Fenner Dunlop Australia first engaged Enablis in 2017 to refresh its 24-site network which supported a growing team of 830 onsite and remote staff. A market leader and the only local manufacturer of conveyor systems, Fenner Dunlop needed to scale its business, improve production line efficiency, connect remote workers, and deliver real time communication.
Challenges:
- Replace end-of-life and at-capacity storage solution
- Eliminate complex and inefficient backup process
- Reduce operational cost and complexity
Solutions at a glance:
- Pure Storage next generation flash storage
- Rubrik backup and DR solution
- Dedicated network connectivity to Azure
Enablis designed and implemented a highly scalable fibre network, an agile communications platform, and a centralised data centre with direct connectivity to the Microsoft public cloud (Azure). Read the full case study here.
In 2018, Fenner Dunlop needed to replace their expiring SAN and complex backup and DR process. Having established connectivity to the cloud, Fenner Dunlop once again engaged Enablis to address their storage and backup needs. Enablis introduced a market leading cloud data management partner to implement next generation flash storage and a cloud backup solution. This resulted in significantly reduced cost and complexity, and improved efficiency for Fenner Dunlop.
People make mistakes and delete things. But I can sleep well every night knowing I can recover any file without having to worry it might not be there.
Sammy Jammal, IT Manager.
The Challenges
Upgrading SAN – With their existing SAN coming to end-of-life and reaching capacity, Fenner Dunlop sought to move to a flash storage solution to safeguard the ongoing integrity and security of its data across its 24 sites. Recent cyber-attacks demonstrate the importance of not simply backing up data, but ensuring the data is sufficiently protected.
Eliminating inefficiencies – Fenner Dunlop’s previous method of backing up data utilising disks and tapes, which were physically stored off site, was archaic. The company needed to streamline its backup process by eliminating tapes, and they chose to move their backup solution to the cloud.
Reducing cost and complexity – streamlining operations and aligning providers is critical to reducing expenditure for Fenner Dunlop. The company needed a solution that reduced its operating costs and was provided by a single managed service provider.
Our Solution
Next generation flash storage – Utilising VMware VMotion, Fenner Dunlop migrated their storage from SAN to flash storage within one business day. With zero downtime, 35 virtual machines were migrated to Pure Storage next generation flash storage.
Cloud backup and disaster recovery – Rubrik’s cloud backup solution replaced Fenner Dunlop’s manual backup process by compressing and backing up data to the cloud, as well as automatically backing up virtual machines as they’re created. Managed via a central dashboard, Fenner Dunlop controls the frequency of backups, and is able to recover any file from any virtual machine within minutes. In addition to immediate and ongoing cost savings, Rubrik has allowed Fenner Dunlop to shut down an offsite backup and DR facility.
Private link to cloud – Fenner Dunlop utilises Azure ExpressRoute to connect its colocation environment to the Azure data centre. ExpressRoute’s private connectivity offers increased reliability, faster speeds and lower latencies than public Internet connections.
Download the case studyWith (the incumbent provider), we used to have hundreds of messages saying stuff is down. Since moving to Enablis, we’ve had no problems and if there are problems, Enablis are all over it.
Sammy Jammal, IT Manager.