HP Converged Infrastructure at Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities

HP announced the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities (DODD) has implemented an HP Converged Infrastructure  to boost productivity and automate processes.

A state-wide recommendation led the DODD, which oversees a system of support services for 80,000 people with developmental disabilities, to create a private cloud based on a fully virtualized infrastructure. The goal of implementing cloud computing was to further the organization’s mission of creating a statewide system of support and services for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

The new private cloud deployment uses HP servers, desktops, network and storage for system backup and monitoring. As a result, the DODD has increased efficiency, automated data movement and optimized its network. The DODD purchased a HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure to accommodate its growing need for more servers and storage. With the new enclosure the agency consolidated more than 100 physical servers in 11 data centers down to 16 HP ProLiant BL490c G6 servers and HP ProLiant BL490c G7 servers in one rack.

To support the new private cloud and virtualized servers, the DODD upgraded its network from Cisco switches to HP E2910 al and 6200 yl switches. HP Networking switches provide the flexibility for DODD to virtualize workloads and speed up application delivery.

"We chose to deploy a virtualized environment because we were unable to provision our existing infrastructure and had a portfolio of critical applications that needed to be developed quickly," said Kipp Bertke, manager, Information Technology manager, DODD. "With HP Converged Infrastructure solutions, we are now better equipped to deliver on our mission of providing services to assist the developmentally disabled citizens of Ohio."

Since DODD also has the responsibility of ensuring providers get the support they need to receive funding from the federal government, it was imperative that the agency put a disaster plan in place. If the DODD services were to go down and reimbursements could not be made, it would have a severe impact on the providers and the people they serve. By securing data and limiting the impact of a disaster, the DODD is working to implement an Instant-On Government that is readily available whenever it is needed.

The state agency was able to leverage its existing HP ProLiant DL 380 G5 servers for disaster recovery capabilities by upgrading both random-access memory (RAM) and central processing units (CPUs). The DODD also implemented external storage with an HP StorageWorks MSA60 for disk-based backup.

To further expand its newly created virtual infrastructure, the DODD also plans to replace aging desktop PCs with 1,500 HP t5745 Thin Clients to significantly reduce the agency’s hardware costs for the desktop, while consuming less power. HP Converged Infrastructure is a key component of the Instant-On Enterprise. The Instant-On Enterprise embeds technology in everything it does to serve customers, employees, partners and citizens with whatever they need, instantly.