AFS Technologies selects Nexsan to implement a robust data protection strategy and high-performance primary storage environment for the company’s heavy-volume, transactional SQL Server application

All AFS solutions use a service-oriented architecture (SOA) built with Microsoft .NET framework technology. To match the needs of its diverse customer base, products are available on both a license and true software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis.

Business Challenge: Replace Existing Storage Arrays to Increase Capacity and Performance While Reducing Capital Costs

With a sophisticated SaaS infrastructure and a very active customer base, AFS Technologies’ data was growing at a rapid rate, stretching the existing disk-to-disk-to-tape backup and recovery environment on their StorageTek SATA arrays. With more than 23 TB of data, there was no room for future growth since they reached their capacity limit. AFS Technologies needed to find a reliable storage solution that could deliver the scalability the company needed to meet both its existing and future storage requirements. Reliability and cost efficiency were also key criteria for this growing on-demand software company.

“Adding more StorageTek arrays wasn’t an option,” said Michael Mulligan, network operations manager, AFS Technologies. “It would be simply too costly. We needed to find a lower-cost option that delivered the high reliability and performance we needed to protect our customers’ critical data while also giving us the scalability to support our continued growth into the future.”

Solution: Nexsan SATABoy and SASBoy Highly Efficient Storage Solutions

Once AFS Technologies identified that adding more StorageTek arrays would be cost prohibitive, the company began to evaluate other options and found Nexsan. The Nexsan SATABoy storage units could deliver expandable storage for AFS Technologies’ 23 TB of data at one-third the cost of adding additional StorageTek arrays. SATABoy also fully supported the company’s Tivoli File Manager backup environment and delivered higher performance that made it easier to meet recovery time objectives (RTOs).

AFS Technologies installed two Nexsan SATABoy units in a disk-to-disk-to-tape configuration using their existing tape libraries as the final archive. The primary SATABoy is set up at a co-location site where all of the data is backed up. A secondary SATABoy, in an AFS Technologies location, is configured to replicate data from the SATABoy backup target for disaster recovery assurance.

Because the Nexsan systems performed so reliably, AFS Technologies also installed a Nexsan SASBoy at its co-location site to handle the backend storage processes for its SQL Server database. The SQL Server data is continuously online and accessed by AFS Technologies’ end-user customers for ordering and other customer operations. As such, performance and reliability were critical requirements. The SASBoy met all their requirements with 15K SAS drive performance and high reliability.

“The Nexsan systems have proven to be exceptionally reliable,” said Mulligan. “The SASBoy, in particular, is well suited for our high-transaction database, which needs to remain up and running at all times. Nexsan delivered it all by giving us the performance, scalability and reliability our environment required within the parameters of our strict IT budget.”

Results: Nexsan Solutions Deliver Higher Performance and Reliability for One - Third the Cost

The Nexsan SATABoy and SASBoy systems have given AFS Technologies higher performance storage and reliability at one-third the cost of a replacement StorageTek system while delivering scalability to meet the company’s future storage needs. The Nexsan systems also assure that critical business data is secure in the event of a disaster or server outage.

Benefits AFS Technologies receives from Nexsan’s highly efficient storage solutions include:
High Performance. The SATABoy and SASBoy systems are high-performance RAID solutions built around the latest high-capacity SATA and SAS disk drives, respectively.

High Capacity. Each SATABoy and SASBoy storage system provides 14 drives in only three units of rack space.
High Reliability. The Nexsan storage systems offer fully redundant and individually hot-swappable active components (RAID controllers, fans, power supplies and disks) along with innovative design for vibration reduction and cooling.

High Power Efficiency. All Nexsan storage comes standard with AutoMAID energy-saving technology that reduces power consumption up to 60% without penalizing storage performance.

“Nexsan impressed us with their reliability, performance and value,” noted Mulligan. “Their systems delivered everything we needed and more for a fraction of the price.”

Results: Nexsan Solutions Deliver Higher Performance and Reliability for One-Third the Cost

The Nexsan SATABoy and SASBoy systems have given AFS Technologies higher performance storage and reliability at one-third the cost of a replacement StorageTek system while delivering scalability to meet the company’s future storage needs. The Nexsan systems also assure that critical business data is secure in the event of a disaster or server outage.

Benefits AFS Technologies receives from Nexsan’s highly efficient storage solutions include:
High Performance. The SATABoy and SASBoy systems are high-performance RAID solutions built around the latest high-capacity SATA and SAS disk drives, respectively.

High Capacity. Each SATABoy and SASBoy storage system provides 14 drives in only three units of rack space.
High Reliability. The Nexsan storage systems offer fully redundant and individually hot-swappable active components (RAID controllers, fans, power supplies and disks) along with innovative design for vibration reduction and cooling.

High Power Efficiency. All Nexsan storage comes standard with AutoMAID energy-saving technology that reduces power consumption up to 60% without penalizing storage performance.

“Nexsan impressed us with their reliability, performance and value,” noted Mulligan. “Their systems delivered everything we needed and more for a fraction of the price.”