Central Michigan University
Logicalis Takes Central Michigan University to Head of Class with New IBM On Demand Solution and Responsive, Knowledgeable Customer Service and Support
The Challenge
Central Michigan University's administrative and support offices have built a strong reputation for providing superior service to its support staff and student population. At the beginning of every fall that service is put to the test when over 28,000 students log on to register for classes. This creates what is known as a peak load problem. CMU's technical infrastructure is called upon to answer hundreds of thousands of queries - all within the same general timeframe. The challenge then becomes how to quickly implement a scalable, low risk, high capacity infrastructure with redundant backup systems to handle peak load burden and minimize downtime; allow for easy expansion; reduce administrative workload and costs.
The Solution
An enterprise system based on IBM eServer p5, TotalStorageT, and DB2 technology that not only consolidates the servers but provides server and storage virtualization to dynamically put the IT resources on CMU's highest priorities at any given time. This provides the foundation for Business Continuity to address CMU's disaster recovery requirements.
The Benefits
Greater productivity and flexibility through dynamic utilization of hardware and software; increased scalability for expansion and growth; lower administration costs; enhanced system performance and availability; lower administrative workload on CMU's staff, and lower total cost of ownership, and Business Continuity through data mirroring to a remote site.
A Full Load at Central Michigan University
Central Michigan University (CMU) is a vibrant community of scholars, leaders and partners dedicated to achieving excellence in undergraduate and graduate learning. Even as a large, complex university, CMU works hard to maintain a friendly, small-college learning environment with a strong commitment to teaching, research and discovery.
Over its 113-year history, CMU's administrative and support offices have built a strong reputation for providing superior service to its support staff and student population. At the beginning of every fall that service is put to the test when over 28,000 students log on to register for classes. This creates what is known as a peak load problem. CMU's technical infrastructure is called upon to answer hundreds of thousands of queries - all within the same general timeframe.
CMU relies upon SAP software for its human resources, financial processing and the implementation of its Student Application module. This ensures students get the quick response time they need and administrators can monitor metrics such as course capacity and classroom availability. As part of the overall strategy, CMU knew that its IT infrastructure - composed of 15 separate Compaq servers, HP hardware and SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition database software - was becoming a challenge to manage and wasn't providing CMU with the expected grade-A service.
Logicalis Gets Called On
To address these challenges, CMU made the final decision in June 2005 to upgrade its IT infrastructure. The plans also included adding a second data center to give CMU the extra room and processing power it desperately needed. With this daunting task ahead of them and a new school year quickly approaching, CMU's IT staff would have to work fast. Just as they had with previously important, time-critical projects, CMU called on Logicalis - a trusted IBM business partner.
"They had to send out an official request for quotes," stated Eric Henning, Senior Account Executive, Logicalis, "but we had long since been mobilized to assess the situation. They had a window of opportunity over the summer when students weren't around and when things kind of shut down, so we knew we had to get the project moving quickly."
Logicalis is an international provider of high-performance On Demand solutions. They are IBM Certified for On Demand Business for Solution Advisor and Solution Designer which is backed up by a customer-endorsed track record of technical excellence. Over 5,000 private companies and public institutions recognize Logicalis for its ability to deliver on its promises with advanced, high performing cost effective technology solutions.
and Solution Designer which is backed up by a customer-endorsed track record of technical excellence. Over 5,000 private companies and public institutions recognize Logicalis for its ability to deliver on its promises with advanced, high performing cost effective technology solutions.
Class Graduation
"Early in 2005, we spent about a week getting to know their environment, and after getting our arms around their infrastructure we made a recommendation based on our experience with other universities," stated Henning. "In addition to bringing in new IBM equipment and migrating the SAP system, we also had to ensure the new solution would integrate seamlessly with some of their existing systems."
With IBM performing the majority of CMU's SAP application and data migration, Logicalis architected the school's new hardware and software infrastructure. The plan called for CMU to graduate up from Compaq and its HP system to IBM's class of p5 eServers utilizing AIX. Logicalis also incorporated an IBM server and storage disaster recovery solution that CMU will move to its second data center when it is complete and will provide the DR requisites mandated by their board of trustees.
All totaled, the comprehensive IBM On DemandT solution was comprised of two IBM eServer p5 570s with Logical Partitioning; IBM AIX v5.3; IBM Partition Load Manager; IBM Virtual I/O Server; IBM 2107-921 TotalStorageT DS 8100 storage server; IBM's DB2 database software; two IBM 2005-B32 TotalStorage SAN32B Fibre Channel Switches; IBM 3583-L72 LTO Tape Library Software; Tivoli Storage ManagerT backup software; and two IBM TotalStorage® 2145-4F2 SAN Volume Controllers. Logicalis provided the implementation and integration services and support and worked very closely with IBM Global Services who provided the SAP migration. IBM Global Financing was utilized for flexible financing to work within the University's tight budget parameters.
"The system's p5 Partition Load Manager, DB2 license manager, and disk virtualization solution allows us to dynamically reallocate hardware resources to fit our specific database needs," stated Renae Eckland, Director of Information Technology, CMU. "This helps ensure we achieve optimal performance and realize the most efficient use of our processing power. And with IBM DB2 and its "pay-per-processor-usage" model, we have significantly reduced our operating costs and total cost of ownership."
Logicalis Gets High Marks
CMU has unique, dynamic needs that are difficult to plan for. But its new flexible, scalable and cost-effective IBM infrastructure has answered the call. In addition to handling sudden surges in activity, CMU's system includes a redundant system that keeps downtime to a minimum; provides high scalability for affordable expansion and growth; reduces administrative costs through server consolidation and storage virtualization; and offers higher levels of availability and performance to provide greater response times to staff and students.
"Logicalis worked very closely with the IBM SAP migration team and the CMU IT team to meet our very tight deadline," stated Eckland. "They started implementation in July and the entire project met the timeline based on our limited window of opportunity. Logicalis basically moved our entire core production capabilities off Compaq and HP to the IBM platform, integrated a new database and migrated our mission-critical SAP solution - all in just four months. They were extremely professional, responsive and efficient. I'd recommend them to anyone."