realTech AG and Abbey National see business benefits from Unisys ES7000 and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server

realTech AG and Abbey National, users of the Unisys e-@ction Enterprise Server ES7000 running Microsoft`s Windows 2000 Datacenter Server operating system, have begun to realize tangible operational improvements from this combination of advanced technologies. The companies cited key benefits including improved flexibility in resource management, simplified system administration, superior scalability and higher availability of critical software solutions.

realTech and Abbey National are participants in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Joint Development Program. The program is designed to give selected users of high-end enterprise computing solutions experience in evaluating and testing Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, Microsoft`s operating system for handling the most demanding levels of availability and scalability.

"Within a very short period of time, realTech and Abbey National provided solid, well-documented evidence that Microsoft and Unisys are bringing the advantages of Windows-based computing to the highest levels of the enterprise," said Peter Samson, vice president and general manager, Unisys Enterprise Server Business. "Both companies tackled challenges that until recently could be addressed only by mainframes or large, costly UNIX systems. Now, realTech and Abbey National have demonstrated the cost savings and administrative flexibility made possible by consolidating the workloads of smaller servers into a high-capacity centralized environment. We are extremely impressed with their effort and the results they have demonstrated."

realTech: controlling costs and improving resource management for mySAP.com applications

Based in Walldorf, Germany, realTech AG provides technology consulting and software solutions, and is a premier application service provider (ASP), giving clients access to mySAP.com solutions over the Internet. In its tests of the Unisys ES7000 running Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, realTech demonstrated the advantages of consolidating multiple SAP R/3-based solutions and Microsoft`s SQL Server 2000 database in a single platform.

As an ASP, realTech often experiences unforeseen increases in demand for a particular mySAP.com function that may tax the performance of processors running the solution. In a conventional client/server environment with a large number of smaller servers, realTech would maintain consistent performance by upgrading a server or moving the solution to a different machine.

Equipped with the ES7000 and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, however, realTech was able to approach the challenge with a third solution: shift processors within an ES7000 that may have previously been assigned to an underutilized instance of a mySAP.com application to be available to the application experiencing the increased workload. This was made possible by the Job Object Manager capability of Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, working in conjunction with ES7000 software features for resource allocation.

This solution yielded multiple benefits. First, the need to manage one server instead of many simplified systems administration and reduced operating costs. Second, realTech was able to reassign processors from underutilized tasks to those in high demand by users, rather than allowing the processors to remain idle as they would on separate smaller servers. And most importantly, consistent performance and, consequently, uninterrupted service to users was maintained.

"Windows 2000 Datacenter Server on the Unisys ES7000 enables us to size mySAP.com solutions to suit individual performance requirements, while consolidating our server infrastructure," said Rainer Schmidt, chief operating officer, realTech AG. "These technologies enabled us to manage systems resources with the flexibility needed to fulfill our customers` rapidly changing requirements. The resulting improved capacity, availability and flexibility enable our customers to expand their SAP-based solutions and use them more efficiently to meet their business requirements."

Abbey National aims for 15 to 1 consolidation - new system enables over five million database insertions per day Abbey National, the leading UK full-service bank, has today announced that it is in the process of consolidating 15 Microsoft NT Server 4.0 machines to just one Unisys ES7000 using Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server.

The solution, which also features over two terabytes of disk storage from Unisys partner EMC, has been on trial at Abbey National since June. Throughout the evaluation period, the ES7000 and Windows Datacenter Server have been subjected to exhaustive lab testing and live work. Greg Walker, Manager of the Enterprise NT Group, Abbey National, said, "We undertook some of the testing at Microsoft`s labs in Redmond where we pushed the system to its limits. The live testing has proved that our consolidation strategy works in the real world."

Walker is also enthusiastic about the benefits brought by the Joint Development Partnership (JDP) with Microsoft and Unisys: "Through the JDP we have been able to demonstrate that it is possible to run different business applications in a single operating system image."

Abbey National is the fifth largest full-service retail bank in the UK. With over 16 million customers and various business units, there are many different IT requirements. This has resulted in an infrastructure that comprises a variety of platforms and operating systems.

To help consolidate this mixed environment, Abbey National has implemented a 16-processor Unisys ES7000 containing a single image of the operating system. Within this, the bank is running Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Exchange 5.5 Server and an Oracle database, with more applications scheduled to be added soon.

Brian Hadfield, vice president and general manager for Unisys UK/Middle East/Africa and India, added, "By implementing the ES7000 enterprise server, Abbey National will reduce its number of Microsoft NT Server 4.0 machines by a ratio of at least 15 to 1. Just one ES7000 will handle the same amount of work as 15 NT servers."

Along with a high ratio of consolidation, Abbey National also anticipates a higher level of availability, scalability and flexibility than was previously possible: "We expect the ES7000 / Datacenter system to provide 99.9 per cent availability," said Walker.

Walker is confident that the consolidated ES7000 / Datacenter combination will yield significant cost savings: "We have conducted a detailed study of the cost of ownership, which has reinforced what has always been our belief: consolidation, if carefully implemented, will yield savings within three years."

Abbey National has a longstanding relationship with both Unisys and Microsoft. The company is user of Windows NT 4.0 and Unisys mainframe computers. "The project has been a great three-way relationship among Unisys, Abbey National and Microsoft, a partnership that makes us very excited about what the future will hold," concluded Walker.