Inland Power and Light Company Virtualizes Operations, Improves Performance and Lowers Costs with Mainline Solution

As one of more than 900 cooperatives created during the New Deal to bring electric power service to rural areas in the United States, Inland Power and Light Company (Inland) provided its first customers with electricity in 1938 in Spokane, Washington.

Publicly controlled by resident members, Inland provided inexpensive electricity from local hydroelectric sources that helped fuel the business and population growth of the area. Inland serves 38,000 commercial and residential members in 13 counties in eastern Washington and Northern Idaho, and is the largest electric cooperative in Washington State.

The Challenge

John Francisco, IT Manager, is responsible for keeping Inland's IT operations up-to-date. Along with Chris Cable, Applications Support Specialist, he was exploring the options for adding memory and enhancing the performance of an aging IBM i520 server. They found Mainline Information Systems, an IBM Premier Business Partner, on the Web and were impressed with the technical knowledge of the systems engineer who responded. After an assessment, Mainline recommended doubling the storage capacity and the memory of the system to enhance performance.

Once the upgrade was completed, Francisco and Cable turned their attention to a number of servers that were not operating at optimal capacity. They were concerned that their hardware was not up to date, and wanted to virtualize their servers. They also wanted to better manage the hardware expenses from quarter to quarter.

"We were talking to two vendors and were not considering an IBM solution. Inland's procurement policy required us to get other quotes, so we called Mainline. The Mainline team conducted an assessment, reviewed our requirements and came back with a solution," Cable explained.

"We decided that the Mainline/IBM solution was the best because of cost, support offered and the virtualization management features," added Francisco. "We realized that it was what we were looking for."

The Solution

The virtualization solution included VM vCenter™ virtualization software, three IBM System x3650 servers, and an IBM System Storage - DS3500 Express^®.

VMware vCenter^TM ESXI
VMware vCenter Operations is tightly integrated with VMware vSphere and designed for dynamic environments to dramatically simplify and automate operations management. The VMware vCenter integrated approach is based on patented analytics to provide the intelligence and visibility needed to proactively ensure service levels in virtual and cloud environments. It eliminates manual effort for automated operations management, proactively manages virtual infrastructure performance, ensures operational and regulatory compliance and provides optimal resource utilization through comprehensive capacity management. Users typically achieve 15% to 80% utilization improvements and run 3-5 times more VMs on the same hardware by reclaiming under-used capacity.

IBM System x3650 M2
The IBM System x3650, an Intel-based Zeon Quad Core server with four 300GB hard drives, provides robust and proven technology and a flexible, energy-smart design that provides optimal computing performance per watt. It improves service with resilient architecture and a flexible design that is easy to deploy, integrate and manage. It is also designed to provide leading virtualization capabilities. These servers offer exceptional memory capacity per core, as well as high performance and reliability. Energy-efficient processors, faster memory and new integrated solutions help manage growth and complexity, and make it easier to manage resources.

IBM System Storage^® DS3500 Express^®
This storage subsystem combines best-of-breed development with leading 6 Gbps host interface and drive technology. It is designed to offer scalability to midrange performance and features starting at entry-level prices. It reduces annual energy expenditures and environmental footprint and has the perfect combination of robustness and ease-of-use for simplicity without sacrificing control.

The Result

"The Mainline staff was really knowledgeable, and we got more value out of the purchase because of the additional changes that were recommended. They provided the best solution based on our needs, including on-site/off-site storage, utilization improvements and easier system management," Francisco said.

"The Mainline team was available to us when we decided to do our own implementation and they were always checking in to make sure we were comfortable with what we bought," Cable observed. "Mainline met and exceeded our goals," he concluded.

For more information about this solution, call your Mainline account representative or call Mainline directly at 866.490.MAIN(6246) or complete our contact us form.