Compellent Chosen by Heineken Netherlands to Upgrade HP EVA

Compellent Technologies Inc. installed its virtualized storage system for the VMware-based data center of Heineken Netherlands to create a private cloud computing environment that will keep pace with data growth, save on space, power and cooling costs, automate data management and help avoid future rip-and-replace upgrades.

During a press conference held at VMworld with VMware and Compellent, Heineken Netherlands said this Fluid Data storage and server architecture has increased performance for IT applications that support production and reduced disk requirements by nearly 60 percent for better storage efficiency.

Faced with an upgrade of its HP EVA storage systems, Heineken Netherlands evaluated technologies from several suppliers to replace it. With the assistance of Compellent channel partner Inter Access B.V., Heineken Netherlands selected Compellent Fluid Data for its automated sub-LUN tiered storage, cost-effective use of solid state drives (SSD), scalable hardware and seamless integration with VMware. Heineken Netherlands has already virtualized 60 percent of its physical servers on VMware, cutting power and cooling requirements in the process. The physical-to-virtual migration will continue until the majority of systems are virtualized and a second Compellent site is implemented for disaster recovery.

All tiering of data is done automatically using Compellent’s software, which moves data at the sub-LUN level between SSD, FC and SATA tiers based on frequency of access, eliminating repetitive, manual transfer of data.

Compellent’s self-managing storage is significantly accelerating performance while increasing efficiency, enabling Heineken Netherlands to:

• Use a minimum number of SSDs while boosting performance for its HOPS supply-chain management system. Capacity upgrades will consist primarily of low-cost SATA disk.
• Improve HOPS performance by up to 300 percent. In addition, latency is now less than 20 ms.
• Enhance efficiency, lowering disk count by nearly 60 percent and reducing associated power and cooling requirements.

About 30 percent of Heineken Netherland’s data sits on the fastest, most accessible tier of SSD, 10 percent reside on the middle FC tier and 60 percent of historical data sits on cost-effective, higher capacity SATA drives.

With the implementation of virtualized storage paired with virtualized server infrastructure, Heineken Netherlands reduced power and cooling costs in support of the company’s ‘Brewing a Better Future’ sustainability initiative.

Phil Soran, CEO and President, Compellent, said:" Enterprises are making strategic choices to deploy game-changing technologies, and Compellent and VMware are helping customers react faster to business demands while making it easier for them to manage and protect valuable data. Heineken Netherlands is a perfect example of how our Fluid Data architecture with automated tiered storage can control storage costs and improve business efficiency."

Tod Nielsen, COO, VMware, said:" Companies across the world are realizing the benefits of pairing storage and server virtualization to pave the way to cloud computing. They are seeing data center footprints shrink, while their power and cooling costs are significantly reduced. By blending VMware and Compellent, companies like Heineken Netherlands are able to transform IT as a service and, as a result, is pairing a unique, strategic vision with differentiated technology to better serve both its business and customers."

Onno Donkervoort, IT Supply Manager, Heineken Netherlands, said:" Heineken Netherlands operates three breweries that bottle, package and ship products to customers worldwide. Data associated with Heineken Netherlands’ production facilities is vitally important to our supply chain and must be readily available, so that we can deliver the best product possible to our customers. The seamless integration of Compellent and VMware allows us to enhance the efficiency and performance of our IT services throughout our organization, while allowing us to grow."

Heineken Netherlands is one of the largest operating companies of Heineken N.V. and employs more than 3,000 people. It operates three breweries that sold almost 17 million hectoliters of beer in 2009, of which 5 million hectoliters for the Dutch market, and it bottles, packages and ships products to customers worldwide.