Loeb Partners Deploys DataCore SANsymphony-V

DataCore Software Corporation announced
that Loeb Partners Corporation has
deployed its SANsymphony-V Storage Hypervisor.

According to DataCore’s integrator partner responsible for the deployment, Krantz Secure Technologies – an IT
managed services and support firm that also offers a virtualization practice
geared for SMBs – Loeb Partners Corporation is already reaping the benefits of
software-based storage virtualization.

"It was very important to
enhance our IT infrastructure and maintain our technology leadership by
implementing state-of-the-art resiliency and redundancy into our network
upgrade," commented Bruce Lev, MD, Loeb Partners Corporation, "DataCore storage hypervisors provide the
data protection management we sought and consider vital to ensuring non-stop
business operations for our firm."

Loeb Partners Corporation is an investment firm that represents the
interests of the Loeb family and its affiliated entities. In 2008, the asset
management business of Loeb Partners Corp. changed its name to Loeb Capital
Management. DataCore storage virtualization software now supports virtualized
IT environment for both Loeb Partners Corp. and Loeb Capital Management (Loeb).

"Virtualization enables
our clients to maximize their IT investments now, while opening a path to
leverage the cloud for additional gains in the future," stated Jim
Krantz, president, Krantz Secure Technologies. "DataCore’s storage hypervisor is proven technology, and once again, it
has provided one of our clients with the technology to increase resiliency and
reap the rewards of a software-powered SAN solution."

Krantz Secure Technologies essentially serves as the outsourced IT
department for Loeb. Prior to deploying DataCore’s SANsymphony-V, Loeb had all
physical servers in their network at both production and DR sites, with the
exception of a few virtual machines on a standalone ESX server. Housed in a
bunker, the DR site provided offsite replication, with the production site
backed-up by Double-Take Software.

A HP partner, Krantz Secure Technologies had
previously deployed HP hardware in support of the virtualized servers and
virtualized storage at Loeb. After a technology review, an alternative,
virtualization-based solution was mapped out that would utilize HP SANs at both
the production and the DR sites. However, the proposed solution potentially
held a single point of failure that threatened the network and, in the future,
a VDI initiative that is the next phase of the virtualized initiative at Loeb.

"We realized this concern
cold be easily overcome through a combination of DataCore storage
virtualization software, specifically SANsymphony-V storage hypervisors,
running on top of HP servers," continued Krantz. "In doing so, we were able to virtualize the
backend storage at Loeb, eliminating what could have been a single point of
failure for their whole network, the potential for downtime caused by hardware
failure, all while enabling the company to proceed with their VDI plans."

More Value and Functionality via Virtualization

Prior to the deployment, Loeb realized they had a few servers that
were well-past their prime, which when replaced, could significantly upgrade
their technology platform. Krantz Secure Technologies further advised that by
replacing the existing Double-Take software with a replicated SAN network, Loeb
could recoup the expense in a few years by avoiding costly software license
renewals. These savings enabled Krantz Secure Technologies to deliver HA
to Loeb through two DataCore-virtualized SANs that eliminated any single point
of failure on the new, virtualized network.

"HA was a big driver but
doing so cost-effectively was paramount," noted Krantz. "DataCore enabled us to deliver a solution
offering greater reliability, far more capabilities and greater future
potential, all while allowing Loeb to stay on budget."

The project has been a far-reaching virtualization initiative. It
has encompassed hardware consolidation, delivering the associated cost savings
of server virtualization, while providing Loeb with the flexibility to add VMs
‘on-the-fly’ and use any device for the backend storage. Other
drivers revolve around the core benefits of storage virtualization,
affordability, scalability, increased performance and uptime.

Whereas before all servers were physical and limited, Loeb now is
able to run 26 VMs. These are supported by three ESX host servers running on
VMware Essentials in conjunction with SANsymphony-V. Virtualized systems on the
platform are file and print servers, Exchange, Blackberry Enterprise Server,
SQL Websense, Actiance, Citrix XenApp, along with accounting software and
various investor and financial applications such as Bloomberg. A synchronous
mirror is now in place, along with asynchronous replication going to the DR
site using DataCore’s Advanced Site Recovery Manager. The SANsymphony-V storage
hypervisors run on HP G7’s in all instances; both the mirrored copies and at
the DR site.

Krantz noted how the solution has enabled the infrastructure to meet
financial industry requirements during annual DR testing. System engineers
attest that for the first time they are able to conduct testing in a manner
ensuring true failover and failback, all supported by DataCore’s storage
hypervisor. The inclusion of DataCore’s Advanced Site Recovery Manager also
provides the engineers with advanced scripting that enables failover/failback
of the system with less manual intervention and engineering effort.

"Knowing that if there’s
ever a true DR event there will be seamless recovery gives Loeb Partners – and
ourselves as their advisor – the peace of mind we have been seeking and the
confidence to begin looking into the possibilities of VDI," concluded
Krantz.