Server Replacement Success Story…
Kent MacPherson Appraisals
Kent Macpherson Appraisals was established by founding partners Dory Kent and Neil Macpherson in 1973. With a reputation for professionalism and high standards, they have since grown into one of Western Canada’s leading authorities in real estate valuation and consulting. A broad knowledge-base and experience in the industry, and alliances with both the Appraisal Institute of Canada and the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia, Kent Macpherson Appraisals ensures thorough adherence to professional regulations and standards.
More information on Kent Macpherson Appraisals can be found at http://www.kent-macpherson.com/.
How it all began
Voda Computer Systems was approached to evaluate the existing IT infrastructure. After investigatory discussions, it was clear that there were three primary goals that need to be attained.
1. Minimize business downtime,
2. Allow for data growth scenarios, and
3. Build a trusted long-term IT environment that could change
with the industry.
Like most privately held businesses in the region Information Technology was critical to continue daily operations, and the ability to achieve the (above) goals within a predefined budget was of the upmost importance.
Next steps
- Minimize business downtime. This can be very difficult to achieve without the right hardware, software, and backup procedures in place. To reach this goal, the following solutions were put in place:
- A new IBM Server installed - Allowing a full 5-year parts availability guarantee
- The Operating System was virtualized - Full snapshots are taken and minimize time to recovery if errors occur on the Operating System
- Standard backup software was installed and configured - Backup verification logs are generated nightly
- Monitoring tools enabled - Full insight of network health
- Allow for data growth scenarios. In recent years, storage solutions have entered into the SMB marketplace. The retention policies for email, graphics, music, and video all play a role in the amount of data stored in the network. Internal drives on a server offer limited expansion capabilities and are difficult to "grow as necessary".
To enhance and work with the newly founded virtualized infrastructure, an entry level SAN was introduced to mitigate data growth concerns. The initial SAN configuration offered three times their current storage requirement…with expansion capabilities to expand far beyond data growth expectations.
- Build a trusted long-term IT environment that could change with the industry. Our statement is "An infrastructure is only as good as the platform it is built on." All of above product have a local proven business track record, with excellent feedback and results. As such, they are supported by almost all business hardware resellers worldwide.
Virtualizing offers a level of scalability that is just now being realized in the SMB market. If the business or industry changes, and other solution sets are required to fulfill continued business practices, the server has the ability to add multiple segregated functions without the need to purchase additional hardware.
In Conclusion
The project was a success in every way. Kent MacPherson Appraisals was very impressed with the fact that the project was completed on time, under budget, and with no interruptions to their daily business operations.
Quote from Kent MacPhersin Appraisals - “For Kent–Macpherson, performance and trust are two critical factors that form the basis of our business relationship with VODA.”
Customer satisfaction is a key component to the continued success of Voda Computer Systems which continues to build its reputation for quality service from the praise of satisfied clients.
By a smarter planet, we mean that intelligence is being infused into the systems and processes that enable services to be delivered; physical goods to be developed, manufactured, bought and sold; everything from people and money to oil, water and electrons to move; and billions of people to work and live.
- Enormous computational power can now be delivered in forms so small, abundant and inexpensive that it is being put into things no one would recognize as computers: cars, appliances, roadways and rail lines, power grids, clothes; across processes and global supply chains; and even in natural systems, such as agriculture and waterways.
- All of these digital devices—soon to number in the trillions—are being connected through the Internet. Some call this the "Internet of Things."
- Lastly, all of that data—the knowledge of the world, the flow of markets, the pulse of societies—can be turned into intelligence, because we now have the processing power and advanced analytics to make sense of it all. With this knowledge we can reduce cost and waste, improve efficiency and productivity, and raise the quality of everything from our products, to our companies, to our cities.
To start, one thing we've learned this past year is that the idea of "smarter systems" is resonating with decision makers in the private and public sectors all over the world. We initiated outreach in more than 50 countries, both the established and emerging nations of the world. We have held nearly 100 conferences on the subject of Smarter Cities alone, attended by more than 2,000 civic leaders.
More than conversation, we are seeing increasing evidence that smarter systems are being implemented and creating value. I challenged the IBM team to create 300 smarter solutions in partnership with clients in 2009. Well, we exceeded our goal, and saw more than 1,200 examples brought forward in every major industry, in every section of both the developed and developing world.
As we look across all of these real-world examples, we are beginning to quantify the outcomes of investments in smarter systems:
IT Infrastructure: IBM Unveils New Power7 Systems for the Smarter Planet
IBM launched a set of new Power7 systems that deliver up to four times the energy efficiency and twice the performance of the previous generation of Power systems and some of the current crop of competing systems. The new Power7 systems are designed to manage the most demanding emerging applications, ranging from smart electrical grids to real-time analytics for financial markets. The new systems incorporate a number of unique technologies for the specialized demands of new applications and services that rely on processing an enormous number of concurrent transactions and data while analyzing that information in real-time.
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How long does the HP Trade in and Save promotion run?
Between January 4, 2010 and December 31, 2010, to take advantage of this offer, complete the trade-in on-line claim form, and provide proof of purchase and trade-in an old desktop laser / ink printer or scanner for recycling. The customer can also receive up to an additional $175 cash back when purchasing an HP Care Pack, and for a limited time if they trade-in a non-HP printer they can receive up to an additional $50 more. Purchases and invoices dated prior to or after this timeframe will not be eligible for this promotion. Your claim must be submitted within 45 days of purchase invoice date or February 15, 2011, whichever occurs sooner. This promotion is ONLY valid in Canada.
For more information click here
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Barracuda Networks
The Barracuda Link Balancer routes and manages traffic across multiple Internet connections. Designed to scale for high bandwidth requirements and provide business continuity for an organization, the Barracuda Link Balancer optimizes the use of multiple Internet links, such as T1s, T3s, DSL and cable connections from one or multiple Internet service providers.
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The Barracuda Load Balancer is a scalable and comprehensive solution for distributing network traffic across multiple servers. The Barracuda Load Balancer offers network administrators reliability, speed and security through session persistence with cookie data, SSL acceleration and network intrusion prevention.
Learn More
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Microsoft Big Easy 4.0 Offer
Prevent downtime and security risks with Big Easy 4.0
Keeping your business running smoothly requires the right technology. These days, no one can afford downtime. Not to mention security breaches that make your business vulnerable. The answer is scalable technology solutions that work with what you already have. You need solutions that offer high value so that you can focus on the important job of making sure your business is always competitive.
And right now, when you purchase Microsoft products and solutions between January 18th and March 31st 2010, you are eligible to receive up to thousands in partner subsidy dollars that you could use towards future purchases.
The Big Easy Offer 4.0 is now simpler, richer and easier than ever:
- The 2007 Microsoft® Office system is now included
- You can double dip. This offer can be combined with other discounts
- There are no qualifiers - you need to buy as little as one product to receive partner subsidy dollars
- Partner subsidies are so rich that you can earn even more by purchasing premium SKUs and Software Assurance
- Developer tools are now included too
For more information click here
