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October
13, 2002
Key
Information Systems Adds Two New e-Lab Sites To Help Users Evaluate
HA and SAN Requirements
- High availability
solution site allows users to predict HA's effect on backups
- SAN solution
site evaluates if IBM's Enterprise Storage Server is right for
your network
October 13, 2002 ñ Denver, Colorado, IBM Common Conference
-- Key Information Systems of Woodland Hills, Calif., a systems
integration company and Premier IBMÆ Business Partner that
specializes in storage and high-availability solutions, announced
today the release of two new online e-Lab solution sites. Users
can employ free tools at the sites to:
- Find out
how to quickly and affordably eliminate downtime during backups.
- Calculate
the return on investment of a solution that accomplishes this.
- Discover
whether the new IBM Enterprise Storage Server Model 800 will
benefit a storage environment.
- Learn how
to improve backup and archiving strategies.
Key pioneered the e-Lab concept with its trend-setting backup
e-Lab where users can obtain detailed analyses of their present
and future tape backup requirements. More than a thousand visitors
have logged onto the site since it was launched last spring, and
more than 200 have generated for themselves detailed information
reports about their companies' tape backup configuration requirements.
Key's two new e-Lab solution sites include one on high availability
- the "Zero Downtime site" - and one on storage area
networking using IBM's hot new Enterprise Storage Server (ESS)
Model 800. Key's Zero Downtime high availability e-Lab evaluates
the cost versus benefit of employing an HA system to eliminate
downtime during backups. The SAN e-Lab takes a look at whether
the ESS is right for a given storage environment. The two new
e-Labs extend Key's suite of user-useful analytical tools that
visitors can access simply by going to Key's Web site at www.keyisit.com..
"We're putting a tremendous effort into developing some very
convenient tools for the IBM user community," said Pete Elliot,
marketing director at Key Information Systems. "We know that
users who are informed about the choices available in this rapidly
evolving hardware market will realize the cost benefits of upgrading
to today's current technology. It's becoming increasingly easy
to justify an investment in upgrades when you look at the performance
it buys you," Elliot said.
Key's new Zero Downtime high availability e-Lab solution site
(www.keyisit.com/zerodowntime/indexC.html) is based on the belief
that most companies who first get involved with high availability
are interested in reducing their backup windows. While high-end
HA systems are ideal for ensuring business continuity and disaster
recovery, simpler, less expensive installations can be easily
justified for the significant reductions in system downtime associated
with performing routine backups. These basic high availability
systems are devoid of the bells and whistles associated with expensive
high-end systems but serve as the first step toward a more comprehensive
strategy to eventually eliminate all planned and unplanned downtime.
"One of the biggest misconceptions about high availability,"
said Elliot "is the belief that it's extremely expensive
and it takes a lot of high-powered hardware. The truth is, it's
possible today to get started with a high availability solution
using a minimum investment and a processor that is considerably
smaller than your main production machine," Elliot said.
Excluding mainframe, Key offers a high availability solution for
all IBM platforms, including the recent addition of SteelEye Technology
Inc.'s (www.steeleye.com) high availability LifeKeeperÆsolution
for Linux.
On the Zero Downtime e-Lab site, users will find a series of white
papers, comparative charts, trade press articles, customer success
stories, and other pertinent information. In addition, they will
discover a free customized analysis that allows any site visitor
to calculate the return on investment of installing a solution
to eliminate downtime during backup. A detailed report is generated
that can help a user determine the size and cost of a suitable
high-availability application.
In similar fashion, Key's storage area network e-Lab, centered
on IBM's new Enterprise Storage Server Model 800, gives users
insight into whether their system is a candidate to reap the benefits
of IBM's newly redesigned disk appliance that now integrates with
the iSeries. The ESS site provides articles, white papers, and
other up-to-date research materials that can help planning before
moving to a storage area network environment.
"The enterprise Storage Server has rocket science under the
covers," said Lief Morin, president of Key Information Systems,
"but it's not necessarily suitable for every company,"
he said. "The entry point for the Model 800 ESS is high,
and its new functionality with the iSeries and other open systems
platforms makes it particularly attractive to larger companies
who want to centralize their storage and leverage disk space while
simplifying complex system management tasks," Morin said.
About
Key Information Systems, Inc.
Key Information Systems, Inc. is a Premier Business Partner with
IBM and a systems integrator. Founded in 1995, Key delivers affordable
and scalable solutions by integrating business strategies with
infrastructure engineering. The company provides infrastructure
architecture for storage solutions, business continuity, e-business
and computing environment conversion.
Key
has been designated a TotalStorage Solution Center by IBM, providing
a full line of storage solutions across the total enterprise.
This includes ESS (SHARK), SAN, NAS, FAStT, BladeCenter, iSCSI,
LTO, Tivoli, TSRM and IBM storage virtualization/management products.
Services include consulting in the best way to manage storage
resources, business continuity planning and systems integration
services to assist organizations migrating between platforms and
operating system environments. For more information, visit the
company online at www.keyisit.com
or call 1-877-442-3249.
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