NIKKEI Logically Consolidates Brocade SANs for Greater Efficiency and Security
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- Asia
Country
- Japan
Product
- Brocade Multiprotocol Routers
- Brocade SAN switches
Tech Stack
- Storage Area Network (SAN)
- Fibre Channel SAN
- Wide Area Network (WAN)
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Cost Savings
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Storage Services
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Services
- System Integration
About The Customer
Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc. (NIKKEI) is a leading publisher of business information in Japan. Founded in 1876, the company publishes five market-leading newspapers that are the primary sources of business information for Japan’s top executives and decision-makers. In addition, NIKKEI provides both current and historical information online through three online media services and two database services. With its profitability dependent on online and print content, NIKKEI’s seven Japanese offices and 35 offices worldwide must archive massive amounts of data indefinitely to ensure that subscribers and staff can quickly access information. To manage its rapidly accumulating trove of data, the firm initially turned to Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions from Brocade in 2003.
The Challenge
NIKKEI, a leading publisher of business information in Japan, was facing challenges with its storage infrastructure. The company had three separate Storage Area Networks (SANs) for its three core business divisions, each with its own IT staff, budget, and storage devices. This resulted in duplicated management tasks and hardware expenditures. The company realized that consolidating its SANs would streamline administration, enhance IT productivity, and minimize future investments in storage hardware. Additionally, the company was seeking ways to further protect its mission-critical data by implementing a disaster recovery site in Osaka, Japan. However, it wanted to avoid the cost and complexity of separately linking each SAN island to this facility. It believed a single, enterprise-wide connection would be much more economical and practical.
The Solution
NIKKEI found its solution in the Brocade Multiprotocol Router. With its advanced routing capabilities, the platform uniquely enables data sharing across separate SANs, both locally and over distance. As a result, it enables organizations to build Logical SANs (LSANs) by interconnecting SAN fabrics without physically merging them. In 2005, with support from Brocade reseller IIJ Technology, NIKKEI deployed two Multiprotocol Routers at its data center, with one providing redundancy to help ensure continuous availability. The solutions consolidate the three SAN fabrics of the firm’s backup systems into an LSAN without rewiring or reconfiguring existing devices. The Multiprotocol Routers use Fibre Channel links to connect the three primary storage systems with a Brocade switch that supports the backup solutions. NIKKEI plans to use the Multiprotocol Routers to consolidate the fabrics of the primary storage solutions, logically merging the SAN fabrics across its entire storage infrastructure.
Operational Impact
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