Intense Lighting Chooses NetApp StoreVault S500

NetApp announced today that Intense Lighting has streamlined its storage system architecture, enhanced performance, and improved efficiencies managing its business critical data with the StoreVault S500 storage solution with SnapManager software for SQL and Microsoft Exchange 2000 servers.

Intense Lighting provides specification-grade lighting fixtures for a wide range of projects, and has experienced tremendous growth as a company since 2001. In fact, company-wide data has grown by 70% in the last year alone. The company’s IT staff manages 37 computers, six HP servers, and more than 500 gigabytes (GB) of direct-attached storage. Before enlisting the StoreVault solution, they were also utilizing tape-based backup, which made restoring data inefficient, taking more than two hours to find, load, and restore for just 5 to 6 gigabytes of data. Furthermore, SQL Server and Exchange databases were scattered across multiple arrays and each required a separate log-in, which made connecting each server a time-consuming and cumbersome process.

“As we continued to grow and the need for additional storage space became apparent, we were looking for a storage solution that would help us manage our storage and data proliferation,” explains Josh Huisken, IT manager for Intense Lighting. “With the synergies between NetApp and VMware, the choice was clear that by going with a virtualized storage and server environment, we’d be able to maximize our storage capabilities.”

With the combination of StoreVault and VMware, Intense Lighting was able to easily add virtual servers to its current physical server lineup while growing its storage on-demand. This increased the company’s storage capacity without increasing the actual physical storage footprint, saving Intense Lighting additional costs and user hours.

NetApp provided Intense Lighting with a simplified process to backup and recover data with SnapManager for SQL and SnapManager for Exchange, providing instant backup and restore capabilities using StoreVault Snapshot copies. Intense Lighting took SQL server snapshot copies twice a day and Exchange snapshot copies at least once a day. Now Intense Lighting can automate backups without plugging in backup tapes every time a restore is required, streamlining the process and making it more efficient.

“NetApp has provided us with an easy, fast, and secure storage environment with very minimal overhead, which is key for a one-man IT shop,” says Huisken. “NetApp has been instrumental in keeping our IT costs down while eliminating the need for additional IT support. Our backups virtually run, reducing the backup process for our Exchange database from 14 hours to just eight minutes, including verification.”

“StoreVault was the ideal solution for Intense Lighting’s situation, giving us a platform that addresses both current and future customer needs,” said Carol Orosco, account manager for value-added reseller Insight Investments. “In one move we placed them into their first SAN, laid the groundwork for VMware, addressed their backup and recovery concerns and consolidated their file servers. Best of all, we’ve earned Intense Lighting’s trust and look forward to working together with them in the future."

“Our midmarket customers require a solution that meets their unique storage needs,” explains Sajai Krishnan, general manager of the StoreVault division. “NetApp has worked closely with Intense Lighting to deliver a solution that enables a more efficient storage architecture and, most importantly, lowers overall costs.”

NetApp

Intense Lighting