TELECOM SUCESS STORIES
Discover how our products have helped those in the telecommunications industry
| Customer Type | Telecom Provider |
|---|---|
| Customer Sector | Telecommunications |
| Source Storage | Dell VMAX 10K |
| Target Storage | Dell Unity XT (680F) |
| Number of Hosts & Clusters | 5 |
| Host Types | HP-UX and Solaris |
| Host Applications | Database, Application, Web, Mgmt |
| Replication Type | Local |
| Number of CMO and model | 2x CMO8000 |
| Insertion Method | Path Insertion |
CHALLENGES
SOLUTION
RESULTS
• Refresh older VMAX storage with new Dell Unity arrays to better protect data, improve performance, and increase energy efficiency
• The 24/7 demand cycle of telecommunications services meant it was essential to minimize downtime during this storage refresh
• What seemed to be a straightforward Dell-to-Dell data migration became complex, as the customer had to navigate vendor communication struggles over LUN assignments and storage configuration issues with the Solaris MPIO
• Customer required expert data migration management to oversee and execute this complex data migration in nine months so the company’s internal experts could focus on more strategic work
• The customer chose the Cirrus Data professional services team to manage its data migration based on the any-to-any connectivity of Cirrus Data technology, as well as the team’s track record of handling complex migrations
• The Cirrus Data professional services team used the Cirrus Migrate On-Premises (CMO) solution to migrate the customer’s block data from vMax to two new Unity arrays
• To overcome the complexities of LUN assignments and MPIO misconfiguration, the Cirrus Data team managed everything while communicating with both the customer’s experts and the vendor contacts, ensuring a successful cutover and improved customer/vendor relationships
• Oversaw the storage refresh and data migration within the nine-month timeline—all while managing the vendor and configuration complexities and minimizing downtime to simplify the customer’s experience
• The telco provider is now experiencing improved efficiency and performance through its new Unity arrays, enabling the provider to better serve its customers
• Because the project management, migration, and troubleshooting were all handled by the Cirrus Data team, the customer’s internal experts could prioritize strategic projects
THE STORY
Few companies are as crucial to modern life and business as telecommunications providers. They connect families to families, corporations to customers, and citizens to all the information they need to be part of a thriving society. Because telecommunications are an industry with 24/7
demand, it is vital for providers to minimize downtime even as they upgrade their technology to better serve customers. And when a telco company is the primary provider in their state, avoiding disruption becomes even more important.
It all started with a storage refresh. A major telco provider needed to migrate critical block data from aging Dell vMax storage to two new Dell Unity arrays in nine months. This Dell-to-Dell storage upgrade promised to better protect essential data, improve performance, and increase energy efficiency. The customer chose the Cirrus Data Professional Services team to manage its data migration, with driving factors in the choice being the any-to-any connectivity of Cirrus Data technology as well as the team’s track record of handling complex migrations.
However, the seemingly straightforward Dell-to-Dell data migration became complex. First, there was a communication disconnect between the telco company and a vendor over defining unused Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs) that needed to be migrated. This became a problem during the cutover phase, as the Cirrus Data team learned some of those LUNs were needed as they were still assigned to the hosts. The Cirrus Data experts stepped up by re-adding the required LUNs and migrating them to complete the cutover successfully. Had the Cirrus Data team not done this correctly, the provider could have seen major service issues that would have caused significant disruption.
Second, the MultiPath Input Output (MPIO) from another vendor had not been set up correctly. This caused a major issue in the first phase of the data migration. To fix this configuration error, the Cirrus Data team spent the entire night working closely with the vendor to find and implement a solution. Cirrus Data’s team then coordinated communication between the vendor, the provider, and the Dell team to ensure all hosts and destination arrays were correctly configured going forward.
Despite the unforeseen complexities, the Cirrus Data team successfully executed the storage refresh inside the nine-month timeframe and with minimal downtime. By managing vendor and configuration issues and overseeing the entire migration, Cirrus Data’s team simplified the telco provider’s experience from beginning to end. Using its new Unity arrays, the telco provider can now better serve its customers through improved
efficiency and storage performance.
