Computacenter Adopts NetApp For Virtual Data Centres

Infrastructure service provider Computacenter has turned to storage vendor NetApp to build a virtual data centre service for customers.

NetApp’s FlexPod architecture can expand in four directions – increasing storage, network bandwidth, servers or applications, allowing customers to save because they don’t have to invest in infrastructure they don’t need, explained the company at a London launch.

Virtualised Data Centre

Computacenter’s Virtual Datacenter service uses Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) for its infrastructure and  VMWare for virtualisation, but Computacenter majored on its agreement to use NetApp FlexPod at the launch.

“Why NetApp, and not Exadata or Vblocks?” asked Neill Burton, data centre solutions director at Compuatacenter, referring to storage products from Oracle and EMC, both of which Computacenter supports. “It was a simple decision.” NetApp, he said, had good products for unstructured data and good partnerships with other vendors and sales channels.

Computacenter claims VDC will offer IT cost savings of up to 30 percent, mostly through the elimination of the need for permanent spare capacity. Compared to other options, it is more flexible, said Burton: other solutions might require fixed storage, networking or server components.

The company will underwrite the cost savings, offering a refund if promised savings do not emerge. “We are so confident that if we are wrong we’ll write you a cheque,” said Matthew Yeager, practice leader for storage at Computacenter. “That should liberate the budget for the customer.”