Metabo Case Study (cont.)

ing, but allows for easy scalability. Dell engineered an environment for Metabo that is based on simplicity and manageability, but with optimum performance. Sievering says: “Through standardisation, we’ve reduced the complexity of our datacentres. When the time came to migrate our applications, there was no impact on end-users.”

How it works

Edge M805 blade servers, we have exceptional performance through virtualization, and the power we need for advanced SAP functionality.”

Virtualization cuts server footprint by approximately 47 percent

Metabo has reduced the number of SAP
servers from 15 to eight–six of which are
virtualized with VMware ESX server soft-
ware. Altogether, the company has virtual-
ized 80 servers, enabling Metabo to save
space in the datacentre and simplify sys-
tem management. Sievering says: “It’s now
easy to add and migrate virtual machines
whenever needed. With virtualization, we
have more flexibility in the datacentre and
no reliability issues.”
A key factor in Metabo’s decision to work
with Dell was its experience of VMware–
particularly in load balancing and calculating
system capacity. The initial testing that Dell
performed for Metabo proved invaluable.
Sievering explains: “Dell showed us that we
were overestimating demand and capacity.

Services

• Dell ProConsult
• Dell ProSupport for IT
(Mission Critical option)

Software

• VMware® ESX server software
• SAP Enterprise Central Component
(ECC) 6.0 ERP software
• SUSE Linux Enterprise 10

Hardware

• Dell™ PowerEdge™ M805
and M905 blade servers with
Quad-Core AMD Opteron™
8300 Series processors
• Dell PowerEdge M1000e modular
blade enclosure
• Dell EqualLogic PS5000XV and
PS5000E storage area network
(SAN)

Now, we have greater understanding of our capacity requirements, which reduces costs when deploying new applications.”

 

Blade servers bring simplicity to the data center Sievering soon saw the benefits that blade servers would bring to Metabo’s datacentres. Blade servers offered the perfect solution to Metabo’s space-saving and scalability needs, but Sievering was convinced when he saw the performance of Dell’s

PowerEdge M805 blade servers with their low power consumption. The M805 blade servers allow quick virtualization with software and built-in secure digital card for embedded hypervisors. Sievering was also impressed with the servers’ Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors’ performance under virtualization. For example, the processors’ Rapid Virtualisation Indexing uses Nested Page Table technology, which allows virtual machines to directly manage memory. Sievering says: “With Dell Power-

Collaboration with Dell at every stage With Dell consultants on hand at every stage of the project–from concept development to completion–Metabo has doubled the capacity in its datacentres at a reduced cost. But for Sievering, the value of Dell’s commitment to the project is revealed in a variety of ways. “Everything’s a lot easier today. For instance, we never have to buy additional network components. Dell understood our requirements, and made sure that we had the right, most cost-effective system, which is also easy to maintain,” says Sievering. •