Features - Enterprise Data Insights:

FRANCE'S TOP LIFE INSURER DEPLOYS McDATA SAN SOLUTION

McDATA Corporation, a worldwide leader in open, ultra-high availability storage networking solutions, has been chosen by French insurance company CNP to implement its first storage area network (SAN). The infrastructure will be implemented in the company's data center, based in France's Anjou region. The new network consists of four McDATA Intrepid 6000 Series Directors and is managed by McDATA's award-winning SANavigator software. The McDATA solution allows CNP to maximize its storage and server resources, improve application response time, and increase data availability. The solution also provides a comprehensive disaster recovery plan.

CNP, a French life insurance company, was looking for a networked storage solution that reduced the cost of its storage and associated management, and improved data access availability. CNP is running UNIX, NT and Mainframe S/390 platforms, and decided to build an enterprise-wide McDATA SAN, allowing for connectivity between any server to any storage no matter the architecture.

"This infrastructure has considerable advantages at both enterprise and user levels," said Henri Kayser, CNP's chief information officer. "For an insurance company like CNP, the importance of the storage network and of the data storage itself takes on critical dimensions. We have to manage huge databases, especially those dedicated to life insurance, which contain a multitude of case files kept for decades on end. We could not afford to underestimate our needs, and we had to choose a storage network infrastructure that delivers first class availability and reliability. We found all of this with the McDATA solution."

The McDATA SAN solution implemented into CNP's network is based on a core architecture comprised of four Intrepid 6064 Directors, which support CNP's Fibre Channel and FICON data traffic. The McDATA SAN delivers to CNP a storage architecture that meets its current and future needs, and enables upgrades without disruption to the network. These advantages rely on many characteristics, such as the McDATA Intrepid Directors' multi-protocol support, industry-leading ultra-high availability and the ability to upgrade non-disruptively.

Although CNP's current SAN is comprised wholly of McDATA Intrepid Directors, the ability to support other SAN vendors' equipment was an important factor in CNP's choice of a SAN administration tool. This requirement, in addition to easy installation and comprehensive management, led CNP to choose SANavigator. SANavigator SAN management software supports mixed platforms, and with its powerful discovery engine, and its performance, configuration and rule management modules, provides the essential interfaces and information for managing enterprise-level SANs.

Installation of the McDATA Intrepid Directors began in April 2002. The UNIX and NT servers were connected to the SAN immediately thereafter. The FICON solution was connected at the end of May 2002, and SANavigator was installed in June 2002. CNP plans to take advantage of the Intrepid Directors' ability to simultaneously support both FICON and Fibre Channel traffic, so the four Directors will provide seamless support for both S390 and Open Systems.

About McDATA

McDATA is a world leader in open, ultra-high availability storage networking solutions and provides highly available, scalable and centrally managed storage area networks (SANs) that address enterprise-wide storage problems. McDATA's core-to-edge enterprise SAN solutions improve the reliability and availability of data to simplify SAN management and reduce the total cost of ownership. McDATA extensively pre-tests its solutions to provide IT organizations with the comprehensive tools, methodologies and support essential to robust SAN implementation. McDATA distributes its products through its OEMs, network of resellers and Elite Solution Partners. McDATA and the McDATA logo are registered trademarks of McDATA Corporation.