BMW Egypt

Automotive Leader Protects Mission-Critical Workloads with Integrated Backup Solution

Automotive leader BMW Egypt wanted better ways to protect and recover data for its Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft SQL Server® 2008 workloads. The existing tape-based process was inefficient; backup could take hours and was often unreliable. The company decided to deploy Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 to safeguard business information. Now, BMW Egypt benefits from continuous data protection, with data copied reliably from running applications. Management is easier from a central interface, and information can be easily transferred from disk to tape systems for long-term archiving. A full backup now takes only one hour instead of five, and BMW Egypt can eliminate the downtime caused by a lengthy backup window. As a result, employees can stay productive with continuous access to important applications and data.

Situation

BMW Egypt is part of the BMW Group, an automotive leader with global brands that include BMW, MINI, and Rolls Royce Motor Cars. Based in Katameya, Egypt, the company has more than 4,000 employees and multiple locations across the country. It has showrooms in seven major cities, including Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh, and Alexandria.

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 has a very strong advantage for us. It not only copies data, it does so at the transaction level, which means I can recover data more completely.  Hesham Mostafa IT Network and Communication Section Head BMW Egypt

The company’s distributed work force travels frequently and relies on the central IT center in Katameya to provide continuous availability of applications and data. This includes information from a line-of-business application saved on Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Enterprise data management software, and e-mail, contact, and calendar information stored on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Enterprise Edition. Exchange Server 2007 is a key resource for approximately 500 employees who use Microsoft Office Outlook® Web Access to manage their accounts online. “The most important data is e-mail,” says Hesham Mostafa, IT Network and Communication Section Head at BMW Egypt. “Everyone uses Exchange Server for storage; the data isn’t stored locally on client computers.”

In 2007, the company’s e-mail servers went temporarily offline. IT staff resolved the problem without loss of data, but they decided to take a close look at its backup and protection processes. BMW Egypt was using NTBackup, a tool included with the Windows® operating system. The company was updating its entire IT infrastructure and realized it also needed a new backup solution.

Although NTBackup worked well as a basic tool, it had several limitations. Most important, when using NTBackup with Exchange Server, the company was unable to take advantage of Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS), a feature of Windows products that makes a point-in-time copy and allows files to be backed up even when open. As a result, Mostafa had to schedule a full backup to copy approximately 100 gigabytes of data to tape each night when users were offline, which typically took between four and six hours to complete. If a backup failed, there was the risk of losing a day’s worth of data. Manual management processes, such as searching for recovery files on tapes or managing backup logs, were also time-consuming.

BMW Egypt decided to look for a product to back up its core Windows workloads. It wanted a solution it could use to manage multiple products and servers centrally, and it also sought to reduce the backup window. Finally, the company sought a product that could make reliable copies of transactional databases such as SQL Server and Exchange Server even when the applications were running.

Solution

BMW Egypt considered several solutions, including Tivoli Storage Manager products from IBM. However, it wanted a product that would integrate tightly with its Windows-based applications. The company looked for a product that would not only work with VSS but also be aware of and capture byte-level changes to data when applications were in use. Although some solutions moved changes to disks when they occurred, they lacked the application-awareness that could capture transaction data held in memory or in transit at the time of backup. To meet those needs, BMW Egypt decided to implement Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2007.

System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 is part of the family of System Center solutions that helps IT professionals such as Mostafa manage their Windows Server® infrastructure. Data Protection Manager helps provide continuous protection by copying data from Microsoft application and file servers to an integrated secondary disk and tape solution on the Data Protection Manager server. The solution takes point-in-time snapshots throughout the day using VSS and block-level change tracking technology to move only changed data from the snapshot to the Data Protection Management server.

We chose System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 because we knew it would provide reliable data protection, and also because it’s easy to administer. For example, it’s so easy to restore Exchange Server mailboxes.  Hesham Mostafa IT Network and Communication Section Head BMW Egypt

Mostafa began implementing Data Protection Manager in April 2008. After a one-month pilot phase, the solution was deployed in the data center to protect the company’s core applications. In addition to the server computers running Exchange Server 2007, Data Protection Manager backs up critical line-of-business software that relies on SQL Server for storage.

Mostafa sets the recovery point schedule to take data snapshots every 15 minutes. Impact on the application server is minimal, and BMW Egypt has 96 daily recovery points to choose from if necessary. In addition to the ongoing incremental backups, he also performs a full backup every day. Although he hasn’t needed to recover data yet in the production environment, Mostafa was impressed by the detailed recovery possible with Data Protection Manager and Exchange Server. In the pilot phase, for example, he was able to quickly find and restore everything from a database to a deleted mailbox.

Mostafa also appreciates the new solution’s management ease. He was already using Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and System Center Configuration Manager 2007, which have a similar interface. He uses the Data Protection Manager interface for tasks such as scheduling recovery points, quickly finding and restoring data, and managing images and logs. In addition, integration with Operations Manager 2007 provides an extra level of control with additional insight into the health and status of both the protected servers and the Data Protection Manager server.

Benefits

By implementing System Center Data Protection Manager 2007, BMW Egypt has better protection for mission-critical applications and data. Administration is easier through a central interface familiar to users of other System Center products. Finally, faster and more reliable backups improve productivity for everyone at the company.

Helps Ensure Business Continuity

Like many companies, BMW Egypt is increasingly centralizing and streamlining its IT processes. This provides the benefits of tighter control and easier management, but it also means that the entire organization depends on the central IT infrastructure for business continuity. As a result, better protection for Exchange Server was a top priority for BMW Egypt, and the company is satisfied that it has met that goal. “System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 has a very strong advantage for us,” says Mostafa. “It not only copies data, it does so at the transaction level, which means I can recover data more completely.”

Improves Management

Administration is also easier with Data Protection Manager. Instead of managing logs manually and scheduling backups individually for each server, Mostafa can automate tasks and monitor their progress through the Data Protection Manager user interface. Restoring data is also simpler. With a few mouse clicks, he can recover applications and data to the original server or to an alternate server or tape system for long-term archiving.

Besides easier administration, Mostafa and other IT administrators at BMW Egypt now have more detailed control of data backup and recovery. For example, Exchange Server data can be restored at the storage group, database, or mailbox level. Mostafa says, “We chose System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 because we knew it would provide reliable data protection, and also because it’s easy to administer. For example, it’s so easy to restore Exchange Server mailboxes.”

Achieves 80 Percent Faster Backup

Before, scheduled backups took up to five hours to complete and copied 100 gigabytes of data. Now, because Data Protection Manager only copies changed data, a full backup takes approximately an hour to complete and contains between 15 and 20 gigabytes. As business grows and the data grows along with it, the solution has the long-term advantage of easing the burden of data retention. Currently, however, efficient data synchronization and fast disk-to-disk backup have the most benefit for daily workflow at BMW Egypt.

“One of the biggest benefits of System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 is that it significantly reduces our backup window,” says Mostafa. “Backups are more reliable, with less disruption to end users.”

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 BMW Egypt products and services, call 20-2-2727-2241 or visit the Web site at:
www.bmw-eg.com

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

For more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to:
www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published August 2008