Client
Rodovid BankWeb-site: www.rodovidbank.com
Tasks
Under this project, SI BIS was to rework the computing infrastructure and storage systems. Over the years of the bank’s operation, a disparate collection of hardware accumulated in its server rooms and it all needed modernization. Most importantly, all main resources were gathered in a single location, meaning that the bank’s operation would be paralysed in the event of an accident in the main computing centre.
The new complex was meant to be extremely reliable and powerful to support functioning of existing applications, as well as scalable to a large extent.
One of the customer’s main requirements was the possibility of a full restoration of the computing centre operation within several minutes to several hours (which was successfully provided). In addition, the complex was to provide for uninterrupted operation of Scrooge automated banking system.
Criteria
Close cooperation between the integrator and Rodovid Bank resulted in the creation of a modern disaster-proof complex based on two territorially distributed computing centres. To ensure maximum security of critical information, the complex was based on a distributed storage area network (DSAN). In addition, none of the two locations had a single point of failure—all important subsystems were redundant.
The DSAN itself was built on two IBM System Storage DS4700 M72 disk arrays and Brocade FC 20-port switches, located in the main and backup centres. In addition, three additional Exp810 disk space expansion modules were connected to each storage system.
Interaction between the locations was provided by DSAN. In addition, IBM TotalStorage 3573 tape libraries were used for Information Lifecycle Management (ILM).
For efficient consumption of computing resources and disk space at the bank’s computing centres, all applications (except Scrooge) were migrated to IBM BladeCenter H server platform. What makes BladeCenter H special is its support for simultaneous operation of blades with different processors (Intel Xeon, AMD Opteron, and IBM POWER).
Overall, the architecture of the computing centre was designed with rapid expansion in mind—new server chassis and storage systems could easily be added enabling the customer to eliminate scaling problems, at least for the next few years.
Two separate 4-processor servers were installed to run the automated banking system—IBM System x3850, each with 4-core Intel Xeon processors and 18 GB of RAM. The two systems were merged into a failover cluster and arranged in the same location.
Solutions
Base infrustructureResults
PJSC Rodovid Bank got a powerful, scalable, and highly reliable computing system. Additionally, optimisations at the computing centre released human resources and helped protect the bank’s investments in IT development.