Awo Workers’ Welfare Association Opting for DataCore and Dell Storage on Citrix

DataCore Software Corporation has enabled the German Workers’ Welfare
Association AWO Düsseldorf to implement a storage infrastructure.

Together with Citrix Server and
Desktop Virtualization technologies, AWO Düsseldorf now realizes the flexibility,
cost savings and productivity benefits of having a fully virtualized
infrastructure. The implementation was done by IT service provider K-iS
Systemhaus who developed the design and the business case to show the advantage of deploying DataCore and Citrix software to virtualize
all three dimensions of virtualization: desktops, servers and storage.

"Conventional SAN hardware without DataCore storage
virtualization would not have offered us the necessary scalability and
flexibility," states the IT manager at AWO Düsseldorf. "With
DataCore, we were able to resolve our roadblocks in regards to performance
bottlenecks, easily providing capacity and reducing costs. We needed to
cost-effectively build a redundant and therefore highly available storage environment
within our budget constraints. DataCore Software convinced us with the
flexibility and scalability of its software solution. It also gave us
independence from hardware manufacturers so we have greater control going
forward."

AWO Düsseldorf provides care and social services for
children, young people and families. The organization offers a number of
opportunities for vocational training for children and young adults as well as
operating facilities for elderly and disabled persons. About 1,200 employees in
90 facilities are working for AWO Düsseldorf where over 750 computer terminals
and desktops are in use. Over time, the decentralized IT infrastructure grew
and became more and more inflexible and problematic, which in effect prohibited
AWO Düsseldorf from being capable of providing needed IT services.

Challenge: Benefits of Consolidation,
Resource Pooling and
Centralization.
Server consolidation and centralized access services were
provided through Citrix. As AWO planned the renewal of its entire systems, the
IT management realized it should not limit its next steps to just renewing the
hardware. The organization was looking for a strategic solution to make the IT
infrastructure more flexible and to ensure that it serves as a better fit for
future requirements. It was determined that different services, such as
financial accounting, document management, facility management, as well as
documentation of care and medication should be provided centrally to improve
the future efficiency and controlling functionality of the system. The growth
strategy of AWO Düsseldorf and the increasing demands on failover and data
security were other reasons for a substantial transformation.

Solution: DataCore and Citrix = Virtual Infrastructure.
The initial implementation was carried out in less than
eight hours by DataCore and Citrix certified Gold Partner K-IS-systems. The
DataCore software solution was installed on conventional Dell servers – each
with 8 GB RAM – to allow DataCore caching to ensure AWO Düsseldorf could meet
the needed I/O speeds and throughput for their high performance database
application. The DataCore storage virtualization servers supporting multiple
terabytes were connected redundantly to a Dell PowerVault MD3000 with SAS disks
via two iSCSI connections.

Citrix XenServer 5.5 Platinum Edition was installed on two
Dell R710 servers with 48 GB RAM. The combined DataCore and Citrix
infrastructure can be extended on-the-fly with other disks and disk systems or
servers for more virtual machines.

Complete case study