OLV Hospital Aalst standardizes storage with HPE 3PAR

OLVZ Aalst used NetApp and HPE 3PAR storage. To simplify the management of the storage environment and better protect the hospital against a potential disaster, OLVZ Aalst opted to migrate entirely to the latest HPE 3PAR technology.

From a heterogeneous to a unified storage environment

OLVZ already had several years of experience with HPE 3PAR storage. In 2014, AXI implemented two 3PAR 7200 systems for the hospital's VMware, Oracle, and Forcea environments. Over the years, this system was expanded to accommodate data growth. The experience gained with 3PAR demonstrated the reliability and flexibility of the storage technology.

Thorough preparation for the complete migration to HPE 3PAR

For the complete renewal of its storage infrastructure, OLVZ Aalst invested in a redundant HPE 3PAR 8400 storage solution in its two data centers. To ensure a smooth migration, significant attention was paid to thorough preparation and planning. This was done in consultation with storage specialist AXI and HPE.

Initial preparations began at the end of 2016. They explored how the entire, heterogeneous storage environment could be replaced without risking data loss or interrupting employees. After a comprehensive technical session and demo session at HPE, a budget plan was drawn up in mid-2017, after which the project commenced.

The amount of active storage data on the existing NetApp systems was calculated, and a growth plan for the next five years was developed. Appropriate solutions were developed for several technical issues. The existing NetApp ISCSI data could be converted to FC data. CIFS and NFS data could be presented to end users via new HPE File Controllers. Within the existing NetApp architecture with four filers, one filer was also used as a backup. This setup posed certain risks. In the event of a site disaster, data loss would occur because both active and backup data were stored on a single site. For this reason, AXI recommended using a separate backup appliance at a third location.

Satisfied with the results

With the deployment of the 3PAR 8400, OLVZ Aalst has consolidated its storage environment on an enterprise-class flash array. The system boosts the required performance through the use of SSDs, is easily scalable, and extremely flexible.

The solution offers comprehensive data services, is robust thanks to its setup with a 4-node file controller cluster, provides seamless data mobility between systems, and delivers high availability thanks to a complete range of persistent hardware and software technologies. For efficient data protection, the system features synchronous mirroring across the two data centers and a flat backup to an HPE StoreOnce Backup appliance at the third location.

Smooth installation and implementation by AXI in collaboration with OLVZ

ITS was responsible for the entire installation. In close collaboration with AXI ITS, the migration was carried out in late 2017 and early 2018 by Steven Van Hauwermeiren and Walter Eeckhout, both systems engineers at OLVZ. AXI ITS also provided project management for the complete hardware setup, the necessary firmware updates, testing and acceptance, documentation delivery, and training, including support for the IT staff.