Storage
Mobility
Protection
Analysis and control
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September 3, 2019
Topics: 3 minute read
It’s a Monday afternoon, and Darius has just begun to feel hungry again. He just has to finish the reports for his next meeting—only an hour away— and then he can relax. But what’s this? His computer’s frozen. He can’t access the files he needs to get the reports done! He starts to panic as his phone begins to ring, ring, ring...
Darius jerks awake. It was all a nightmare. He takes a deep breath and wipes the sweat from his brow. He’s beginning to wonder just how much of his work he takes home.
Darius runs the data and cloud department at a large software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that works to optimize client communications and workflows. If their SaaS platform were to experience an outage, then their customers would not be able to work. In other words, outages are not an option.
Moving Away From On-Premises Storage
As Darius began to investigate the benefits of the cloud, he was nearly sold. Nearly because he was skeptical of the security it provided. Eventually, he just couldn’t take the slowed productivity anymore: he informed his company that now was the time. The company decided to move away from on-premises databases in 2016 for two main reasons. First, they wanted to embrace the speed, agility, and cost savings of the cloud. But more importantly, they wanted to hire new employees who would add differentiation to their SaaS platform, rather than managers to manage and micromanage their infrastructure.
The company’s SaaS platform relies on Oracle and Oracle RAC. But Darius couldn’t find a native solution that would allow Oracle RAC to run on AWS. He believed it would be impossible to get the required connectivity between the nodes, let alone achieve the availability and performance the databases needed to run effectively. To make matters worse, the clock was ticking on the lease for their data center, which would expire at the end of 2019. Darius’ team was hectically seeking a viable option to transfer their Oracle and Oracle RAC onto AWS.
The Dream of a Seamless Cloud Operation
As soon as he leaned his weight into his search for the ideal cloud service, Darius found the answer to his quandary in a combination of VMware Cloud on AWS and NetAppâ Cloud Volume Service for AWS. His team took a closer look. VMware Cloud offered him a platform to host Oracle RAC providing the necessary connectivity between the nodes in AWS, and Cloud Volumes Service provided the reliable data storage. Cloud Volumes Service ensured that the company’s software stack had the performance, scalability, and reliability that they needed. That meant his company was able to easily migrate to the cloud without interruptions, and they haven’t experienced any disruptions in service since moving to the cloud. The two elements went together like steak and red wine; CVS and VMware Cloud were just what he needed.
Those Geniuses Who Migrated an Enterprise to AWS
After going over the technical concerns, the company and NetApp decided on the business arrangements. First, Darius’s company needed the price certainty and discount associated with a multi-month arrangement, like reserved instances. However, they also needed the bill in monthly increments, not all up front. NetApp was able to slice up their payment structure into 12 monthly payments, which were administered through their AWS bill, giving them a clean and predictable opex model. As another bonus, the company was able to take advantage of the AWS Enterprise Contract Marketplace Program (ECMP) transactional agreement, allowing them to skip all the lawyers. Darius started with several hundred terabytes and planned to grow from there.
Around the office, Darius and his team are now convivially referred to as “those geniuses”. But that’s just a fringe benefit. Now, his company can migrate into AWS East-1 region, with West-2 as a Disaster Recovery (DR) site or backup.
Darius gets more sleep, now, since his files are protected by NetApp’s airtight security and encryption. NetApp has continued to work face-to-face with Darius and his organization to ensure that their Cloud Volumes Service usage is optimal.
Want to Live the Cloud Dream like Darius?
Read more about Cloud Volume Service for AWS and sign up for a personalized demo.