Swiss FTS Implements JetStor 826iXD 26-Bay All-Flash Array From AC&NC

The organization
Swiss FTS AG is a provider of e-discovery, IT forensics, and information governance services for global enterprises, law firms, and government agencies. Its staff offers case management for legal investigations and litigations into such issues as fraud, regulatory compliance breaches, and data and IP theft, as well as consulting for information governance. Who’s Who Legal in 2017 named two Swiss FTS partners as among the 50 leading digital forensics specialists worldwide. Founded in 2010, Swiss FTS is based in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, with an office in Singapore.

The challenge
The firm requires an IT infrastructure that enables its staff to collect, store, search, and retrieve large volumes of information quickly. For e-discovery and forensic investigations, for example, it must save unstructured data like email, Word documents, and a variety of other files it receives from clients. Staff collects metadata from the files, which they store in a SQL database, enabling them to rapidly search for needed documents. They then retrieve the native documents for their work.

To conduct data-intensive investigations on large troves of files, Swiss FTS relies on tools like the Relativity e-discovery platform, an information management system from Nuix, and the EnCase Forensic digital investigation solution.

“The core of our work is processing and analyzing clients’ data, and our applications, particularly SQL databases, demand high-speed storage to operate efficiently,” said Mattias Aggeler, a specialist in computer forensics at Swiss FTS and one of the firm’s partners cited by Who’s Who Legal. “Our storage also must be very dependable to ensure there’s never any data loss.”

When it was founded, Swiss FTS turned to Vector & Scalar Products Ltd (VSPL), a storage integrator and VAR based in Marlow, UK. Understanding the firm’s needs, VSPL recommended a JetStor 716iS array to anchor its IT infrastructure. The platform proved to be a dependable workhorse, but as the firm grew, it came to require greater performance. That’s when Swiss FTS approached VSPL again.

The solution
One JetStor 826iXD 26-bay All-flash Array from Advanced Computer & Network Corporation (AC&NC).

IT Infrastructure for Speedy Forensic Investigations

System configuration

• One JetStor 826iXD 26-bay all-flash array
• Two Mellanox MSX1012 40GbE switches
• Mellanox ConnectX NICs

Benefits realized
By deploying a JetStor AFA 826iXD solution, Swiss FTS expedited the collection, processing, and discovery that comprise its eDiscovery and digital forensic investigations. The all-flash, 26-bay iSCSI SAN storage system enables complex queries to be run concurrently on thousands of files for large, complex projects. The platform is engineered for continuous operation and features dual active controllers, redundant components, and no single point of failure.

“The JetStor 826iXD all-flash array delivers the perfect performance at a very good price,” said Aggeler. “The platform has been rock solid with uptime better than 99.9%. Its dependability is important to our business because we simply don’t have the time to deal with lost data or reliability issues.“

Additionally, the JetStor AFA 826iXD solution offers scalability. With JBODs, the chassis can expand to 2.6PB of capacity, ensuring Swiss FTS of primary storage well into the future.

“At VSPL, we strive to offer our customers the best solutions for their needs,” noted Quentin Gadd, sales and business development manager, VSPL. “We’ve deployed JetStor storage systems extensively throughout the digital forensics and eDiscovery community in the UK, which is why I specified the JetStor AFA 826iXD to Swiss FTS. JetStor systems provide the performance and reliability our customer demanded, which was exemplified by their previous JetStor array.”

Swiss FTS will repurpose its JetStor 716iS array as a backup device.

“After all these years, the solution still delivers great performance,” added Aggeler. “We expect many more years of dependable service from it.”

The JetStor AFA 826iXD also offers functionality like thin provisioning, auto tiering, snapshots, and local clone and remote replication for DR, all of which are accessed in the system’s SANOS 4.0 OS via a web browser.

“JetStor platforms offer complete storage solutions,” said Aggeler. “We might leverage the snapshot feature, for example, if we deploy backup storage at a remote data center.“

How we did it
In early 2017, Swiss FTS deployed the JetStor AFA 826iXD 10Gb/sec iSCSI SAN platform featuring Samsung SSDs, each with 2TB of capacity. The device has multiple connections to two low-latency Mellanox MSX1012 half-width switches via redundant 10GbE iSCSI connections. The switches have similar links to servers featuring Mellanox ConnectX NICs, providing a highly-available, low-latency architecture.

The JetStor AFA 826iXD is partitioned into volumes configured mostly for RAID-5 or 6 for data protection. For greater performance, such as for SQL server, some run RAID-10.

“The installation was straightforward,” said Aggeler. “We configured everything using the SANOS 4.0 management system in the JetStor array’s firmware. Management is simple and once the platform is up and running, it requires little administration. We can focus on our work, not IT issues.”

Conclusion
Provisioned with its JetStor AFA 826iXD storage system, Swiss FTS is better positioned to deliver digital investigative services.

“It says a lot about JetStor storage platforms that after using one for years, we purchased another, from VSPL,” said Aggeler. “Why should we take a chance with another vendor’s products when our legacy JetStor chassis has performed flawlessly for years?“

The firm’s JetStor AFA 826iXD is also performing flawlessly. The storage array provides the performance needed to support the company’s demanding applications and more than enough scalability to meet the firm’s needs.

“JetStor storage solutions have more than kept pace with today’s storage needs,” concluded Aggeler. “They provide outstanding value and have proven to be a great investment for us.”