The Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) deployed a total of 12 IBM BladeCenter servers with Intel Xeon processors, 6 of which run VMware vSphere virtualization software, and is now migrating old physical servers to virtual machines. The new infrastructure is between four and seven times more compact and efficient, SRC can deploy a new server in one hour rather than the four or five hours previously needed and administrative costs had decreased.

1. IBM Systems and Technology Electronics
Case Study
SRC cuts hardware and
administration costs
With IBM BladeCenter servers using VMware
virtualization
Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) is the world’s leading
Overview technology research consortium. Created in 1982 to boost the
contributions of university research for the semiconductor industry,
The need
SRC has nearly 20 member companies at any given time and has built a
With limited staff resources and growing network with more than 250 top universities worldwide. Operating
IT needs, SRC wanted a more compact
and efficient infrastructure that would multiple low-overhead research programs both in the U.S. and globally
require less management while offering that engage and challenge the most talented students, SRC helps to
greater scalability and responsiveness. provide competitive advantage to its members. In 2005, SRC was the
The solution recipient of the prestigious National Medal of Technology®.
SRC deployed a total of 12 IBM®
BladeCenter® servers with Intel® Xeon® Despite its global reach, SRC is a small organization, employing just
processors, 6 of which run VMware 44 people to direct and sponsor a complex set of research programs using
vSphere virtualization software, and is an advanced knowledge management system. There is continual pressure
now migrating old physical servers to
virtual machines. to do more with less, keeping administrative costs to a minimum in order
to deliver the maximum possible research benefit for the SRC’s member
The benefit companies.
New infrastructure is between four and
seven times more compact and efficient;
“The small headcount in our organization means that we are dependent
SRC can deploy a new server in one
hour rather than the four or five hours on efficient and reliable technology to deliver value for our clients,”
previously needed; lower administrative says Michael Sullivan, systems administrator at SRC. “As we added new
costs. features to our internal management systems and external websites, we
were adding new physical servers, putting pressure on space and costs in
our data center.”
Maximizing utilization
An expanding set of research activities, coupled with increasing demands
from clients for new web functionality and reporting, had caused the
IT infrastructure at SRC to grow. From its beginnings as a single-server
system, the website had split into multiple database servers, web servers,
development servers and staging servers—each running on a different
physical machine. This meant a significant capital investment in
hardware and high operational costs in power and cooling. Much of
this expenditure was effectively wasted, as the average utilization of
computing resources was between two and five percent.

2. IBM Systems and Technology Electronics
Case Study
“We were under increasing pressure to maximize returns from our
investment in technology, and the obvious answer was to move to a
“BladeCenter and virtualized environment that would increase utilization and shrink the
VMware work really physical landscape,” says Sullivan. “IBM BladeCenter solved our
immediate needs and gave us a path to grow into.”
well together, giving
us greater flexibility SRC considered blade solutions from HP, Dell and IBM, and concluded
and better insight into that IBM BladeCenter was the most mature technology. “Another
important factor was IBM’s reputation for quality and support,” recalls
the infrastructure.” Sullivan. “We worked directly with IBM to deploy the BladeCenter
and the new SAN—they were outstanding, helping us to get to grips
—Michael Sullivan, systems administrator quickly with what was a completely new technology concept for us.”
at SRC
Made for virtualization
SRC deployed a BladeCenter E chassis with ten BladeCenter blade
servers for its internal systems, and a BladeCenter S chassis with one
HS22 blade and one HX5 blade for web services. An IBM System
Storage® DS3400 with an EXP3000 expansion unit provides central
storage resources for all the blade servers, replacing the previous direct-
attached architecture. In addition to deploying all new systems as virtual
servers on the blades, SRC is steadily migrating its existing physical
servers to virtual servers, then retiring the old hardware.
Six of the blades run VMware vSphere 4.1, booting from local drives
but with the virtual machines themselves (primarily Microsoft Windows
Server, with some Linux) stored on the SAN. “We were using VMware
ESX Server previously,” says Sullivan. “BladeCenter and VMware work
really well together, giving us greater flexibility and better insight into the
infrastructure.”
The new HX5 blade server used in the solution has two Intel Xeon
Processor L7555 processors, each with eight cores running at 1.86 GHz
and featuring Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x). “We’re very
comfortable with Intel technologies, and we like to have the same
processor vendor throughout the infrastructure,” says Sullivan. “The
built-in virtualization features make the Xeon processors an ideal fit for
our VMware landscape. The HX5 currently runs seven virtual servers and
gives us plenty of headroom, so we can easily use VMware vMotion to
move live virtual machines over if we need to shut down another physical
host for maintenance.”
2

3. IBM Systems and Technology Electronics
Case Study
Compact and easy
Solution components: Virtualizing to IBM BladeCenter enabled SRC to achieve a consolidation
ratio of 4-to-1, moving the workload of four older servers to each
Hardware
IBM blade, freeing up valuable floorspace and cutting the organization’s
● IBM® BladeCenter® HX5, HS22, HS21
● IBM BladeCenter E and S chassis
energy costs. The consolidation ratio is even greater for the newer
● IBM System Storage® DS3400, BladeCenter HX5 blade, at 7-to-1. BladeCenter also provides far greater
EXP3000 flexibility and scalability, while simultaneously cutting the cost and
● Intel® Xeon® processors
complexity of server management.
Software
● VMware vSphere 4.1 “With BladeCenter, we can add more hardware resources by simply
● Microsoft Windows Server 2000, pushing a new blade into the slot,” says Sullivan. “To fire up new virtual
2003, 2008 servers is also fast and easy. We install VMware vSphere, then deploy a
virtual machine from a gold template managed by VMware vCenter.
Setting up a complete new blade server with a new virtual machine
would take perhaps one hour, including the time to install firmware and
driver updates. In our previous environment, it would have taken four or
five hours to complete the equivalent tasks.”
The combination of VMware vCenter and IBM Director gives SRC a
single point of control for virtual and physical resources respectively,
making it easier to keep systems in optimal condition. “In the past, we
had to download and apply patches for each server individually,” says
Sullivan. “We now use IBM UpdateXpress to apply firmware updates
and patches for VMware and Windows from a central repository. We can
also remotely manage the BladeCenter hardware, even powering servers
off and on—which means we avoid ever having to come back into the
data center on weekends!”
Sullivan also credits IBM support in reducing the administrative workload
for SRC: “On the occasions I need support, I don’t have to start from the
very beginning. I call, say where I am, and off we go—that’s hours saved.
The IBM support teams are knowledgeable, quick to get to the heart of
the issue, and quick to provide the right solution rather than trying to
make me work around the problem.”
He concludes, “Our BladeCenter and VMware infrastructure enables us
to run more services on less hardware, and saves considerable time and
effort in management. This means that we can focus more investment
and resources on our core activities and on supporting our clients.”
3

4. For more information
Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner,
or visit us at: ibm.com/systems/bladecenter
For more information about SRC visit: src.org
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