The Research Foundation of State University of New York
Ensuring the Smooth Flow of Funds with a Comprehensive Sun Technology and Services SolutionRecipients of grants must follow strict requirements to ensure that funds are spent appropriately. In fiscal year 2007, The State University of New York (RF) spent $782 million across 7,400 different projects that together employ 17,000 people across 30 SUNY campuses. The Research Foundation of State University of New York is a private, non-profit corporation that provides these projects with a range of administrative services, including purchasing, human resources and grants management. Customer Challenges
SolutionThe Research Foundation of State University of New York (RF) chose to run its Oracle applications suite on a flexible, scalable Sun solution that includes Sun Fire server and Sun StorageTek technologies. Sun services and financing helped expedite implementation, augment the staff’s knowledge and streamline the purchasing process. Business Results
Story DetailsThe volume of sponsored program activity that the Research Foundation of State University of New York (RF) manages has grown by 66 percent over the last five years, and this trend is expected to continue. To keep pace, the Research Foundation needs to ensure that its Oracle Applications software, used for sponsored projects administration, runs smoothly. In 2004, the organization worked with Sun to implement a scalable solution which has performed well, however it was time to modernize the infrastructure. The RF decided to embark on a major system upgrade to Oracle Applications 11i software and implement a Web-based architecture that provided constituents with broader access to resources. The RF planned to deploy new Sun server technology, migrate from the Solaris 8 to the Solaris 10 Operating System for increased security and performance, upgrade to the Oracle 10g database and increase storage capacity in the process.
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We depend on Oracle Applications software to serve our community. Sun understands our needs and has been a very good partner to us. The team has brought us a full solution that is helping us provide excellent support for our programs as we continue to grow.
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— John Busdiecker, Director of Infrastructure Services, The Research Foundation of State University of New York
The RF deployed an architecture that includes database and application tiers and a development/test environment. On the database tier, a new Sun Fire E25K server with 52 1.5 GHz UltraSPARC IV+ processors runs Oracle 10g database applications with a 10 percent increase in performance over the prior solution. To speed time to production, Sun consultants performed a Sun Fire E25K Application Readiness Service to design, configure and test the server for deployment. One new Sun Fire V890 server houses both the Oracle applications software and the Web portal applications, while a second one provides a development/test environment and a backup production environment. The Research Foundation gained flexibility, maximized resources and improved security through the migration to the Solaris 10 OS. They use Solaris Containers to separate and improve control over applications across their environment. On the Sun Fire E25K server, this technology enables system resources to be shifted to speed nightly batch processing. As a result, the window of system availability has increased by 20 percent and payroll processing time has decreased by 50 percent. The RF uses the Solaris Security Toolkit to simplify and automate general operating system security processes. On the storage side, the Research Foundation has doubled its storage resources, and separated and virtualized various functions. Using Sun StorageTek Implementation Services, Sun consultants helped deploy a Sun StorageTek 9990 system with 10 terabytes of disk space to support two full production database backups per day using Sun StorageTek 9900 ShadowImage In-System Replication software, which mirrors the data for use on the secondary storage tiers for development. The time to complete a traditional backup to a ShadowImage disk copy was reduced from 6 hours to just 20 minutes using this new solution. Sun StorageTek HiCommand Device Manager enables all storage resources to be managed from a single point of control. To support development needs, a Sun StorageTek 3510 FC array with an additional 10 terabytes of disk space is connected to the Sun StorageTek 9900 system and is managed as a virtual resource using the Sun StorageTek Universal Volume Manager. A Sun StorageTek L700 tape library with 20 Sun StorageTek DLT2 tape drives uses Veritas NetBackup software to create data backups. Brocade Silkworm 24000 Director Switches complete the solution by connecting server and storage resources, and providing 100 percent system redundancy. The Research Foundation deployed the new tiered infrastructure easily and with excellent end-user acceptance. The staff found the extended Sun team to be very knowledgeable and easy to work with, whether employing Sun Spectrum Support or Sun Learning Services. Sun Microsystems Global Financing Services offered financing options that provide predictable technology expenditures and facilitate technological change. "We rely on our relationship with Sun because it is an actual partnership where we learn from each other and where Sun listens to our needs," concludes John Busdiecker, director of infrastructure services at the Research Foundation of State University of New York. |
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