Box Office Benefits With NAS
[Editor's note: This article originally appeared in Business Solutions magazine.]
United Artists Theatre Circuit was receiving so many error messages that they interfered with productivity. VAR Lewan & Associates stepped in with a NAS (network attached storage) system to reduce error messages and frustration for United Artists' system administrator.
United Artists Theatre Circuit, Inc. (UATC), headquartered in Englewood, CO, is one of the largest theatre circuits in the world. It has more than 2,000 screens and nearly 400 theatres. UATC was founded in 1926 by such Hollywood greats as Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and Samuel Goldwyn.
United Artists was getting error messages from its computers that its network drive was full. Hewlett-Packard's (HP) management software, OpenView alerts systems administrators to potential operating system problems. Information on the console details what's happening with whole WAN (wide area network). Whenever United Artists' systems administrators received the error messages, they'd have to figure out what was filling the drive so quickly. Then they would deal with each set of files individually.
VAR Ready With NAS
Derek R. Cluff is a senior systems sales representative for Lewan & Associates (Denver), a $128 million, 500 employee computer and copier reseller. Lewan & Associates has 40 engineers experienced with desktop-level to high-end UNIX, Novell, Linux, LAN (local area network) and WAN integration, from routers to servers.
"I'm their sales rep, and I understand their needs and pains," said Cluff. "We're a tight partner with HP, and we're privy to new products. I knew about the HP SureStore HD Server 4000 because beta testing was happening in the Denver area. I've been working with United Artists for four years now. Another client introduced us, and we worked out a sale within two months after our first meeting."
RAID: A Viable Alternative To Expensive Upgrades
"The customer was looking for a solution to add additional storage to its network," explained Cluff. "United Artists had a server populated with eight 18 GB hard drives. It was running a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) system. To purchase a new server with additional storage or to upgrade to 36 GB drives would have been costly. When United Artists needed more disk space, one solution was to upgrade the server, but NAS (network attached storage) is less expensive. I mentioned to the customer that HP's new product was coming out. United Artists didn't offer any resistance because it had many positive experiences with HP products. We installed an evaluation unit, and in three weeks, they decided to buy their own."
RAID Contains Kernel Operating System
"The Hewlett-Packard NAS solution was perfect because it was brought into a workgroup that required more storage. This solution sits on the network. It runs its own RAID and its own kernel operating system, separate from the network. The SureStore solution cost around $5,000. If United Artists had bought a new server and had upgraded its hard drives, they would have spent between $15,000 and $20,000."
The HP SureStore 4000 includes the software to run it. The United Artists installation was a joint effort among HP, Lewan & Associates, and United Artists. The evaluation unit was up in an hour. "We spent about two hours training the staff," said Cluff. "The only challenge we faced in the training was that the technology was so new. Having self-sufficient RAID is hard to grasp for end users. We had to tell them what it was designed to do."
Since the November 1999 installation, United Artists has experienced very few system problems. It was able to add storage, and the new unit has a 40 GB DAT (digital audio tape) drive. It performs its own backups, so there's much less frustration for the end user. For future upgrades, United Artists is looking at adding additional workgroup units, such as the finance department, to the NAS solution.
Ann DeDad
United Artists Theatre Circuit was receiving so many error messages that they interfered with productivity. VAR Lewan & Associates stepped in with a NAS (network attached storage) system to reduce error messages and frustration for United Artists' system administrator.
United Artists Theatre Circuit, Inc. (UATC), headquartered in Englewood, CO, is one of the largest theatre circuits in the world. It has more than 2,000 screens and nearly 400 theatres. UATC was founded in 1926 by such Hollywood greats as Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., and Samuel Goldwyn.
United Artists was getting error messages from its computers that its network drive was full. Hewlett-Packard's (HP) management software, OpenView alerts systems administrators to potential operating system problems. Information on the console details what's happening with whole WAN (wide area network). Whenever United Artists' systems administrators received the error messages, they'd have to figure out what was filling the drive so quickly. Then they would deal with each set of files individually.
VAR Ready With NAS
Derek R. Cluff is a senior systems sales representative for Lewan & Associates (Denver), a $128 million, 500 employee computer and copier reseller. Lewan & Associates has 40 engineers experienced with desktop-level to high-end UNIX, Novell, Linux, LAN (local area network) and WAN integration, from routers to servers.
"I'm their sales rep, and I understand their needs and pains," said Cluff. "We're a tight partner with HP, and we're privy to new products. I knew about the HP SureStore HD Server 4000 because beta testing was happening in the Denver area. I've been working with United Artists for four years now. Another client introduced us, and we worked out a sale within two months after our first meeting."
RAID: A Viable Alternative To Expensive Upgrades
"The customer was looking for a solution to add additional storage to its network," explained Cluff. "United Artists had a server populated with eight 18 GB hard drives. It was running a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) system. To purchase a new server with additional storage or to upgrade to 36 GB drives would have been costly. When United Artists needed more disk space, one solution was to upgrade the server, but NAS (network attached storage) is less expensive. I mentioned to the customer that HP's new product was coming out. United Artists didn't offer any resistance because it had many positive experiences with HP products. We installed an evaluation unit, and in three weeks, they decided to buy their own."
RAID Contains Kernel Operating System
"The Hewlett-Packard NAS solution was perfect because it was brought into a workgroup that required more storage. This solution sits on the network. It runs its own RAID and its own kernel operating system, separate from the network. The SureStore solution cost around $5,000. If United Artists had bought a new server and had upgraded its hard drives, they would have spent between $15,000 and $20,000."
The HP SureStore 4000 includes the software to run it. The United Artists installation was a joint effort among HP, Lewan & Associates, and United Artists. The evaluation unit was up in an hour. "We spent about two hours training the staff," said Cluff. "The only challenge we faced in the training was that the technology was so new. Having self-sufficient RAID is hard to grasp for end users. We had to tell them what it was designed to do."
Since the November 1999 installation, United Artists has experienced very few system problems. It was able to add storage, and the new unit has a 40 GB DAT (digital audio tape) drive. It performs its own backups, so there's much less frustration for the end user. For future upgrades, United Artists is looking at adding additional workgroup units, such as the finance department, to the NAS solution.
Ann DeDad
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