Client
Privat BankWeb-site: www.privatbank.ua
Tasks
The bank’s IT department was tasked with increasing transaction processing and data analysis capacity several-fold.
Problems
The solution based on a classical high-availability storage area network (SAN) scheme. Lightning 9980 V storage server from Hitachi Data Systems was used to consolidate the processing centre’s data storage. The solution incorporated two 32-port FC switches, as well as involved installation of two FC adapters in each of the servers connected to the storage network.
Criteria
The Lightning 9980 V storage server SI BIS experts picked had 20 TB of disk space and 64 GB of cache. For comparison, per the recommendations of Hitachi Data Systems, operations with 20 TB of data require 40 GB of cache. However, in a view of the processing centre specifics and the need for high-performance processing of transaction to ensure reliable and fast operation of ATM network, PJSC CB PrivatBank chose a configuration with 64 GB of cache.
The physical configuration of the Lightning 9980 V storage server supplied for the Processing Center included two standard system cabinets — a control cabinet and a disk array cabinet. In some configurations, Lightning 9980 V storage server can include as many as five system cabinets — one control cabinet and four ones for disk array. Thus, Lightning 9980 V storage server enables consolidation of up to 147.5 TB of storage in the same server room. This greatly simplifies further development and scaling of the storage system.
To solve the tasks of the bank’s processing centre, especially for transaction processing and analysis, four System p5 550Q Express servers were supplied at the first stage of the project. These were third-generation scalable database and application servers, supporting up to 8 processors. IBM System p5 550Q Express servers were powered by a 1.5 GHz POWER5 IBM Quad-Core Module (QCM), having an excellent price/performance ratio and exceptional RAS features (reliability, availability, serviceability), as well as virtualisation support.
Stage 2. Lightning 9980 V storage server upgrade
The ongoing expansion of the banking infrastructure and an annual increase of 30-40% in ATM fleet made it necessary to expand cache from 64 to 128 GB, the volume of data available for processing increasing by 10 TB.
Stage 3. Modernization of the Bank’s Processing Centre and tape library deployment
In 2007, the system was upgraded again—two IBM System p5 570 middle-class servers were added. Virtualisation and Capacity on Demand (CoD) functionality enable these servers to respond to load changes. The system is perfect for server consolidation, database and application maintenance, e-commerce, as well as departmental or even regional-level servers. IBM System Storage TS3100 Tape Library used in the solution was outfitted with a single LTO 4 drive that could be connected via LVD SCSI interface, a 4 Gb/s FC, or a newly-introduced 2-port 3 Gbps SAS.
Solutions
IT Infrastructure ModernizationResults
Implementation of this integrated solution enabled a several-fold rise in performance of PrivatBank’s electronic cards processing system as compared to the disk subsystems used earlier.