Disaster Recovery Project Milestones
- At Swansea University, permission has been gained to move key server and storage equipment into the same area as the supercomputer (“Blue C”) which provides a much higher standard of environment in terms of cooling. Work is in progress to redeploy equipment appropriately between this room and the existing machine rooms run by LIS and ACU.
- Swansea University LIS and ACU have successfully connected their two previously independent SANs into one integrated solution allowing duplication and backup to occur between their multiple storage arrays.
- Swansea University LIS is now hosting Blackboard for the SWWHEP e-learning project, PebblePad for the SWWHEP careers project) and SFX for the SWWHEP Library Services project for all three SWWHEP partners. As a spin off from this LIS is also now hosting another Blackboard system for the CWMHE project. ACU is also currently hosting a number of systems for a number of the SWWHEP projects.
- Swansea University LIS and ACU are now working to integrate their two VMware deployments into a single solution in order to further maximise flexibility.
- So far approx three quarters or more of Swansea University's LIS and ACU server estate is now virtualized
- Options are being explored to replicate backup data using mirrored disk arrays between Swansea University and a machine room at Swansea Metropolitan
- As a result of the raised levels of cooperation between the two departments of LIS and ACU, a further local project has been started using external consultants from Salford Software, to integrate the LIS and ACU Active Directory domains, Exchange systems and Desktop deployment.
- Also as a result of the improved infrastructure the Swansea University School of Health Science is now working closely with the LIS/ACU teams to virtualize their own AD/Exchange environment with an eye on the possibility of merging their environment into the joint LIS/ACU system currently under development.
- In conjunction with Swansea Metropolitan, Swansea University LIS,ACU and SHS have been trailing alternative backup products including Microsoft Data Protector and the Veeam Backup and Replication product in order to provide better backups that are available from their current products.
- At Swansea Metropolitan University a new machine room has been provisioned at the Townhill site.
- A HP EVA4400 and some HP blade servers have been installed in the new machine room which provides the platform for SMU’s VMware deployment.
- SMU are now using their older HP MSA1000 storage array at their other site to provide a DR facility as well as off site disk based backup.
