Consolidated Graphics to Open Data Center

Consolidated Graphics, Inc. will open a new top-tier data center in Houston, TX, on June 1.  

The center was designed in collaboration with HP, a partner of Consolidated Graphics, and incorporates HP servers, storage, and networking systems needed to power the company’s Hybrid Delivery cloud computing solutions.

The facility is Level 4 compliant, meaning it is built to high security levels to secure data and ensure uninterrupted service in the event of power outages or violent acts of nature such as hurricane, tornado or flood.

"We’re committed to being an industry leader in technology, and our new data center and advanced marketing solutions combine to make cloud computing truly tangible for our customers," said Paul Garner, executive vice president and Chief Technology Officer of Consolidated Graphics. "There is a huge void in advanced technology being deployed within the printing industry, but Consolidated Graphics is changing that.  We truly have evolved into being a technology-based services company supported by world-class print manufacturing."

The new center creates an infrastructure on the ground that has the ability to store and process data in multiples of ways, depending on the requirements of customers. The facility, designed as an cloud computing center, provides elasticity to add processing power and data capacity in the cloud virtually on demand, meeting the fluctuating needs of the marketplace. Powered by an HP Converged Infrastructure architecture comprised of HP ProLiant BL460c high-density servers, HP StorageWorks P9500 Disk Array, HP StorageWorks 9000 Virtual Library System, HP StorageWorks ESL 712e Ultrium Tape Library, and HP A12500-series core switches, the infrastructure environment is scalable to meet customer demand.

The center’s cloud computing hardware infrastructure supports the next-generation of technology-based marketing solutions that Consolidated Graphics is developing for its customers.  These marketing solutions, bundled under the WorkSmart Suite brand, are being developed using components of the Microsoft Windows Azure platform. This cloud-based development platform enables software applications, such as those that comprise WorkSmart Suite, to run virtually through the internet.  

"Our cloud-based data center is the foundation of a much larger technology-based offering that Consolidated Graphics provides to its customers," adds Garner. "This is just the start of things to come."