths

• Advanced storage virtualization: http://www.compellent.com/Products/Software/Advanced-Virtualization.aspx
• Unmatched disk (capacity & performance) management: http://www.compellent.com/Products/Software.aspx
• Robust reporting, management and analytics: http://www.compellent.com/Products/Software/Enterprise-Manager.aspx
• Fluid Data Architecture: http://www.compellent.com/popups/FluidData/FluidData.html

- 3^rd place on America’s fastest growing Tech Companies list

How do I store all of this stuff?!?!

We all know that the amount of data we are storing is growing at an exponential rate, which makes it difficult to manage for many reasons.  The question is how does an IT organization effectively manage the data to ensure availability and integrity at the lowest total cost of ownership.  Lewan currently has 4 main storage partners NetApp, Compellent, Dell and Hewlett Packard.  First let’s take a look at NetApp and in the following weeks I will cover the other technologies.

NetApp believes that integration with your applications is critical to building a storage foundation that will meet your data management goals.  The Data ONTAP operating system provides a robust set of features and ability to adapt to your changing business requirements.

Strengths

Database (Oracle & SQL) Efficiency and Manageability: http://media.netapp.com/documents/wp-7079.pdf

Simplified MS Exchange Backup & Restoration: http://media.netapp.com/documents/netapp-solutions-ms-exchange.pdf

NetApp, Cisco & VMware Alliance: http://www.imaginevirtuallyanything.com/?REF_SOURCE=netappmicrosite

Flexible connectivity protocol: FC SAN, FCoE SAN, IP SAN (iSCSI), NAS, NFS, CIFS

Communicate More Effectively

Whether your organization is looking for a better way to communicate internally or with your customers, it is critical to have a video strategy to reach today’s audience.  The mass proliferation and commoditization of high-definition devices and broadband internet service has made lifelike HD video communications from the living room to the board room a reality.  Our partner LifeSize, a division of Logitech, is ushering in a new era in communications using legacy internet protocols to deliver video communications.

Video Conferencing – Utilizing any monitor(s), with HDMI connectors, you can build a video conferencing and digital information sharing solution that will significantly impact your business in a positive way by reducing expenses and improving communications.

Video Center – This new product enables the ability to record any video, created on a LifeSize unit, on the fly and share the recorded video over the instantly over the internet.  Essentially this acts like an internal YouTube for new employee training, corporate messaging, HR updates, marketing information, education, historical recording, etc.  To see Video Center in action click here. (all of these videos are produced by the LifeSize devices)

Passport – This product will deliver HD video conferencing that fits in the palm of your hand for about the cost of a one week business trip.  Perfect for your small or home offices.

The acquisition by Logitech will enable more development to make HD video communications available to a much larger market.  The ultimate goal of LifeSize/Logitech is to provide the world a standardized way to communicate with video much like we use telephones today.

Zettabytes?

IDC predicts that we the amount of digital data will hit 35 ZB by 2020.  It’s probably mostly Phish show MP3′s though.

http://bit.ly/cq71Vm

Microsoft End of Support Update

Microsoft’s end of support for the client operating systems Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP2 as well as the server operating system Windows 2000 will take effect July 13^th, 2010.  In addition, Windows Server 2003 will change from Mainstream Support to Extended Support on this same day.

If you are not planning for a migration to Windows 7 and Server 2008, now is the time to get started because these changes have significant implications for the security of your machines and application support.  Our Microsoft certified professionals have helped many local customers build a strategy to effectively manage these upgrades, so as you begin to discuss how these changes might affect your organization, please let us help.

Lewan PROS can assist with customized environment health check, planning/design, configuration/testing, installation/integration and contract management services.

Here are some helpful links with more information about these changes:

Overview

Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy

Microsoft Product Lifecycle Support Lookup Page

Microsoft Windows Client TechCenter

Blue Light Specials

There are great deals for IT organization looking to implement game changing technologies like video conferencing, virtualization and disaster recovery.  Here are the latest promotions from Lewan and our partners.

Lewan PROS FlexServ Monitoring Services

Sign up for a Lewan PROS FlexServ agreement to ensure the highest SLA’s and lowest hourly engineering rates and we will include a 2 month trial of our systems monitoring support.  We have invested in new tools and have built a Remote Operations Center (ROC) to improve our ability proactively maintain and respond to system issues.

LifeSize Video Conferencing $2,000 Price Reduction!

LifeSize would like to announce a $2,000 US MSRP price reduction, effective immediately, for LifeSize® Room 200™ and LifeSize® Team 200™. LifeSize Room 200 will be reduced to $14,999 US MSRP and LifeSize Team 200 will be reduced $2000 to $9,999 US MSRP (Phone) and $8,999 US MSRP (Dual Micpods) enabling customers to deploy feature-rich, easy to use HD video systems throughout every meeting room.

Microsoft VDI Kick Start – http://bit.ly/drzJoJ

Eligible customers will receive a 70% discount off the estimated retail price on Microsoft VDI Standard Suite subscription license and a 50% discount on Citrix XenDesktop VDI Edition annual license.

ProStor Fill’er Up – http://bit.ly/bO1ndF

This  promotion offers 10TB of storage free to customers purchasing an additional RDU along with a ProStor InfiniVault Model 30 or Model 100.

Vizioncore 2 for 1 Promo – http://bit.ly/a6xFJg

Customers who place an order for vRanger Pro or vReplicator, can automatically receive the same number of licenses for the other product. Vizioncore’s 2 for 1 promo combines the industry leading backup and recovery solution with robust replication for the most comprehensive disaster recovery solution at the lowest price possible.

Windows 7 Migration Helpers

Many industry analysts think that Windows 7 will be the next major Windows platform and that most organizations will migrate in 2010 or 2011.  Do you recall the last time you were required to upgrade desktop operating systems?  My goal is to help you make this as much of non-event as possible this time around, so let’s take a look at some of the tools that can help simplify this migration.

Microsoft – TechNet Windows 7 Upgrade and Migration Guide

Notice that migration from Windows Vista to Windows 7 has an upgrade option, but it is not available for Windows XP.  Using the Microsoft tools will work, but there are many ways to make this migration easier & consume less weekend time!

AppSense – Windows 7 and User Virtualization AppSenseLtd’s YouTube Channel

AppSense allows for virtualization of user information and decouples the changes from the OS and Apps.  This makes it possible to standardize your OS and Apps separate of the user environment information, without affecting user personalization.  AppSense’s User Virtualization technology manages all the user-specific elements of the Windows 7 migration process as well as providing an alternative approach to managing the user aspects of the PC.

Citrix –  Blog Post TechTalk Webcast June 15^th Citrix & Microsoft Corporate Roadshow

Citrix has a number of end-user environment management solutions available that can help with your Windows 7 migration, including:

XenDesktop 4 – Complete desktop virtualization which enables IT to manage the end-user environment centrally and efficiently.

FlexCast – Learn about the different types of virtual desktops available.

XenApp 6 – Application virtualization to provide a high-performance, device independent access to business applications.

Receiver & Dazzle – Provide self-service, on-demand, applications independent of the operating system.  (Works great with Apple Mac’s!)

VMware – Windows 7 Migration Solutions

VMware has been delivering on the VDI promise with desktop virtualization and application virtualization.  The end result is delivery of desktops as a service, which plays well into a cloud strategy.

View 4 – Deliver desktops as a managed service and centrally control your desktop environment.

ThinApp – Application virtualization that enables IT to deliver legacy applications as virtualized services.

Unified Communications

Todays end users expect a rich communications experience because of the features they have on cell phones, social websites, video chatting and other advanced communications techniques.  These people are hoping to utilize the same methods of communication to improve productivity at work.  So how does an organization provide these services?

The answer is Unified Communications. (UC) The best way to understand how to unify your communications is to listen to the end-user community and hear about the unique ideas they might draw up about how they would like to communicate and collaborate.  There are many ways to improve the way your business communicates.  The following are just a few of the components of UC.

Voice

When you start talking about communications, the most critical component is voice.  The latest in voice technology, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), allows an organization to reduce costs by consolidating disparate networks and transmitting the information over industry standardized equipment like servers, switches and routers.  Putting voice onto the IP network has increased endpoint choice, application integration and the ability to secure your voice system!

Video

IP Communications has enabled complete flexibility of the endpoints and now we can add IP cameras and displays for video conferencing, point-to-point calls, surveillance, digital signage, etc.  Now the video, voice and data network can truly all be one.

Web Conferencing

The ability to share digital information over the web has transformed many organizations.  Whether it is used for helpdesk, training, product updates, sales calls, customer support or just internal planning sessions, Web conferencing will transform the ability to communicate with the target audience.  This can be consumed as a hosted service or on-premise (or a hybrid) solution depending on your security and bandwidth requirements.

Collaboration

As the team mentality becomes more important to the organization there needs to be a central repository for sharing information, managing projects, tracking workflow, access from anywhere and enabling productivity.  Collaboration technologies are the glue that holds teams together.  These tools are typically customized and integrated, but once they are ready, can make the biggest impact to the way you run your business .

Messaging

Email is an effective way to deliver messages to an intended recipient, but often we want a quick response to a question and don’t need much information back.  Waiting for someone to respond to an email during a critical time can be aggravating and lead to wasted time.  With technology improvements to client-based messaging tools we now have the ability to show you who is available and how that person wants to be contacted. (Chat, call, email, video call, “Away from the office,” etc.)  Using a technology of this sort can significantly reduce the time to response for inquiries.  We can even deliver this to a mobile device and transfer information from Text messages to chat clients, email to voicemail, etc.  Here is an example

Mobile devices

Enabling workers to do their job while they are out of the office typically results in people working more hours.  If someone is able to access corporate resources from home via an internet connection or cell phone, they are extremely likely to do so.  Our solutions enable single number reach, mobile communicator, mobile web conferencing and centralized voicemail to integrate with industry standard hand held devices such as Blackberry, iPhone and Android devices.

A solid UC strategy can integrate all of these tools together in an easy to manage, scalable and cost effective system.  Some of our recommended UC partners Include:
Cisco – The leader in comprehensive UC solutions.  The latest release of this platform includes the first voice services to be virtualized onto VMware.

LifeSize – These video products deliver the highest quality HD experience with the best codec’s to reduce bandwidth utilization and are extremely easy to use.

IPcelerate – IPcelerate technologies include interactive broadcast applications, recording/archival/sharing solutions for voice sessions and application-controlled presence/video solutions.

IP5280 – A local provider of hosted UC solutions.  This is a great way to get all of the VoIP functionality without the managing the system internally.

Microsoft – Microsoft is developing into a strong contender in the UC space.  Leading with the concept that the UC features should integrate with any system, they are driving impressive features.

ShoreTel – ShoreTel delivers an advanced solution with all of the functionality you could ever want with one of the easiest management interfaces.

Spending time upfront in the planning & design phase is critical to building a system you can support and that your end-users will love.  We can help you understand the detail behind each of these solutions to find the best fit for your business.

The Latest:

First look into Call Manager 8.0

Microsoft Spotlights Comm Partnerships At VoiceCon

Cisco Expands Intercompany Collaboration Beyond Firewall

IBM, ShoreTel UC Offering Designed Specifically For SMBs

WebEx for the iPad

Battle of the Blades

Blades are a huge enabler of consolidation and simplification of the data center.  Reduced cabling infrastructure, improvements in hardware efficiency, ease of scalability and robust management tools  are all benefits an IT organization can realize by implementing Blades, but there are many choices available.  The current offerings from Cisco, Dell and HP are very different, but they each have a fit for specific reasons.  Let’s take a look.

Cisco Unified Computing System – Homepage TechWise TV Video

The UCS 5100 Series Blade Server Chassis and B-series blade servers are the newest computing platform on the scene.  The chassis is the first chassis designed for use with Cisco Unified Fabric (Fibre Channel over Ethernet) and has been purpose-built to host virtual machine workloads.  If you have been using server virtualization technologies in the past, you are aware that the most important component of scaling a virtualized server environment is memory.  Many virtualization host servers have underutilized processors because it is impossible to cram enough RAM into the box to serve the workload requirements for adding more VM’s.  Cisco’s biggest differentiator is the ability to host more VM’s per physical server because of a patented chip which enables up to 4X the memory capacity.  More VM’s per physical host means less licensing expense and better utilization on the processors!

InfoWorld Review: Cisco UCS Wows

Dell PowerEdge Blade Servers – Homepage Video Overview

The latest blade Chassis from Dell, the M1000e, aims to help you green your datacenter.  By utilizing Dell’s Energy Smart power supplies, system design and management the Dell blade chassis will lower energy costs.  In a current case study Dell was able to consolidate 300 HP DL380 G4 servers down to 94 Dell M610 blade servers, save energy costs of about 75% and reduce the  physical footprint of the data center by 70%.

TechWorld Review: Dell PowerEdge M1000e

Hewlett Packard BladeSystem – Homepage Video Overview

Hewlett Packard has always been an engineering company at its core and the tradition continues with the BladeSystem as providing you options is the name of the game.  There are 2 chassis, (c7000 and c3000, based on scale requirements) a variety of processers, (Intel x86 , AMD and Intel Itanium) unique Storage Blades, (disk-based & tape) flexible Interconnects (Ethernet, FC or Virtual Connect), five Adapters (Ethernet, FC, Infiniband, SAS and SSD) and a suite of management options called BladeSystem Matrix available on this incredibly scalable platform.  The goal of all of these options ensure that HP can fit into any environment and that you get the tools you need.

News from HP – New Xeon 5600 Series Servers!

Don’t Be Duped!

According to Merriam-Webster Deduplication isn’t a real word, but it is definitely one of the hottest buzz words in IT today.  The concept is great, but value what does Deduplication really bring to an IT organization?  Here is an overview of the portfolio of solutions Lewan recommends to help you Dedupe your data.  The main goal of Deduplication is to simplify management and reduce total cost of ownership of your storage environment, but there are many different ways to do it.

CommVault – Simpana 8 – Simpana Overview Video

Data Deduplication is a feature of the Simpana 8 software platform, meaning that is a component of the Backup/Restore, Archive, Replication, Storage Resource Management and Search features within the CommVault suite.   CommVault’s unique value as a holistic data management platform enables a central point of administration and content-aware policies for data protection based on your specific needs.  A major differentiation is that much of the deduplication is done at the server level, which results in less data flowing over the network during the backup processes.

DataDomain – Overview Video

DataDomain essentially invented the term “Deduplication” when it introduced its appliance-based solution.  The DataDomain appliance sits inline of the backup stream and uses complex algorithms and compression technology to deduplicate backup data.  DataDomain integrates with most major backup software applications resulting in a simple integration into your current environment.

ExaGrid – Video Message from the CEO – SearchStorage.com Product of the Year!

Much like a DataDomain, ExaGrid offers an appliance-based Deduplication solution, but features a strong differentiator in simplification of backup as a whole.  ExaGrid uses a post-process Deduplication engine that enables some of the fastest absorption of backup data available.  These systems work with most major backup software applications as are as disruptive and feature-rich as any other solution.

NetApp  - Overview Video

NetApp’s Deduplication strategy is to deduplicate the data on primary storage based on policies you create for the specific data set.  This feature operates behind the scenes, making it easy to use.  The concept is that since the data is deduplicated on primary storage, the NetApp strategy will reduce your need to purchase more expensive, high-speed, primary disk, while simplifying all of the downstream processes like backup, replication, archive, etc.

Symantec NetBackup 7 – Dedupe Everywhere Video

Symantec’s latest release of NetBackup comes with Deduplication software included, placing one of the things you need most right where you want it.  Symantec believes data should be deduplicated as close to the source as possible, creating the simplified downstream management that makes much of the other data management headaches go away.  This is just one of the major improvements to the latest release this powerful data management platform.

If your data set is becoming challenging to manage, Deduplication might help, but it really depends on the type of data you store.