Swizzels Matlow

Swizzels Matlow finds sweet
solution to disaster protection
in order to use as a live and very
underpowered server. This inspired
us to ¿nd the best, most cost-effective
solution that would give us what we
wanted.”
Swizzels Matlow engaged Life IT to
design and implement a complete
disaster protection and recovery
solution. It was essential to include
not only transaction data – of which
there is about 100GB of System
i based data – but also the highly
valuable business processes and
self-developed software. Such a
comprehensive solution would also
need to come at a sharp price, be
easy to manage, and eliminate
reliance on manual intervention.
Maxava HA and IBM
Life IT recommended two products:
Maxava HA Defender software from
Maximum Availability, and an IBM
System i520 Express server. Maxava HA
replicates both data and objects from
a live production system to a standby
server on a continuous basis, with a
simple user control panel and very
low system overhead.
To provide a complete recovery
service, Life IT recommended that the
IBM System i520 Express server be
situated remote from the production
server and connected by ¿bre optic
link. In Swizzels Matlow’s case, a
remote facility already existed for
the previous onsite backup solution.
However, there was room for
improvement, so a new backup room
was built at a remote company site
connected by ¿bre.
Maxava HA Defender software is
implemented on both the i830
production server and the i520
server. The replication of objects as
well as data is crucially important, as
the largely bespoke software is under
continuous development, generating
numerous changes every day. Data,
new objects and object changes are
mirrored on the i520 Express server
almost instantly, and source code
used to develop the system is also
captured as it changes.
Extremely fast synchronisation
If the production server fails, all
users can fairly quickly be switched
to the backup i520 Express server,
and continue from where they left
off. The i520 Express server has
suf¿cient disk space and interactive
capability to support the number of
users requiring access in a disaster
recovery scenario.
“The Swizzels Matlow IT team is
very pleased with the Maxava HA and
i520 Express solution,” says Parry.
“Server synchronisation is extremely
fast, and immediately removes
worries about safeguarding critical
business processes and data. The
impressive performance of the main
i830 production server is unaffected,
and the i520 Express gives us a
complete standby solution at a very
cost-effective price point.”
Simple and reliable
Following some advice on changes
to journaling policy from Life IT, Parry
carried out some preparatory work
to streamline existing journaling
in preparation for Maxava HA. Life IT
completed the implementation and
commissioning of the new IBM i520
Express server in three days, and
it has proved simple and reliable in
operation.
“The Life IT team did an excellent
job,” comments Parry. “The service
included pre-con¿guring the Maxava HA
solution to enable a rapid and
straightforward implementation. The
software allows us to make decisions
to control the mirroring process.”
Saved from catastrophe
Should Swizzels Matlow ever be
struck by disaster – a Àood or ¿re
that disables the production server,
for example – this new solution
will enable the company to restore
systems rapidly, without any
signi¿cant loss of business data.
Says Parry. “Even presuming your
data can be restored, it is another
matter to know that your business
systems and processes are fully
recoverable. The very attractive
price and performance of the IBM
System i520 Express, the excellent
Maxava HA software and services from
Life IT have allowed us to protect our
business from catastrophe.”
“The very attractive
price and
performance of
the IBM System
i520 Express, the
excellent Maxava HA
software and
services from Life IT
have allowed us to
protect our business
from catastrophe.”
Selwyn Parry
IT Director
Swizzels Matlow
Life IT Limited
Life IT Limited
2 The Beeches
Beeches Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5ER
Tel:
Fax:
Web:
+44 (0) 1625 548 111
+44 (0) 1625 548 112
www.lifeit.co.uk
IBM, the IBM Premier Business Partner logo
and System i are trademarks or registered
trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United
States and other countries.
Maxava HA is a product of Maximum Availability.
© Copyright Life IT Limited, 2007