Data storage giant EMC and server maker Fujitsu Siemens are demonstrating what is said to be the world’s first failover and recovery of an entire SAP ERP (enterprise resource planning) application over a distance of 6,000 miles.
The demo, taking place since yesterday and continuing today, uses an 11Mbps link between EMC’s operations in Cork and the company’s headquarters in Massachusetts. In an event the two firms have likened to Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic, the failover and recovery of an entire ERP application will be conducted on EMC’s SRDFA/Asynchronous remote application software, its Symmetrix DMX GigE storage system and Fujitsu Siemens’ high availability PrimeCluster system.
According to Dr Helmut Beck of Fujitsu Siemens, the new long distance capability allows companies to make more efficient use of existing information and communications infrastructures and is particularly relevant to multinationals that want to be able to continue to operate non-stop despite unforeseen events.
“We were able to conduct the entire transfer within six minutes whereby in a planned interruption a second machine 6,000 miles across the Atlantic was up and running and carrying on as if nothing had happened,” Dr Beck said.
“Many companies around the world require this capability more and more because of recent geo-political events, especially companies in the financial services industry. Not every application needs this service level, but in terms of real-time finance it is essential.”
Dr Beck added that the solution also appeals to cost-conscious organisations. “In terms of bandwidth, to this kind of bandwidth, firms always need to predict the size of bandwidth they need and keep their communications lines at peak performance. With this application you just have to size it to the average performance of communications lines and this means a significant cost saving to organizations,” he said.
“With this capability we can do a complete re-launch of an SAP environment or Oracle database within six minutes. A world first in an asynchronous networking environment,” Dr Beck claimed.
By John Kennedy
