Storage Solutions at Work Pieper and Associates Industry Services: Marketing Design Solutions—Business Continuity/Backup and Consolidation Plug-and-play SAN Kit for Hitachi TagmaStore® Modular Storage The kit runs on the ® Windows Server 2003 platform and includes: Hardware: Hitachi TagmaStore Adaptable Modular Storage model AMS200, QLogic SANbox Express 1403 Fibre Channel switch, QLogic SANblade Express QLA210 host adaptors, all necessary connectors, cables, and drivers, plus a user’s guide : QLogic SANsurfer Express

“For a small business, the Plug-and-play SAN Kit [from Hitachi Data Systems] is an extraordinary advantage. The hours I save can now be used for more important things like running my business and spending additional time with my family.” —Jeff Pieper Owner, Pieper and Associates The company was adding nearly 90GB of new data per week to an already overloaded storage environment, and while there was room on other servers, there was no efficient way to share or maximize capacity across systems. On several occasions, file servers unexpectedly reached capacity and crashed, freezing the company’s ability Design Firm Updates Storage Look and to produce or access client projects. Nightly backup windows were no Feel with Plug-and-play SAN Kit from longer sufficient for copying files, and Hitachi Data Systems the existing IT infrastructure had become complex and unstable, with a sluggish network and inefficient How does a small business obtain networked storage use of storage. without having to hire a storage area network (SAN) expert or purchase expensive storage management Illustrating Storage Design Requirements software? Pieper and Associates, a growing design Pieper and Associates needed a agency, faced that challenge as large design files comprehensive—and affordable— way to address storage growth and and rapid data growth were quickly outpacing business continuity and reduce the the agency’s storage capacity. The Plug-and-play owner’s considerable time spent solving storage issues. Immediate priorities were SAN Kit for Hitachi TagmaStore® Modular Storage to simplify and optimize storage in a very cost-effective manner. Pieper provided the answer. also wanted to consolidate and network the labyrinth of dedicated Addressing storage management Getting Graphic about legacy machines that had monikers functions like the Virtual Disk Service Business Challenges such as The Spaminator and Brown Box, (VDS) interface included with Microsoft and find a reliable way to protect the Windows Server 2003 SP1, this joint Like many SMBs, Pieper and Associates does not have an IT administrator and lifeblood of the organization—client solution from Hitachi Data Systems and design files. QLogic Corporation provides a simple, relies on owner involvement in every “out of the box” SAN for small and facet of the company. “I do just about medium-sized businesses (SMBs). everything at the agency, from account Finding Resolution with management and design review to an Entry-level SAN IT, sometimes learning as I go,” says Growing Pains and Creative IT second-generation owner Jeff Pieper. Rather than hiring an IT administrator “As we’ve grown, I’ve had to work longer to address these goals, the agency chose For Pieper and Associates, a full-service hours than ever before.” an entry-level SAN solution: the Plug- advertising and design firm with a and-play SAN Kit for Hitachi TagmaStore growing client roster and an increasing Parts of Pieper’s long workdays were Modular Storage. In providing this kit, workload, managing without adequate dedicated to managing nearly 2TB based on the Microsoft Windows Server IT resources was becoming a painfully of storage. The company had a direct 2003 platform and its VDS interface, creative process. Based in southern attached storage (DAS) configuration, Hitachi Data Systems and QLogic delivered California since 1975, the company with a total of eight servers for current the industry's first bundled solution for recently moved to a larger office production data, e-mail databases, the Microsoft Simple SAN program. building and nearly tripled its number client Web hosting, and archived files. of employees to meet the demands of As projects were completed, Pieper Pieper and Associates runs the Plug-and- new and existing clients. The agency would compress and archive design play SAN Kit on TagmaStore Adaptable creates collateral, direct mail, packaging, files to servers in the office. Each night Modular Storage, model AMS200. In Web sites, and other marketing tools he would send the files across the addition to one AMS200, the kit includes on tight deadlines for a gallery of company’s network for backup on a 10-port, 2Gbit QLogic SANbox Express well-known clients. servers located at his house, as an 1403 Fibre Channel switch, two QLogic offsite data recovery measure. SANblade Express QLA210 host bus adaptors, and all the necessary performance to support business connectors, cables, and drivers to goals. The new architecture boasts the physically connect and configure capability to handle more than double the SAN. the current storage need, with 4.5TB of storage and 15 Fibre Channel disk QLogic SANsurfer Express software drives, each providing 350GB of space. is also provided in the kit to manage Two Windows servers have already been the switches and adaptors, as well retired thanks to the Plug-and-play SAN as provision storage, all from a single Kit, and the remaining five servers now interface. The complexity of provisioning share a common pool of storage. Pieper advance storage was eliminated with employees now have faster and more the easy-to-use SANsurfer Express GUI. reliable access to their files, speeding An illustrative one-page guide is also the turnaround time to clients. And the included for easy point-and-click agency is enjoying having some “elbow configuration and installation. For SMBs room” for storage capacity. using the Windows operating system, the kit contains a VDS hardware provider “With the Hitachi system, we can scale that enables SANsurfer Express to our storage tenfold,” says Pieper. “Had provision the AMS200 directly from I known about the Plug-and-play SAN Windows and assist with disk and Kit earlier, I could have saved money by storage system management needs. not buying unnecessary hardware.”

“With the Hitachi system, we can scale our storage tenfold. Had I About QLogic known about the Plug-and-play QLogic is the leading SAN Kit earlier, I could have supplier of Fibre Channel saved money by not buying host bus adapters (HBAs), unnecessary hardware.” blade server Fibre Channel —Jeff Pieper switches, and Fibre Channel Owner, Pieper and Associates stackable switches. The company is also a leading supplier of iSCSI HBAs. QLogic powers storage solutions from companies like Cisco, Dell, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems is the first Fibre The Plug-and-play SAN Kit ensures HP, IBM, NEC, Network Appliance, Channel storage vendor to achieve the simplified management with easy-to-use and Sun Microsystems. Microsoft Simple SAN for Windows software wizards that buffer SMB Server designation. Simple SAN is a customers from the complexity behind To learn more about QLogic, visit Microsoft initiative designed to help advanced functionality, saving on the http://www.qlogic.com SMBs easily and cost-effectively install time and cost of technical expertise to and manage SANs in Microsoft Windows administer storage. And data Server environments. and backup procedures are more efficient, so Pieper can now monitor and manage the entire network in a Creating a Palette of matter of minutes per day. Storage Benefits “For a small business, the Plug-and-play Using the Plug-and-play SAN Kit to SAN Kit is an extraordinary advantage,” consolidate the fragmented, inflexible says Pieper. “The hours I save can now DAS-server community is helping be used for more important things like Pieper and Associates create a palette running my business and spending of scalability, manageability, and additional time with my family.” Hitachi Data Systems Corporation Corporate Headquarters 750 Central Expressway Santa Clara, California 95050-2627 U.S.A. Phone: 1 408 970 1000 www.hds.com [email protected]

Asia Pacific and Americas 750 Central Expressway Santa Clara, California 95050-2627 U.S.A. Phone: 1 408 970 1000 [email protected]

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Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. The Hitachi Data Systems logotype is a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi Data Systems has achieved a Microsoft Competency in Advanced Infrastructure Solutions. TagmaStore is a registered trademark of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other product and company names are, or may be, trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Notice: This document is for informational purposes only, and does not set forth any warranty, express or implied, concerning any equipment or service offered or to be offered by Hitachi Data Systems. This document describes some capabilities that are conditioned on a maintenance contract with Hitachi Data Systems being in effect, and that may be configuration-dependent, and features that may not be currently available. Contact your local Hitachi Data Systems sales office for information on feature and product availability. Hitachi Data Systems sells and licenses its products subject to certain terms and conditions, including limited warranties. To see a copy of these terms and conditions prior to purchase or license, please go to http://www.hds.com/products_services/support/warranty.html or call your local sales representative to obtain a printed copy. If you purchase or license the product, you are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions. ©2006, Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. All Rights Reserved. SS-013-00 YR September 2006