REWE International Retailer in Austria Assigns Storage Volumes in Two Hours with Virtualisation Technology

Austria-based REWE International is the largest food and drug retailer in the country. The company—which has around 2,500 stores—continues to grow and invest in its IT infrastructure to help employees meet their business goals. The IT team began virtualising servers to cope with an increasing demand for applications—particularly communication and collaboration solutions. However, some processes were complex, and managing storage volumes was a major issue. In response, REWE International deployed Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V running on HP hardware. As a result, the business has achieved its main goals—provisioning storage volumes quickly and moving virtual machines between nodes on a server cluster without causing downtime. Thanks to the new environment, the company has reduced deployment times by 95 per cent.

REWE International is the largest food and drug retailer in Austria. Headquartered in Wiener Neudorf, the organisation is also one of the biggest employers in the country, with around 38,000 people working at its retail businesses, which include BILLA, MERKUR, PENNY, BIPA, and ADEG.

Thanks to our new environment, we have deployed servers within three hours. Without the technology, just the hardware procurement would have taken six weeks, and then two days to implement. Guenther Schmied System Administrator REWE International

Despite tough trading conditions, REWE International has continued to grow, and now operates around 2,500 stores through its retail units. At the heart of this success is IT, which the company sees as vital to prosperity. It believes that people with the right business tools can create a work environment that is efficient enough to overcome even the most challenging economic situations.

However, such a strong emphasis on technology has its drawbacks. Guenther Schmied, System Administrator at REWE International, says: “The IT team saw a major increase in demand for applications, particularly around communication and collaboration. From our perspective, it created a number of challenges in areas such as server capacity and day-to-day management.”

The organisation took steps to cope with the growing demands. Working with Microsoft and HP, it introduced server virtualisation, which helped overcome the challenges. “Virtualisation improved many things,” says Schmied. “We could use more of each server’s capacity and add services more quickly.” But the technology also created some issues for the IT team. Schmied says: “With more than 100 virtual servers, it was complex and time-consuming to assign and manage storage volumes for the machines.” So when the existing virtualisation technology was superseded by newer offerings with greater functionality and performance, Schmied planned to overhaul the solution. “We had a real opportunity to gain the full benefit of virtualisation and increase management efficiency,” he says.

One of the virtualisation technologies that REWE International assessed was Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V technology. Schmied says: “Microsoft has been a valuable technology partner for REWE International for many years, providing new server products to enhance our performance.” The company—which has a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement for Software Assurance—came to a decision quickly. “It was clear that Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V offered a solution to our current virtualisation issues,” says Schmied.

The company decided to implement the software on a new hardware environment. By upgrading the environment’s servers and storage, REWE International could lower energy use and reduce the infrastructure’s total cost of ownership. Schmied and his colleagues then undertook the implementation work themselves. “Before deployment, Microsoft and HP provided us with a lot of information. We also had a single point of contact at HP who could escalate any of our questions within both organisations,” says Schmied.

With CVS, we can set up storage volumes much faster—in just a couple of hours. Guenther Schmied System Administrator REWE International

The infrastructure consists of Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter with Hyper-V running on HP ProLiant BL680c blade servers and supported by HP StorageWorks XP12000 Disk Array storage. It includes four host machines, divided between two sites, and configured as a single cluster. The cluster delivers approximately 110 virtual servers. To improve storage use, four Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) were created at each site. In essence, CSV technology helps simplify storage management by giving multiple hosts access to the same logical unit number on a storage device. Finally, the company implemented Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 to provide central management for hosts and virtual servers.

Schmied says: “The implementation was a success. We kept to our original plan and stayed within budget.” Today, the IT team uses features such as Live Migration to move virtualised servers between hosts. It also regularly uses System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 to provision new virtual machines, with CSV helping to simplify the process.

REWE International has delivered its key aim—gaining the full power of virtualisation technology to attain more efficient IT. Today, administrators can move virtualised machines between nodes on a server cluster without causing downtime, and configure storage volumes in a couple of hours. With the performance of the HP ProLiant blades running Windows Server 2008 R2, they have also consolidated 20 physical servers. Furthermore, it now takes less time to launch virtual servers thanks in part to approved templates for provisioning.

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 gives us a lot of features to manage our virtualised environment that we never had before. Guenther Schmied System Administrator REWE International

Cluster technology reduces storage configuration time from days to hours

The addition of CSV in Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V has saved the IT team time in configuring storage for virtual machines. “With CVS, we can set up storage volumes much faster—in just a couple of hours,” says Schmied. Life has changed significantly for the IT team, which once had to create individual logical unit numbers for each virtual server. “We can focus more on strategic work because we spend less time on routine management,” says Schmied.

Live Migration Maximises System Availability for End Users

The team can maximise the availability of its virtual servers thanks to the Live Migration feature in Hyper-V. Using the technology, personnel can move virtual machines between hosts without causing downtime. Schmied says: “This is one of the key features in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V. We can switch virtual machines between nodes on our cluster and maintain availability. Plus, because of CSV, the machines have access to stored data at all times.”

Virtualisation Reduces Deployment Time by Around 95 per cent

The company can develop the environment more efficiently with the adoption of Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V. “Thanks to our new environment, we have deployed servers within three hours,” says Schmied. “Without the technology, just the hardware procurement would have taken six weeks, and then two days to implement.”

Environment Delivers Greater Consolidation, Cutting Power Use

IT personnel have also consolidated 20 physical servers as a result of the new infrastructure. “With the performance of the HP ProLiant blades running Windows Server 2008 R2, we didn’t need so much hardware,” says Schmied. The removal of the machines has cut power consumption in the data centre—helping REWE International lower its carbon footprint. “We can continue adding virtual machines, and scale the environment without having to buy additional hardware—reducing capital expenditure,” says Schmied.

Greater Control over IT with Latest Technology

It takes less time to launch virtual servers now that the IT team can use approved templates for provisioning. “System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 gives us a lot of features to manage our virtualised environment that we never had before,” says Schmied. “We can create virtual machines quicker than in the past, and dynamically manage the environment’s resources.” He believes a large part of the project’s success was due to the collaboration between Microsoft and HP. He says: “Microsoft and HP gave us the support we needed, when we needed it. They collaborated well, just like on previous projects.”

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www.rewe-group.at