Published on 10-Oct-2011
Validated on 01 Apr 2013
"With server virtualization on IBM BladeCenter and storage virtualization on IBM SAN Volume Controller, we now have a compact, flexible, highly efficient infrastructure that enables us to respond quickly to changing business requirements and that offers low running costs." - Kotaro Masuda, Director of System Department, WebCrew Inc.
Customer:
WebCrew, Inc.
Industry:
Insurance
Deployment country:
Japan
Solution:
Infrastructure Simplification, Optimizing IT, Virtualization - Server
IBM Business Partner:
Japan Business Computer Corporation
Overview
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tokyo, WebCrew Inc. provides an online service allowing Japanese consumers to compare insurance products. WebCrew Inc’s information services principally refer to automobile and life insurance products. Consumers can use WebCrew Inc’s website to compare insurance products from several companies and obtain an estimated premium for each product.
Business need:
In order to address increasing consumer demand for its information services, WebCrew Inc. was continually adding 1U servers to its data center. After several years of growth, the company had 200 servers installed in six racks. WebCrew Inc. was concerned that the continued installation of new servers at the same pace would mean increased administrative complexity and costs, and unsustainable growth in floor space and power requirements in the data center.
Solution:
WebCrew Inc. decided to virtualize and consolidate its existing servers to VMware virtual machines on IBM® BladeCenter® servers, thereby reducing the number of server racks required when the time came to renew its data center contract. To make the new environment as flexible as possible, the company identified the need for shared virtualized storage, choosing IBM System Storage® SAN Volume Controller with three IBM System Storage DS3400 disk arrays.
Benefits:
Lowered the number of server storage racks from six to two, reducing annual data center costs by JPY 10 million (USD 120,000). Decreased the number of physical servers, reducing routine administration for IT staff and freeing them to work on higher-value projects. Enabled WebCrew Inc. to change resource allocations more flexibly and visualize system usage status, thereby improving efficiency in system operations.
Case Study
To read the Japanese version of the case study click here.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Tokyo, WebCrew Inc. provides an online service allowing Japanese consumers to compare insurance products. WebCrew Inc’s information services principally refer to automobile and life insurance products. Consumers can use WebCrew Inc’s website to compare insurance products from several companies and obtain an estimated premium for each product.
Challenge
In order to address increasing consumer demand for its information services, WebCrew Inc. was continually adding 1U servers to its data center. After several years of growth, the company had 200 servers installed in six racks. WebCrew Inc. was concerned that the continued installation of new servers at the same pace would mean increased administrative complexity and costs, and unsustainable growth in floor space and power requirements in the data center.
Solution
WebCrew Inc. decided to virtualize and consolidate its existing servers to VMware virtual machines on IBM® BladeCenter® servers, thereby reducing the number of server racks required when the time came to renew its data center contract. To make the new environment as flexible as possible, the company identified the need for shared virtualized storage, choosing IBM System Storage® SAN Volume Controller with three IBM System Storage DS3400 disk arrays. WebCrew Inc. was won over by the scalability, performance and innovation of the IBM solution, proposed jointly by IBM System Storage experts and IBM Business Partner Japan Business Computer Corporation (JBCC).
WebCrew Inc. now has nine IBM BladeCenter HS22 servers running VMware split across two IBM BladeCenter H Chassis - one with five HS22 servers, and the other with four. The company’s Web applications now run on these blade servers. The virtual server images are stored on thethree DS3400 devices, managed by SAN Volume Controller, which presents them as a single pool of virtualized storage. WebCrew Inc’s IT staff attended IBM-led training courses, briefings and virtualization presentations, then successfully completed the deployment of SAN Volume Controller.
The use of virtualization for both servers and storage has given WebCrew Inc. an extremely flexible environment that can rapidly adapt to demand for new services: the company can create and deploy new virtual servers in a matter of minutes.
Benefits
Lowered the number of server storage racks from six to two, reducing annual data center costs by JPY 10 million (USD 120,000)
Decreased the number of physical servers, reducing routine administration for IT staff and freeing them to work on higher-value projects
Enabled WebCrew Inc. to change resource allocations more flexibly and visualize system usage status, thereby improving efficiency in system operations
Products and services used
IBM products and services that were used in this case study.
Hardware:
BladeCenter H Chassis, BladeCenter HS22
Software:
System Storage SAN Volume Controller
Legal Information
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2011 IBM Systems and Technology Group Route 100 Somers, New York 10589 U.S.A. Produced in the United States of America October 2011 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, BladeCenter and System Storage are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at: ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both. Other product, company or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others. IBM and Japan Business Computer Corporation are separate companies and each is responsible for its own products. Neither IBM nor Japan Business Computer Corporation makes any warranties, express or implied, concerning the other’s products. References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates. Offerings are subject to change, extension or withdrawal without notice. All client examples cited represent how some clients have used IBM products and the results they may have achieved. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.