Storage VAR Turns Potential Data Disaster Into Revenue

Developing a disaster recovery solution for The Baltimore Sun daily newspaper was sure to be a challenge. Systems integrator Alliance Technology Group (Hanover, MD) had the technical know-how to get the job done - plus it used a refined sales system to land the deal. This combination of technical and sales expertise earned Alliance the $300,000 project, which may grow to half a million dollars over the next two years.

Initially, The Baltimore Sun intended to establish only a backup environment for data critical to produce the daily paper. But, when Alliance was tabbed to bid for the job, the VAR examined a scope wider than merely backup. "Their environment was a heterogeneous server cluster used by different departments," said Alliance Account Executive Mark Stamper, the point man for The Baltimore Sun installation. "Further discussions revealed they had storage capacity problems. So, instead of talking about their backup environment only, we included disaster recovery, data replication, server consolidation, and storage management as options."

Develop A Storage Growth Plan For Your Customer
Of course Alliance wanted to provide The Baltimore Sun, a part of $5.3 billion Tribune Company, with a complete storage solution. But that was more than The Baltimore Sun was willing to take on initially, mostly due to budgetary constraints. So Alliance followed a four-step process to win its business:

• Map out The Baltimore Sun's current storage structure
• Present multiple options and the benefits/drawbacks of each option
• Demonstrate how similar publishers have used the technology
• Give decision makers a hands-on opportunity to see how the technology works

"We diagrammed the current environment on paper and determined data could not be backed up effectively," Stamper said. "We then put many options from different vendors in front of the customer and weighed the pros and cons of each. We weren't bundling a big solution for them. We said, 'Here's a small solution you can grow. We won't give you more or less than what you need.' We became an unbiased third party that could help them make their decisions."

Tape Libraries Allow Mixed Drive Environment
The Baltimore Sun's current storage system consists of direct attached SCSI (small computer system interface) libraries. Beyond the limited scalability of direct attached storage, incomplete backups and lost data plague The Baltimore Sun. Also, integrating newer drive technologies and mixing drive types are not possible in such an environment. To overcome the pitfalls of this storage infrastructure, Alliance plans to implement a SAN (storage area network) and disaster recovery system.

The SAN will include a 3.0 TB Hitachi 9570V disk subsystem as the storage device. Data will be backed up to a StorageTek (Louisville, CO) L180 tape library with five Fibre LTO (linear tape open) drives. For disaster recovery, data will be routed from the primary site's L180 to an L180 housed at The Baltimore Sun's printing and distribution building located five miles away. Data will be transferred over the company's WAN (wide area network) using a Nishan Systems IPS 4300 IP (Internet protocol) storage switch and VERITAS NetBackup DataCenter software.

Alliance chose StorageTek tape libraries for several reasons. The libraries can accommodate a mixed drive environment, allowing the user to match the type of drive to the speed requirements of the backup/restore of data. The products also permit migration to new drive technologies, which lowers the total cost of ownership. In terms of design, the library's circular design takes up less floor space. The system never requires lubrication, alignment, or adjustments due to the patented auto calibrating robotics. In addition, a Web-based monitoring tool allows The Baltimore Sun to control the remote library from the primary site.

Jumping from direct attached backup to implementing a SAN and disaster recovery system is quite a leap for both The Baltimore Sun's IT department and the company's accountants. Helping Alliance make the sale was the fact that other Tribune newspapers (e.g. Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times) were already successfully using SANs. Also making a positive impact on the sales process was Alliance's $2 million SAN I-Lab, where customers can train on all pieces of the solution.

"If you're going to be in this line of work, you'd better be able to show what you can do," Stamper said. "The I-Lab gives the customer a chance to kick the tires, so to speak." Alliance invited the four groups it was working with - publishing, advertising, application development, and IT - to take a technology test drive. "The I-Lab brought all the groups together to see what the SAN is all about."

Next Step: Disk Subsystem At Remote Site
During the second phase of this project, Alliance will add another Hitachi 9570V at the remote site. Hitachi TrueCopy software will be used for replication from the primary site's 9570V to the remote device. Hitachi Shadow Image software will be used to make real-time copies at the remote site as well (these real-time copies can be used for data processing/mining needs). The Baltimore Sun will maintain the L180 at the primary site for backup, allowing the company to meet the requirements for business continuity and backup/recovery with tape portability to remote sites.

"For an integrator, this is the ultimate," said Stamper. "Some solutions are broken apart, and you only do a piece of the project. We worked closely with the customer to provide The Baltimore Sun a total turnkey data storage solution."