Nederlandse Algemene Keuringsdienst Signs With Proact

NAK is an abbreviation of Nederlandse Algemene Keuringsdienst, the Dutch General Inspection Service for Agricultural Seed and Seed Potatoes. Agricultural seed and seed potatoes are subject to mandatory testing.

This testing is carried out on the order and under the supervision of the Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (Economische Zaken, Landbouw en Innovatie, or ELI).

Given increasing digitalisation and the corresponding growth in data, the accessibility and flexibility of the NAK IT infrastructure provide a crucial foundation, a scalable and extensible environment at an efficient cost. The direction and solution selected must be appropriate for the current circumstances and yet also allow for possible future developments; and reliable service from a dependable partner is also vital.

"We regularly heard the expression ‘worry-free implementation’ in the discussions we have held here at Proact with the NAK," explains Lucas den Os, Managing Director at Proact Benelux. "The NAK is an organisation with such enormous social responsibility that we wanted to provide the NAK with a storage solution that will be ‘worry-free’, and that we are also extremely happy with. This indicates how we are becoming more established in the public sector."

A NetApp cluster forms the foundation for the solution proposed by Proact IT Group. Multipathing is used for redundant installation and connection of all components, including disk shelves. The system is implemented with the CIFS protocol directly on the NetApp system, via FC protocols for VMware use, and using FC and iSCSI as SAN protocols. In addition, all snap managers are also provided for making consistent snapshots with respect to local backups, and the NetApp software is used for both replication and vaulting. This provides the system with the tools needed for backup and recovery using a second, separate NetApp system.

Proact Premium Support is used to supplement the solution. Proact’s own engineers guarantee that this service is on hand round the clock, seven days a week. All NetApp system software updates required take place within this service level. This ensures that the system is always up to date and able to benefit from the latest technologies.