Business need2xmoinscher.com wanted to

boost sales and revenue by

achieving a five-fold increase in

web transactions. It needed faster

performance and flexible storage.

Solution

The company worked with Dell

Partner SII to design a virtualized

environment based on Dell™

PowerEdge™ servers and Dell

EqualLogic storage, running

Windows Server® 2008 R2.

Benefits• Five times faster processing of

business transactions helps align

IT with business targets

• IT team efficiency improves and

services are deployed in hours

• Server footprint is reduced by more

than 50 per cent

• Scalable solution accommodates

up to three times more content

• Downtime is minimised with

virtualized infrastructure and

responsive support

Solution areas• Application and Platform

OS Migrations

• Intelligent Data Management

• Virtualization

Sales portal increases IT efficiency to drive growthOnline shopping site cuts datacentre space requirements by around 50 per cent and gains support for up to five times as many online transactions through virtualization

Customer profile

Company 2xmoinscher.com

Industry Retail & Wholesale

Country France

Employees 40

Website www.2xmoinscher.com

“ The website was designed with our business targets in mind, and, thanks to our Dell infrastructure, supports five times more transactions than the previous environment.” Olivier Macque, Production Manager, 2xmoinscher.com

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“ Previously, customers could post only one picture of the product they were selling, but thanks to our Dell SAN they can now post up to three pictures.” Olivier Macque, Production Manager, 2xmoinscher.com

The portal offers customers products at discounted prices, with the ease and convenience of online browsing and payment, and home delivery. Sellers use this e-commerce environment to advertise their goods. And 2xmoinscher.com, as a trusted third-party, manages the transactions between buyers and sellers, helping to protect all interests and ensure satisfactory outcomes.

2xmoinscher.com is owned by global online and catalogue shopping specialist 3 Suisses International Group. As traffic to the website steadily increased, so did the demands on its infrastructure. The group had ambitious plans to boost 2xmoinscher.com transactions five-fold and wanted to invest in virtualized IT to support this objective.

2xmoinscher.com gains right combination of technology and services2xmoinscher.com hosts its servers and storage at the company’s datacentre in Paris. The existing physical infrastructure was based on 40 Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers and three Dell EqualLogic storage area networks (SANs), running Windows Server® 2003 R2.

Olivier Macque, Production Manager at 2xmoinscher.com, says: “We knew that end-to-end virtualization would help us achieve the dynamic, low-cost storage infrastructure we needed to manage business growth. As we’re Dell- and Microsoft-trained, and very satisfied with the performance and reliability of our existing environment, it was a logical decision to virtualize with these trusted providers.”

The company approached SII – its Dell Partner of four years – to design a solution. “SII and Dell have a highly collaborative relationship. Both teams worked hard to understand our environment and challenges. We received fast responses to our questions, and in-depth information and advice,” says Macque.

Company safely tests virtualization As a first step, 2xmoinscher.com worked with SII to create a virtualized test environment consisting of one Dell EqualLogic PS6000XV SAN and three Dell PowerEdge R710 servers with Intel® Xeon® processors E5540, running Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with Hyper-V™ technology.

Macque says: “The trial run in our pre-production area went smoothly. It allowed us to test the deployment

At 2xmoinscher.com, customers can browse through and

buy a range of household and leisure products – from DVDs

to home decorations. In business, change is constant, so the

company’s 11-person IT team must ensure the site is up and

running 24/7, providing customers with up-to-the-minute

shopping experiences.

Technology in practice

Services

Dell Support Services

– Dell ProSupport™ with Mission Critical

Hardware

Dell™ PowerEdge™ R710 servers with Intel® Xeon® processors E5540

Dell EqualLogic PS6000XV storage area network

Software

Windows Server® 2008 R2 Enterprise

– Hyper-V™

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and scalability of a virtualized Dell EqualLogic and PowerEdge solution in a safe environment. As a result, we could familiarise ourselves with the technology without affecting the service provided to our users.”

Virtualization supports growth and availabilityIn the second phase of the project, 2xmoinscher.com extended virtualization to its live production environment. With SII, it put together an infrastructure made up of three Dell PowerEdge R710 servers with Intel® Xeon® processors E5540, connected to a Dell EqualLogic PS6000XV SAN. Hyper-V, part of Windows Server 2008 R2, provides server virtualization. “We chose Dell and Microsoft because we wanted to take advantage of a strong cooperative partnership,” says Macque.

The company decided on Dell PowerEdge R710 servers for their enhanced memory, increased virtualization performance and greater I/O capacity over the previous generation. “Our powerful Dell infrastructure lets us carry out the activities critical to customer service – such as quickly managing large numbers of transactions and growing volumes of customer data,” says Macque.

IT deploys services in hours, not weeksThe IT team works more effectively with its new servers due to the functionality of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise. The enhanced features of the updated operating system help the team manage critical applications and data on the servers more easily. “Our new Dell infrastructure with Hyper-V provides more consistent performance and simplifies management. Basic administrative tasks are less time consuming, which helps us increase productivity,” says Macque.

For example, with Hyper-V virtualization technology, IT personnel can move a virtual machine between two host servers without any disruption to service. And by using the Hyper-V Management Console, Macque and his team can perform day-to-day administrative tasks much faster.

Macque explains: “Before the deployment, it would have taken us several hours to deploy a server. We can now provision a virtual server in less than 30 minutes, which has allowed us to provide new web and IT services very quickly. We’ve freed up time that we can dedicate to other projects such as the deployment of a new emailing platform running on Cisco IronPort.”

Server footprint reduced by more than 50 per cent The IT team has gained valuable space to expand the infrastructure as business growth demands. Macque explains: “Previously, our 20 physical servers took up 20 units in the datacentre. Now, 20 virtual servers run on a cluster of three Dell PowerEdge servers. Coupled with our Dell EqualLogic SAN, we’re using just nine units in the datacentre. That cuts our space requirements by more than 50 per cent.”

2xmoinscher.com also reduces power consumption by around 50 per cent with its virtualized infrastructure. The PowerEdge R710 features Energy Smart technologies, which are designed to boost green efficiency.

Three times more content and better storage performanceAs an online marketplace, the 2xmoinscher.com website must offer reliable uptime and support large amounts of traffic. The Dell EqualLogic PS6000XV SAN is a highly scalable virtualized storage solution. Due to the capacity of the SAN and high-speed connectivity, employees can safely store and quickly access files.

“Previously, customers could post only one picture of the product they were selling, but thanks to our Dell SAN they can now post up to three pictures,” confirms Macque. “End users benefit from noticeably better performance with the Dell SAN, while we have a scalable solution that can meet our needs for years to come.”

“ Coupled with our Dell EqualLogic SAN, we’re using just nine units in the datacentre. That cuts our space requirements by more than 50 per cent.” Olivier Macque, Production Manager, 2xmoinscher.com

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Availability and terms of Dell Services vary by region. For more information, visit dell.com/servicedescriptions © June 2011, Dell Inc. Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Intel and Intel Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. This case study is for informational purposes only. DELL MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS CASE STUDY. Reference number: 10008953

View all Dell case studies at: dell.com/casestudies

“ SII and Dell have a highly collaborative relationship. Both teams worked hard to understand our environment and challenges.” Olivier Macque, Production Manager, 2xmoinscher.com

The SANs enable IT personnel to scale storage dynamically on demand. “The snapshot and replication features of our Dell EqualLogic SANs help us simplify storage administration and ensure high availability,” says Macque.

Site hosts five times more business transactionsWith its flexible, scalable IT infrastructure, the company can easily accommodate surges in demand, such as the lead up to Christmas or the January sales. “The website was designed with our business targets in mind, and, thanks to our Dell infrastructure, supports five times more transactions than the previous environment,” says Macque.

Company saves time and money with simplified licensing Hyper-V server virtualization and consolidation now provides highly available systems and applications that are part of the offering in Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise. Macque explains: “Hyper-V comes with Windows Server 2008 R2 in a single bundle, so it’s easier to manage, and we can keep licensing costs down.”

Downtime is minimised with responsive support services With Dell ProSupport™, the IT team has continuous access to Dell experts, helping to optimise the infrastructure’s performance. To protect its investment, 2xmoinscher.com chose Dell ProSupport with Mission Critical, through which Dell experts can be onsite within four hours.

About SIISII provides value-added engineering and IT solutions for large corporations from a range of industries, including telecommunications, defence, aerospace and finance. Founded in 1979, the company now has 41 branch offices in France and abroad, and more than 4,000 employees.

Olivier Macque, Production Manager, 2xmoinscher.com