30K investment in Virtual Hosting system improves infrastructure stability and security

The company has allocated more than £30,000 for the installation of the VMware infrastructure solution, which can automatically transfer data and operating systems from one PC to another in the event of hardware failure or a disaster scenario.

 

Adopting the advanced software means that in the event of hardware or server failure at Cam head office, all data is protected and users experience minimal disruption to service. In effect, the software means that the servers and services that Cam provide will no longer be hardware dependant.

 

During planned maintenance to physical hardware, equipment can be moved while its functions continue to run through a new host, allowing users to carry on without disruption or downtime.

 

From a disaster recovery point of view all computers are held as files, meaning they can be backed up and then taken offsite. Not only can data be stored offsite but the actual equipment creates an image of itself allowing it to be restored to any location if a major disaster or failure is experienced and access is lost to the host building.

 

Steve Bazeley, Cam’s Operations Director, explains the thinking behind the decision to invest in the upgrade: “We have seen huge growth in the amount of data we are handling and processing for our customers, particularly through systems such as our MIDaS virtual warehouse program. Although our existing systems are, of course, highly specified and resilient we need to plan ahead to ensure future customer requirements are catered for using the most appropriate solutions.

 

The upgrade project involves installation of three main elements; a new Storage area network, new resource host servers and the VMware infrastructure software itself. From a hardware perspective, existing servers can be kept and added into the resource pool as and when new systems are required.

 

The new infrastructure is being phased in over coming months.