4-page Case Study - Posted 9/8/2008

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NetBenefit

Hosting Provider Uses Virtualization to Expand Services and Reduce Costs

NetBenefit is a leading provider of managed hosting services in the United Kingdom. Faced with ever more expensive London data center costs, the company was looking for ways to expand the hosting solutions it offered its clients while maximizing data center space. NetBenefit decided to implement the Windows Server® 2008 operating system featuring Hyper-V™ virtualization technology to give it the ability to create competitively priced entry-level virtual machines to complement its existing managed hosting services. The company is also using Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 to simplify virtual machine management. Using Hyper-V, NetBenefit can maximize its data center space, reduce server management work, and enhance customer data security by adding an extra layer of protection to its underlying server hardware.

Situation

NetBenefit is a London-based managed hosting provider. It delivers managed hosting services in both the United Kingdom and France and is a part of Group NBT, which employs over 270 people worldwide and delivers Internet services across Europe and the United States.

Customers rely on NetBenefit to provide continuous availability whether hosting online applications, Web sites, or online advertising campaigns. Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Robinson says, “All customers want a service they can rely upon to keep their businesses online and delivering an excellent user experience. However, irrespective of whether customers are searching for a complex disaster recovery solution or a simple entry-level server, there is always the need to offer a cost-effective solution. Whilst many of our customers are interested in the technology advantages offered by server virtualization, others are simply looking for a reliable, cost-effective solution that is fast to deploy. Virtualization extends the range of services we can offer which allows us to more fully meet our customers’ needs.”

NetBenefit offered virtualization solutions from both VMware and Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 in its data centers, but wanted to push virtualization harder and further. Specifically, NetBenefit wanted to use virtualization to create entry-level virtual machines on high-quality, multiprocessor servers with Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) storage systems. However, such a strategy required virtualization technology that could support a server with several multicore processors and large memory stores.

As a hosting provider, NetBenefit is continuously increasing the number of servers in its datacenter. However, before increasing its physical or virtual machine count any further, NetBenefit wanted to first simplify its server management. “We spend a great deal of time performing server administrative functions,” Dean Clark, Hosting Services Manager, says. “Virtual machines would dramatically reduce the number of servers we have to manage. It is not effective for staff members to spend hours each day administering individual servers. If we host entry-level virtual machines on high-quality physical servers, any problem can be dealt with quickly and easily because we can dynamically move affected virtual machines to other hosts. This both improves the level of customer support we can provide and reduces time spent on  server redeployment work, again freeing up our technical staff for more proactive customer support.”

In addition to introducing a competitive entry-level hosting service and reducing physical server costs, NetBenefit wanted to use virtualization to reduce data center and electrical power costs. “London data centers are some of the most expensive in the world,” Clark says. “In addition to our customer servers, we have infrastructure servers that cost us significantly. We are eager to trim these operating costs.”

Last but not least, NetBenefit can use virtualization to address the “green” issue that many customers are concerned with today. NetBenefit’s newest data center is powered entirely by environmentally-friendly power. The company wanted to move to virtual machines to use that power more efficiently.

Solution

When deciding which technology to use in pursuing next-generation virtualization efficiencies, NetBenefit looked at the latest offering from VMware and at the Windows Server® 2008

Virtualization extends the range of services that we can offer which allows us to more fully meet our customers’ needs. Jonathan Robinson, Chief Operating Officer, NetBenefit

NetBenefit also deployed Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, a comprehensive solution that centralizes management of virtual machines, accelerates provisioning, and improves server utilization. With System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, NetBenefit can manage not only Hyper-V guests but virtual machines running VMware and Virtual Server 2005. 

Dell Consulting Services

Because NetBenefit exclusively uses Dell servers in its data centers, it turned to Dell for help in deploying and evaluating Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Hyper-V, and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008. “Dell’s move into services has been helpful to us,” Clark says. “Our local Dell account manager keeps us apprised of the Dell product road map and spends time to help us understand how Dell products and services can fit with the new products we’re planning. It saves us a great deal of time evaluating Dell systems ourselves.”

Dell Global Infrastructure Consulting Services enrolled NetBenefit in the Microsoft Virtualization Rapid Deployment Program (RDP) and provided technical deployment assistance in the form of services, training, and technical support. Dell also created best-practice recommendations and provided knowledge transfer for the NetBenefit IT staff. “Our Dell consultant sat down with us, looked at what we were trying to accomplish, brought in Dell storage experts to assist with the specification of our storage area network and provided us with a couple of evaluation storage units,” Clark says. “They helped us set up Hyper-V, create a cluster, evaluate performance benchmarks, and work through monthly fees for our entry-level offering.”

Whenever NetBenefit encountered a problem, Dell worked hard with Microsoft to help us move forward. “The flow of information from Microsoft through Dell was very good,” Clark says. “We were impressed by our Dell consultant’s Windows® knowledge. Dell’s senior consultants really are some of the best we’ve worked with.”

Four Host Servers as a Start

NetBenefit explored Hyper-V in two phases. It deployed Hyper-V on a single host server with an Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) storage area network (SAN) and created seven 32-bit virtual machines running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise. Next, it added a server and reconfigured both to act as a two-node cluster to demonstrate disaster recovery and high availability. NetBenefit currently has two of these two-node clusters running Hyper-V. The hardware is Dell PowerEdge 2950 servers with two Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors and 16 gigabytes of RAM.

“What I like about Dell hardware is it is very easy to troubleshoot,” Clark says. “Also, Dell reliability is very good for the price; you get great value from Dell. The Dell PowerEdge 2950 can accommodate more than 10 virtual machines. As demand grows for our entry-level service, we can move to the Dell PowerEdge R900, which is even more expandable.”

Two of the company’s Hyper-V-based servers contain six virtual machines running domain controllers, Windows Desktop Search, and Automated Deployment Services. Windows Desktop Search is an indexing service and platform that provides fast search of files and data across different data sources and locations; Automated Deployment Services is a solution for rapidly deploying Windows Server operating systems onto bare-metal servers across large, scaled-out installations. The other two Hyper-V systems contain 14 virtual machines running the Active Directory® service, which NetBenefit uses to test its Active Directory domains.

Virtualization opens up a whole new way in which NetBenefit can build flexible hosting services that are tailored specifically to our customers’ business needs. Jonathan Robinson Chief Operating Office, NetBenefit

Additional Windows Server 2008 Features

NetBenefit is also interested in Windows Server 2008 for features other than Hyper-V. Windows Server 2008 provides native support for the Web scripting language PHP, provided by IIS 7.0. “Many customers are dubious about using PHP on a Microsoft platform,” Clark says. “However, the fast PHP support will really accelerate Web-based application performance.”

Another anticipated feature is the File Server Resource Manager, a suite of tools in Windows Server 2008 that enables administrators to place storage limits on volumes and folders, prevent users from saving specific file types to the server, and generate comprehensive storage reports. Clark can use the disk quota feature to control and monitor existing storage resources from a central location. “We provide customers with an allotment of disk space for backups. Being able to set quotas and report on them is a real benefit,” Clark says. “We’ll be able to increase storage for individual users rather than increasing storage in blocks, as we do now.”

Using the new Server Core installation option in Windows Server 2008, Clark’s staff can install only the necessary operating system components, which reduces overhead. With fewer files installed and running on the server, NetBenefit experiences less risk of attack from malware. “All our virtualization servers run the stripped-down Server Core,” Clark says. Administrators can also use Windows PowerShell™ command-line interface shell and scripting language to securely automate and customize system management tasks. “Because many of our technicians are command-line-aware, they feel much more comfortable using Windows PowerShell to interact with the operating system,” says Clark.

Benefits

By taking advantage of Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V, NetBenefit expects to expand its revenues with a highly reliable, entry-level hosting product that supports multiprocessor servers. NetBenefit also expects to reduce its server management work and its hardware, electrical, and data center costs. Virtualization with Hyper-V will also enhance customer data security.

Expanded Customer Services

Using Hyper-V virtualization technology, NetBenefit will be able to complement its existing managed hosting services with an entry- level virtual machine, which will let customers experience a managed hosting service without the higher price tag usually associated with such a product.

Going forward, NetBenefit will have a whole suite of virtualization services based upon a number of different technologies. “Virtualization allows us to offer more cost- effective entry-level products, but it also provides customers with more flexibility to create on-the-fly virtual machines for test labs, for example, which is great for both corporate clients and digital agencies alike,” Robinson says. “The flexibility offered by a virtualized environment is ideal for customers that want to try out different operating systems during their development and testing phase. Virtualization opens up a whole new way in which NetBenefit can build flexible hosting services that are tailored specifically to our customers’ business needs.”

At a bare minimum, we expect to save about 200 hours annually in engineering time, which is worth around $29,000 in annual savings. Dean Clark, Hosting Services Manager, NetBenefit

Easier Server Administration

Using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, NetBenefit can move virtual guests from host to host to produce an easy upgrade path or act to avoid hardware failure. “We can use Windows PowerShell in combination with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 to automate many server management features,” Clark says. “The ability to manage our entire virtual machine farm with one interface will be a huge timesaver. The time we now spend managing multiple single servers will be reduced dramatically.”

NetBenefit plans to use Windows PowerShell scripts to customize and automate physical-to-virtual server conversions, virtual-to-virtual server conversions, and new virtual-server deployment.

“At a bare minimum, we expect to save about 200 hours annually in engineering time, which is worth around $29,000 in annual savings,” Clark says. “We also hope to create a similar saving with faster server recovery times.”

Reduced Data Center Costs

Of course, NetBenefit will save on hardware with Hyper-V. “We will be able to reduce operating costs across both our customer servers and our internal systems enabling us to pass on this saving to customers through a more competitive entry-level product,” says Robinson.

As an example, NetBenefit is currently building a cluster that involves merging several databases onto the cluster. Because these databases are all different versions, they cannot exist on the same server. “We’re going to look at implementing them on a virtual machine, which would save us six or seven servers,” Clark says. “We’re also using Hyper-V to reduce the cost of resiliency; for example, we’d normally add a second server to an application to add resiliency, but doing this with a virtual machine cluster reduces the requirement for a second server and the power associated with that.”

NetBenefit continues to experience considerable growth, year-to-year. Through the use of Hyper-V, NetBenefit will be able to maximize the use of its data centers. “As we continue to grow and launch new products, we can potentially apply virtualization to any part of our business model,” Clark says.

Enhanced Security

An added benefit of Hyper-V is the ability to enhance security. “Hyper-V provides a layer of security that protects us and our customers,” Clark says. “If we suspect that one virtual machine has been compromised in any way, we can easily quarantine it and roll out a new virtual machine. Recovery time is much quicker which is great news for both us and our customers. Being able to control the host layer and give customers access to the guest layer is a big positive for us.”

Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
Together, Hyper-V technolog,y a key feature of the Windows Server 2008 operating system, and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 provide a reliable virtualization technology and comprehensive management solution that make it easier for customers to virtualize their IT infrastructure and reduce costs. With integrated administration, customers can use a single console to centralize management of a heterogeneous virtual machine infrastructure; increase physical server utilization; rapidly provision new virtual machines; and provide dynamic performance and resource optimization of hardware, operating systems, and applications. Both of these technologies easily plug into existing infrastructures, so companies can continue to use their current patching, provisioning, management, and support tools and processes. This combined virtualization technology and management solution also provides great value, because customers can make the most of their IT professionals' skill set, the breadth of solutions from Microsoft partners, and comprehensive support from Microsoft.

For more information, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/hyper-V
http://www.microsoft.com/scvmm

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Dell products and services, visit the Web site at:
www.dell.com/ws2008

For more information about NetBenefit products and services, call 0800 328 7477 or visit the Web site at:
www.netbenefit.com