Virtualisation Case Studies

Besso Ltd

Profile

• Disaster Recovery (DR) plan for Lloyd's of London broker
• Situated in London, employing over 200 people
• Critical systems include messaging infrastructure (Exchange Server, Blackberry Enterprise Server) and high transaction databases (SQL Server)
• Existing DR provision no longer fit for purpose
• Only small number of servers covered
• Skeletal service only in event of disaster
• Difficult to test
• Expensive to implement

Solutions at a Glance

• Physical-to-virtual DR
• Production site not impacted - servers remain physical
• VMware/NetApp SAN DR site at secondary location
• Snapshot production servers as virtual machines
• In event of disaster, virtual machines booted as temporary service
• Once production site available, physical servers rebuilt from virtual machines

Business Benefits

• DR plan for all key servers, not just mission-critical
• Excellent Recovery Time Objective - in event of disaster, just boot VMs and services restored in minutes
• Good Recovery Point Objective - minimal data loss measured in minutes
• DR plan is easily tested
• Very scalable - just add more VMware servers
• Provided 'test bed' for adopting virtual infrastructure in production

Manufacturing Organisation

Profile

• Deliver resilient desktops in dusty manufacturing plant
• Provide plug-and-play terminals for 24-hour operation
• Provide an efficient desktop refresh
• Leverage existing investment in VI3

Solutions at a Glance

• Provide Wyse thin client terminals instead of desktop PCs. More hard wearing, less support required, less energy used
• VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Create centralised pool of virtualised desktops
• Initial Proof of Concept for 30 end users
• VMware Virtual Desktop Manager. Dynamically assign each user a virtual machine

Business Drivers

• Thin client devices more reliable in dusty environment
• Plug-and-play terminals mean desktops can be replaced 24 hours a day
• No configuration of end points required for desktop refresh
• Centralised control - no individual support and maintenance of PCs, centralised backup
• No investment in Citrix technology or Citrix skills required
• Identical end user experience to physical desktops