Modernized Storage Infrastructure With Minimal Downtime, Boosting Operational Efficiency for a Fortune 50 Financial Institution

A Fortune 50 financial institution faced the critical need to expand its NAS capacity while ensuring uninterrupted business operations. Their existing infrastructure was stretched thin, necessitating the integration of a robust secondary platform capable of handling vast data volumes without compromising continuity. Through the strategic implementation of Data Dynamics’ Unified Data Management Software, the institution successfully transitioned to EMC Isilon, achieving scalable storage management, continuous data availability, and improved operational efficiency.

Business Need

Optimizing Data Management and Ensuring Business Continuity

  • Scalable Storage Integration: The institution needed to seamlessly integrate EMC Isilon into its existing NAS environment, accommodating petabytes of data and supporting future growth.
  • Minimized Operational Disruption: Ensuring a smooth transition to Isilon with minimal downtime was crucial to maintain business continuity and user access during the migration.
  • Efficient and Controlled Data Replication: The institution required a solution that could replicate data efficiently without overwhelming network resources or disrupting ongoing operations.
  • Security and Compliance: Maintaining consistent security protocols and user access permissions across both platforms was essential to safeguard sensitive financial data.

Challenges Faced

Balancing Expansion with Uninterrupted Operations
  • Background Data Replication: Replicating large volumes of data in the background required a seamless process that wouldn’t impact ongoing business activities or user access to data.
  • Network Resource Management: The institution needed to carefully manage network bandwidth to avoid overloading the system and disrupting critical business applications during data replication.
  • Global Standardization: Deploying the Isilon solution consistently across all global data centers was vital for ensuring streamlined operations and simplifying future upgrades and maintenance.

Solution Offered

Leveraging Unified Data Management for Seamless Migration
A Unified Management Interface provided a single pane of glass for overseeing both CIFS and NFS data migrations, reducing complexity and streamlining administrative tasks.
Granular Network Resource Allocation was achieved by enabling precise control over network utilization during the data transfer process, optimizing efficiency without impacting critical business functions.
The transition to Isilon was Seamless and Efficient, significantly reducing downtime and maintaining business continuity during the cutover phase.
QoS and Bandwidth Controls allowed the institution to set limits during data replication, minimizing disruptions to user experience and ensuring ongoing operations remained smooth.
Standardized Global Deployment across all data centers ensured operational consistency, simplifying management, and supporting the institution’s global strategy.

Business Impact

Enhancing storage performance and operational continuity.
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Streamlined Data Replication: Implementation of “hot” and “cold” windows for data replication. This strategic approach allowed for prioritizing data movement based on criticality, allocating bandwidth efficiently and ensuring timely data transfer without impacting critical applications.

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Continuous Data Availability: Throughout the migration process, the UDM software guaranteed uninterrupted data access for millions of internal and external users. This minimized disruption to daily operations, maintained user productivity, and ensured business continuity.

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Minimized Downtime Cutover: The software significantly reduced downtime during the final cutover to the Isilon platform compared to traditional methods. This minimized business disruption and ensured a smooth transition with minimal impact on user experience.

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Centralized Management and Simplified Oversight: Offered a centralized view for managing the migration across key geographical locations. This simplified oversight and control, streamlining the entire migration process and reducing administrative burden.

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Global Consistency and Operational Efficiency: By leveraging a standardized Isilon infrastructure across all data centers, regardless of location or file system protocol, the financial institution achieved operational consistency. This not only simplified management but also improved data accessibility and interoperability for users worldwide, fostering greater operational efficiency.

Conclusion

By strategically partnering with Data Dynamics, the Fortune 50 financial institution successfully expanded its NAS capacity while maintaining continuous operations. The use of Unified Data Management Software allowed the institution to achieve scalable data management, uninterrupted service, and enhanced operational efficiency. This transition not only ensured sustained growth and competitiveness but also empowered the institution to deliver informed decision-making and a seamless experience for its global user base.
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