See a live Dell EqualLogic Product Demo

Of course, we’re talking about Dell EquaLogic virtual ISCSI storage here. Let’s face it, storage is the foundation of our datacenters. Servers and equipment only exist in order to give us access to our data, and for many administrators storage is an after thought rather than a foundation.

“How much storage does this server need?” is the common question and understandably so, since SAN solutions have historically been relatively expensive and complex… until EqualLogic, that is..

1. Centralized storage is an enabler

Whether your primary goal is to simplify your network, get virtualized, add storage capacity, shorten your backup and recovery windows, or improve your business continuity / disaster recovery plan, you’ll get ALL of this with your first EqualLogic array.

2. EqualLogic’s virtual storage is FAST and EASY

You don’t need a PHD in storage to manage provision or manage EqualLogic storage.  In fact, if you can manage a Windows server you can master Dell EqualLogic in an afternoon. There’s no need to understand LUNs, RAID Groups, IOPs, or fiber channel.

3. Don’t waste a penny on unused storage

We all have that admin that says his new server needs 2TB of storage, even though we know there’s no chance he’s going to need all of that.

• The old way: order a new server and a DAS just for him, and when he only uses 200GB, the rest goes to waste and sucks up power and cooling.

• The EqualLogic way: Thin provision him 2TB of storage, assign it to his server, and you’ll only see the 200GB he’s using. Once his project is done, delete the volume and it goes right back into the pool for use elsewhere.

4. Everything is faster on a SAN

It’s no secret that the longest standing bottleneck for servers (and workstations, for that matter) is the disk sub-system. Processors and memory have received ground-breaking performance increases, yet hard drive speeds have improved modestly. A disk array is pretty much mandatory if you want to even come close to full utilization of your new servers.

5. Buy fewer servers

How many times have you bought a new server because you needed more storage or faster disks? We’re all guilty of that at one time or another. There’s no wasting server resources when you purchase and manage your storage independently.

6. Get the most out of server virtualization

Fast, reliable, flexible storage is a critical component to virtualization. In the past, the vast majority of my design discussions revolved around how many hard drives should go in each virtual host.

Of course this meant we had to plan ahead of time which VM would go to on which host because the Exchange VM definitely needs more disk throughput than the Active Directory VM. With centralized virtual storage you are truly virtual- just type in the size you need and the EqualLogic does the rest!

7. Shorten your back up and recovery windows

No more backups at night!  With the click of a mouse or a simple schedule, your production volume is snapshoted, and your backup server can backup the snapshot in the middle of the day having ZERO affect on your production network.

8. Do you have a viable DR plan?

I’ve reviewed a lot of DR plans in my day and it’s staggering how many of them include a drive to Iron Mountain to pickup tapes. This reminds me of the old Windows days when I manually loaded 30+ floppy disks to install the OS.

Site-to-site replication with EqualLogic couldn’t be easier. With a few clicks, the array will take a snapshot of your volume and start a bit-level replication to it’s partner.

When you need to recover the offsite data, you can either choose to replicate it back to site A or physically transport the replication target array back to the primary data center and you’re back in business!

Read more EqualLogic articles

See a live Dell EqualLogic product demo

Understanding Data Replication Between Dell EqualLogic PS Series Groups

Replication is a powerful tool to help you manage and implement a disaster recovery strategy for your business applications and data. By replicating business-critical volumes, you ensure that your business operations can resume quickly on a partner group in the event of a disaster on the primary group. You also have the ability to restore the configuration to its original state if the problem on the original group can be corrected.

Click here to download

VDI can be a big pill to swallow. There are many components to it, so we put this together to give you a concise, but full view of VDI in a nutshell. Enjoy!

Learn more about Trading-up to Citrix XenDesktop

Last Thursday UltraLevel held our Secrets, Lies, and VDI event at Sulivan’s Steakhouse in Indianapolis, IN.  It was a fun drive down from Detroit and a great opportunity for us to mastermind. We created something very special on the trip back up, which I expect will be nothing short of viral once we finish it, so stay tuned for that one!

Sulivan’s is a great venue . It has all the panache that you’d expect from an upscale steakhouse as well as great food. Perhaps a little crowed for our 60+ group, but it all worked out. With the tight squeeze it was really difficult to position the camera, so we did the best with what we had and put together these clips for you. Of course you can view all of our videos by visiting UltraLevel’s YouTube Channel.

Mike Butz, UltraLevel CEO and President, started things out with his keynote speech on the origins and history of server-based computing:

Next up was Chris Nowland from Lakeside Software presenting Systrack Virtual Machine Planner- a tool we have found to be indispensable in the planning our our virtualization projects. We’re not the only ones that think so; VMware has just partnered with Lakeside to offer View bundled with Systrack VMP.

Dell gave a fantastic and impressive demonstration of the EqualLogic iSCSI SAN. Unfortunately we weren’t able to capture it on video, but here’s an entertaining YouTube video demonstration of how fast and easy setting up a Dell EqualLogic SAN really is.

Introducing our brave and bold CTO, Jeremy Wilkinson, who believes so much in our desktop virtualization solutions that he ran the entire presentation from a Citrix XenDesktop VDI session that was being delivered from our datacenter in Troy, MI.

Jeremy is going to steal the show from this point forward beginning with him redefining the desktop.

Jeremy talks about Microsoft Hyper-V R2 and then on to the new Live Motion Feature.

Jeremy explains the importance of decoupling applications from the desktop, using MS App-V or Citrix XenApp, when delivering VDI desktops.

Jeremy explains the difference between Citrix XenApp (formally MetaFrame and Presentation Server) application virtualization and streamed applications. Essentially, first is remotely delivered and the latter is packaged for local execution.

In his last topic, Jeremy compares and contrasts Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View desktop virtualization solutions.

In closing UltraLevel President, Mike Butz talks about Jack Wilson at Amerisure.

Last, but certainly not least, a couple attendees share their feedback on the event. Here’s Roger Dearnaley from Sataria Distribution.

Drew Johnson with Auction Broadcasting Company REALLY loved the event, but I’m sure winning the grand prize Dell Laptop helped a bit..

Did you find the videos informative? Would you like to attend a future UltraLevel event? What’s a hot topic for you? Leave us a comment and let us know what you think! To get more information on these technologies and how UltraLevel can help you, contact UltraLevel.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UltraLevel, Inc. Opens Two Midwest Offices

DETROIT, MI (January 20th, 2010) – UltraLevel, Inc. (http://www.UltraLevel.com) announces the opening of offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan and Indianapolis, Indiana to serve its rapidly expanding Midwest customer base.

“We believe that 2010 is the year for broad adoption of Desktop Virtualization, which is our core focus, so we’re definitely very optimistic,” said Michael L. Butz, founder and CEO of UltraLevel, Inc. “We have chosen the best technology manufacturers and market segments to invest in, and as a result, our business is growing very rapidly.” Mr. Butz is one of twenty-four executives invited to serve on Dell’s Enterprise Architecture Certified Partner Advisory Council.

Also contributing to UltraLevel’s double-digit growth is the increased frequency and attendance of the live technical briefings and seminars it has been hosting, which has been fueled by the company’s recent focus on social media and inbound marketing strategies. UltraLevel launched its first microsite last year offering free Citrix support (http://www.FreeCitrixSupport.com) as a part of its own economic stimulus package.

About UltraLevel
UltraLevel, Inc. is a virtualization solutions provider headquartered in Detroit, Michigan with offices in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; Tampa, Florida; and Pensacola, Florida. UltraLevel’s key partners include Dell, Citrix, VMware, and Microsoft. UltraLevel specializes in virtualization infrastructure to help organizations consolidate and simplify their data center and desktop footprints to reduce the amount of resources necessary to maintain and manage their IT infrastructure. UltraLevel solutions consume less electricity and deliver greener IT.

Contact:
Abdul Karmach
akarmach@ultralevel.com
Tel: (877) 875-7300
Fax: (313) 875-9330
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