“It was a no-brainer to go to the new IBM POWER7 i server. The yearly maintenance costs on our old 9406-520 had risen to the point where for about the same dollars on an IBM lease, we could get a newer, faster server.”
“I would recommend Source Data Products. I have been working with them for a while. Source Data has taken good care of us. One of the things we do at D&B is we are really, really big on customer service. We make sure we take care of our customer. I feel like I get the same customer service from Source Data that our customers expect from us.”
Background
D&B Supply is a Farm and Ranch Store, founded in 1959 when a couple of fellows named Dutch and Bud set up a farming wholesale store in the rural town of Caldwell, Idaho. D&B supplies the country lifestyle, providing good quality products at honest prices.
From the beginning, D&B Supply was a one-stop shop for everything you needed to keep your farm running. Over time, D&B expanded and now operates12 stores in Oregon and Idaho. Like the original Caldwell location, every store is stocked to supply the country way of life.
D&B’s customers are independent farmers, ranchers and owners of small acreage. They are tradesmen, pet owners, gardeners, rodeo fans and homemakers—just about anyone that loves the Western standard of living.
Legacy HWMA & SWMA? Or New IBM 8202-E4C? IBM POWER i Superior Value
D&B Supply’s VP of IT and Marketing is Joe Masar. He supports 300 users with JDA. When Joe reviewed his proposed 2013 IBM hardware and software support for his legacy 9406-520 at V5R4 compared to a new IBM 8202-E4C, “It was a no-brainer to go to the new IBM POWER7 i server. The yearly maintenance costs on our old 9406-520 had risen to the point where for about the same dollars on an IBM lease, we could get a newer, faster server.”
Source Data Preloads V7R1 Upgrade On New POWER7 For Smooth Migration
Joe remembers as part of the total proposal, Source Data would upgrade his system to V7R1 and preload it on his new POWER7.
“This has been really easy. We sent a backup tape to Source Data’s tech, Mark Breisacher. He got everything set up. Got all of our objects converted to V7R1. There might have been about three objects that did not convert the initial time. But they did the second time – that was it.”
Remote Access and Testing With IP Address Validates System Before Install
“Then Mark got us an IP address so we could access our new POWER7 at the Source Data tech center and do some testing. We got on the system and went through a couple of applications. Everything seemed to work fine.”
Software Support Company Review Before Go Live
“We even had our JDA software support company access our system. They got in and walked around a few things to make sure everything was good to them. And that was pretty much it.”
Saturday POWER i Setup … Done In 3 Hours
Joe continues, “So on Saturday, we backed up our 9406-520 system on our new Virtual Tape Library. Once we had our new VTL attached to our 8202, the setup was very quick from there. Mark came in on Saturday around noon. He started the restore to our new POWER7 i and was finished by about 3:00. So we had the entire thing restored, all the objects converted and the permissions set up in less than 3 hours. Everything came up correctly the first time.”
Love Virtual Tape Drive (VTL) – Backups 250% Faster
Joe raves about the Virtual Tape Drive (VTL). “I love the VTL. We do backups in 17 minutes, down from 45 minutes – better than 250% performance improvement. And Jeremy, my assistant, has been working with the Cloud400 to set up our Recover400 replication backup for our disaster recovery program.”
Recover 400 Is Affordable Disaster Recovery
Joe adds, “We are really excited about Recover400 for our disaster recovery. It’s simple and cost-effective. Daily our VTL de-duplicates our backup then replicates a copy to Cloud400’s VTL. That way, if we need to recover fast from unexpected downtime, Cloud400 can set up a virtual server with my system in less than 12 hours. Now I have an affordable DR plan as well as instant access to on-premise backup.”
IBM Lease: POWER7 i And VTL For DR – Less Than 9406-520 IBM Support
Joe continues, “With an IBM lease, we were able to get a new IBM POWER7 i server and the VTL for our Recover400 disaster recovery plan for just a little more than what we would have paid for our 9406-520 IBM support. This worked out great.”
“Smoothest Upgrade I’ve Had”
Thinking about how this project went, Joe explains “You know, everything went pretty smooth. As far as upgrades have gone, this has been pretty nice. I think this is the smoothest one we’ve done.”
D&B Supply Recommends Source Data Products
“I would recommend Source Data Products. I have been working with them for a while. Source Data has taken good care of us. One of the things we do at D&B is we are really, really big on customer service. We make sure we take care of our customer. I feel like I get the same customer service from Source Data that our customers expect from us.”