Construction Service Company
Learn how this construction company is managing the massive data growth that comes with business expansion.
managing massive data growth
Every week, the UK construction sector announces over 1,300 new construction projects with a build value of over £100,000 – and construction projects inevitably generate enormous and complex volumes of information.
In an industry where a major new contract can arrive at any time, our client had to be able to manage its changing data storage needs with agility and speed.
Project design and control are both critically dependent on access to accurate and timely information, as well as the ability to use this information effectively.
Our client required affordable and high-performance storage capacity that is available at all times.
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A quarter of the working day is spent looking for project data in the construction industry
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In construction, tons of documents, emails and workflows are generated but data goes unused
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UK construction firms noted reduced operational costs from transformation projects
challenge
The ongoing challenge for our client wasn’t just how to store its growing data volumes. It was how to do so without compromising on performance, or straining already tight budgets.
A successful design had to balance high-speed access and cost-efficient long-term storage.
At the same time, manual migration of data between different types of storage would place an impossible burden on the IT team.
Storage efficiency was also required to reduce the overall volume and complexity of data.
SOLUTION
Tectrade implemented NetApp solution designed for cost-effective performance, resiliency and enterprise features. StorageGRID object storage is accessed via tiering and S3 to provide a cost-effective capacity tier.
The solution used the power of the NetApp ONTAP Data Fabric to provide access to storage, present data via multi-protocol access and perform data protection actions, such as snapshots and replication. ONTAP also manages where the data is stored across the multiple tiers of storage.
Depending on the type of data, it is stored either:
– On all-flash volumes permanently
– On all-flash volumes, but tiered to object storage based on policy (age, access, etc.)
– Directly on the object storage
By using a two-site data center design, we now have a comprehensive storage and data protection platform – as well as the most efficient use of capacity in the smallest footprint.
IT Manager – Construction Service Company
outcomes
The redesign of the client’s storage environment boosted capacity, availability and performance.
Tectrade and NetApp provided a highly resilient storage system across multiple data centers.
Additional agility came from enabling rule-based tiering whereby data older than 30 days is moved from flash to object storage – and is promoted back to flash the next time the data is accessed.
Storage efficiency functions such as de-duplication and compression provided a 3:1 data reduction guarantee.
In addition, intelligent tiering management reduced the need for costly all-flash storage in return for an increase in affordable StorageGRID – without an impact on performance.
About our client
Our client provides specialist design and build capabilities for civil engineering, public and private housebuilding and land development.
Major projects include national transport infrastructure, government buildings and residential estates.
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