Paessler AG – Fast expansion, fast IT: PAESSLER renews data centre

Paessler AG – Fast expansion, fast IT – PAESSLER renews data centre.

PAESSLER AG develops software that monitors and analyses networks and IT infrastructures. These solutions guarantee high availability and performance of complex IT, OT and IoT infrastructures for small companies to large corporations. In order to keep in step with its own growth, PAESSLER was faced with the task of renewing its IT environment. Bechtle updated the data centre that is now running Dell PowerStore storage systems, new Dell PowerEdge servers and Fortinet firewalls. The company’s developers are working on a VMware Tanzu platform that manages containers and Kubernetes clusters.

Project details.

Services

IT Security
Server & Storage

Industry

ITC / Media

Manufacturer

Dell, VMware, Veeam

Company size

250 – 1,500 employees

Challenge.

PAESSLER AG is a leading provider for network monitoring software. With their solution, Paessler PRTG, companies can monitor and optimise the performance and resources of their IT, OT and IoT infrastructures. The software monitors network and server systems in real-time and hence recognises problems before they occur. PAESSLER AG wanted to completely replace its data centre—out with the old and in with the new. This was complicated by numerous developers working on scalable IT monitoring tools at PAESSLER’s Nuremberg head office, not only demanding a stable and fast IT environment but also requiring a scalable, containerised environment in which to create, deploy and manage their applications. The goal of the refresh was therefore to replace the existing 3-tier architecture and equip the data centre with new servers, storage systems and firewalls. Furthermore, PAESSLER was looking for a new environment for their developers based on a Kubernetes cluster.

In Bechtle, we found a reliable and competent partner for our project. We got great support throughout the entire process and things turned out to be a huge success. We consider Bechtle a likely candidate for future services.

Markus Kienel, Team Manager IT, Paessler AG – The Monitoring Experts

Solution.

Bechtle replaced the components in the PAESSLER data centre virtually one to one with futureproof technologies. Bechtle also installed a VMware vSAN software-defined storage solution as the IT environment, which allows PAESSLER to benefit from higher computing power, faster data processing, scalability and easy central management with VMware vSphere software. In addition, Bechtle implemented a Fortinet Next-Gen Firewall which provides comprehensive security functions for PAESSLER’s network. In addition to the firewall, the Fortinet solution also gives the development company access to VPN, IPS, anti-virus, anti-spam, web filtering and intrusion prevention system (IPS) features in a single device.

PAESSLER’s entire IT system is secured by a Dell PowerStore storage appliance newly installed by Bechtle as a backup solution, offering block, file and VMware Virtual Volumes (vVols) storage in one. The data backup was performed with Veeam Backup & Replication Enterprise. This means that PAESSLER is now able to save all of its data and applications not only in one physical environment, but that virtual and cloud-based networks are also backed up and restored with Veeam.

Bechtle also had a fitting solution for the new development environment—VMware Tanzu Kubernetes, a platform for managing containers. As a VMware Pinnacle Partner, Bechtle has attained the highest partner status at VMware and hence has extensive knowledge to offer on the topic. In the framework of a Proof of Concept (PoC), Bechtle demonstrated to the PAESSLER developers the advantages of VMware Tanzu, which simplifies managing Kubernetes clusters. This enables the some 350 employees to automatically publish and expand on applications easier, which saves a lot of time for development. VMware Tanzu also enhances the collaboration in developer teams. For licence purposes, Bechtle recommended that PAESSLER integrate Tanzu as a development environment in VMware Cloud Foundation. The consistent infrastructure spans multiple cloud environments, allowing PAESSLER to expand it across further environments as required.

Business benefits.

Thanks to Bechtle’s expertise, its highest VMware partner status, and the close collaboration with other manufacturers, the project was a successful joint effort. PAESSLER received a new and modern data centre platform from Bechtle. Their developers around the world now work with the VMware Tanzu Kubernetes platform, which Bechtle has integrated into VMware Cloud Foundation on a sustainable and centralised development environment. This simplifies the development, scaling and provision of PAESSLER’s applications, saving their developers a lot of time and resources.