Storage Solutions: NetApp StoreVault Solves Brewing Storage Problem For Specialty Tea Retailer Teavana
StoreVault, a NetApp division, recently announced that Teavana, a specialty tea retailer, handpicked the StoreVault S500 to efficiently manage its staggering data increase and improve its backup and recovery processes.
Teavana provides fresh, high-quality, loose-leaf tea and tea accessories from all over the world. The company's business was rapidly outgrowing its current server and storage requirements as Teavana transformed its entire IT infrastructure to a paperless system. In a span of six months, Teavana grew from 2 to 10 servers and pushed their disk capacity from a mere 50GB of data to 400GB. This explosion of data quickly created a shortage of network storage space.
"The rate at which we were scanning all of our documents and images and creating PDF files led to low network storage space almost overnight," said David Eshelman, IT manager with Teavana. "We were using a temporary solution for handling storage growth, but the CIFS performance was poor, and adding drives required replacing old drives with bigger drives."
Not only was Teavana reaching its storage capacity limits, but the company also had a major challenge brewing with their backup and recovery processes. Backups were managed manually by an external company that took up to 12 hours, crippling normal business operations because applications needed to be shut down during backups. Backups were also infrequent, performed only five days a week instead of daily.
"Teavana needed a storage solution that would be more reliable and provide more room to grow without downtime," said Mark Scofield, partner with STA Network Accounting Systems, a StoreVault VAR based in Atlanta. "StoreVault provided a rich feature set from a proven storage leader in NetApp. Not to mention that the installation and setup worked just as advertised. We had the StoreVault S500 installed and configured in under an hour. It truly was a plug-and-play experience."
Teavana migrated all critical network data on two StoreVault units so that storage volumes can be added or expanded on the fly without having to take the servers down for maintenance. As a result, Teavana can increase storage in just a few minutes and no longer has to order new drives as a means of capacity planning. Also, all their data is now replicated from one StoreVault solution to another so that in case of a disaster, recovery data can be recovered quickly and efficiently.
Backup and restore processes were also improved with automatic schedules that are very reliable. NetApp Snapshot™ technology provides point-in-time images of the entire file system that can be recorded instantly with no disruption of applications or performance. These images also enable instantaneous recovery of individual files, directories, or even the entire file system. With improved backup, Teavana lowered its IT costs by eliminating the need for third-party services and reducing hard drive and application and server downtime requirements.
"Just like any IT department, Teavana was challenged to do more with less while continuing to keep the business running," said Sajai Krishnan, general manager of StoreVault. "In the end, performance and price were a major consideration for Teavana. We were able to meet their needs with a solution that is feature rich for the price and provides Teavana room to grow as their business continues to take off."
The StoreVault S500 is a scalable all-in-one networked storage appliance that is customized for SMBs at a price point that fits SMB budgets. With its intuitive Windows graphical user interface, the StoreVault S500 is easy to install and simple to manage, while providing enterprise-class networked storage functionality. The StoreVault S500 has been deployed across a wide range of industries to solve the growing customer challenges of data growth, data protection, and data management.
About StoreVault
StoreVault, a NetApp division, is focused on delivering data storage solutions tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. StoreVault combines enterprise-proven technology from Network Appliance, a world leader in unified storage solutions for today's data-intensive enterprise, with the scalability, simplicity, security, and affordability required by SMBs. Information about StoreVault solutions and resellers is available at www.storevault.com.
About Network Appliance
Network Appliance is a leading provider of innovative data management solutions that simplify the complexities of storing, managing, protecting, and retaining enterprise data. Market leaders around the world choose NetApp to help them reduce cost, minimize risk, and adapt to change. For solutions that deliver simplicity and value, visit us on the Web at www.netapp.com.
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SOURCE: StoreVault