NORDSEE-ZEITUNG GmbH – Innovative Pure Storage as a Service puts the wind in the sails of NORDSEE-ZEITUNG.

NORDSEE-ZEITUNG keeps its readers up to date around the clock—online, in its traditional newspaper format and as an e-paper available on any end device. The editorial team is always on its toes, providing in-depth analyses and astute commentary on the events in the world and along Germany’s North Sea coast. To make sure this service is available 24/7, Bechtle equipped NORDSEE-ZEITUNG with an innovative, future-proof and highly efficient storage solution by Pure Storage, keeping the data safe and the latest news accessible at all times.

Project details.

Services

Server & Storage

Industry

ITC / Media

Manufacturer

Pure Storage

Company size

250 – 1,500 employees

Challenge.

Germany’s NORDSEE-ZEITUNG is so much more than a local daily newspaper. It reports on the lives and daily goings on in the seaside town of Bremerhaven, the region around Cuxhaven, the north, the rest of the country and around the world, telling the stories behind the events, unravelling complexities and offering relevant editorials. The reporters on the payroll are dedicated to local journalism—a valuable asset which the NORDSEE-ZEITUNG wants to bolster into the future, regardless of the medium. Day or night, readers can get all the latest news online, but to ensure the website, e-paper and NORDSEE-ZEITUNG’s other digital services are always available, the IT infrastructure also needs to be up to scratch. When the existing Storage Area Network (SAN) and dual-site DataCore storage cluster were stretching thin, NORDSEE-ZEITUNG went looking for a new and innovative solution that would have to be as efficient as it is scalable. With advanced SAN technology deployed in both data centres, automation and streamlined operation, the paper wanted to keep administrative overhead at a minimum. At the same time, the future solution should seamlessly integrate with the existing VMware environment and of course meet the organisation’s stringent security requirements. With a new primary storage setup using robust, immutable snapshot technology and synchronous replication, the company wanted to optimally mitigate the risks of an unexpected system failure and build up a strong line of defence against ransomware.

By switching us to Pure Storage Evergreen//One™, Bechtle has achieved a meaningful modernisation and optimisation of our IT infrastructure. The results not only speak to Bechtle as an excellent IT partner, but also to the reliability of our new Pure Storage solution. Evergreen//One™ ensures safe operations of all our systems, is easy to use, and gives us clear visibility into our environment.

Martin Köcher, Head of IT, NORDSEE-ZEITUNG GmbH

Solution.

Through extensive evaluation workshops with Bechtle, the paper’s long-standing IT partner, NORDSEE-ZEITUNG made the decision to deploy a solution by Pure Storage. Combining multiple FlashArray//X50RS units with an active-active cluster, Bechtle tailored a SAN that offers continuous and synchronous data replication between the two main data centres plus hardened backups off-site in a third to ensure maximum resilience and guarantee robust protection against data loss in the event of unexpected incidents or cyber attacks. Instead of a significant one-off capital expense for the required hardware, NORDSEE-ZEITUNG chose to take advantage of Pure Storage’s Evergreen//One™ Storage as a service (STaaS) model, which was also offered by Bechtle. This allows the daily to simply scale storage capacity as needed with monthly payments never exceeding what it actually consumed, and avoid a considerable upfront investment for a new storage infrastructure in favour of a 5-year OpEX budget. This makes IT budgeting overall more effective, while at the same time enabling the media house to quickly respond to changing storage needs. For the icing on the cake, Bechtle deployed the Pure Storage FlashArrays and the active-active cluster for NORDSEE-ZEITUNG with zero disruptions to ongoing operations.

Business benefits.

With the new Pure Storage solution deployed by Bechtle, NORDSEE-ZEITUNG now has a much improved and highly innovative storage system in place. The all-flash systems and advanced deduplication technology by Pure Storage accelerate data retrieval and optimise data processing, meaning users can access, save and recover data much faster. Doing away with the extra Windows Server licences that were required for the previous SAN installation also reduces costs. The OpEx cost model ties in with NORDSEE-ZEITUNG’s dynamic financial planning as it eliminates the need for a significant CapEx investment in favour of a consistent monthly operational expense. This enables the publisher to quickly scale capacities along with evolving storage needs without the need to build and tie up funds in advance.

Safe Mode snapshots integrated in Pure Storage ensure secure operations, protecting against ransomware while transparent failover between arrays in the active-active cluster helps minimise downtime. Pure Storage Evergreen//One™ also means that NORDSEE-ZEITUNG can rely on Pure Storage and Bechtle to manage their new technology together. Continuous technology updates provided by Pure Storage and the possibility to expand the systems as and when this becomes necessary keep the investment protected for the long term and significantly reduce the organisation’s administrative overhead.