Kahmann Ellerbrock

Renewal of IT infrastructure – servers – storage – network – peripherals – data center infrastructure

Kahmann & Ellerbrock, founded in 1950, is today the leading technical wholesaler in East Westphalia-Lippe with a considerable distribution area. A wide range of products – from technical products to plastics, adhesives and sealants to occupational safety and health – expert advice and system services tailored to the customer are the hallmarks of the dealer.

the challenge

With the steady growth of the retail company, the IT infrastructure also needed to grow, as it was already reaching its performance limits. The seven-year-old VMware environment was to be completely replaced with new hardware and equipped with the latest version of VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi). At the time the order was placed with K&P Computer, two IBM SAN storages were used as storage, which were mirrored using remote mirrors. A transparent failover was not possible at that time. In addition to renewing the hardware, transparent failover between the mirrored storage systems was to be made possible in future.

The solution

EQUIPPED FOR THE FUTURE Two new IBM SAN Volume Controllers (SVC), IBM Storwize systems and IBM/Lenovo x3650 M5 servers were installed in order to optimally reposition Kahmann & Ellerbrock for the future on the IT side. The storage is virtualized via the SVC in the second data center. The software solution from Veeam will serve as a backup in future. This means that the entire VMware structure is highly available and secured via two data center fire compartments.

The competitive advantage

MAXIMUM FAILURE SECURITY In the wholesale sector in particular, a functioning merchandise management system is the cornerstone of ongoing business. An operational standstill due to an IT failure or performance problems can mean a significant loss of sales for the company. Thanks to the new, highly available IT infrastructure, the Bielefeld-based retail company is optimally positioned and protected against downtime. Its customers also benefit from consistently high performance

At a glance

Renewal of the IT infrastructure to increase performance and ensure high availability.

Systems & Software

” IBM/Lenovo x3650 M5 ” IBM SAN Volume Controller ” IBM Storwize ” V5xxx ” VMware ” Veeam

Advantages

” Higher performance ” High availability ” Disaster prevention ” Low operating costs