Plexus Corporation

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In the quarter century since its founding, Plexus Corporation has become a world leader in the electronic manufacturing services (EMS) industry. Today, the self-described “Realization Company” serves enterprise customers across the globe, representing dozens of industries, from its 13 manufacturing facilities in Europe, Asia and the United States.

In 2005, Plexus deployed software from Oracle subsidiary J.D. Edwards as its global ERP solution. But the application presentation tier was based on aging, outdated Intel-based servers running Microsoft Windows that were proving unreliable and expensive to maintain. Before committing to a full-scale overhaul of the hardware platform, Plexus wanted to try out potential hardware solutions.

That opportunity came in early 2006. Plexus was in the process of extending the ERP deployment to its facilities in Asia. The Asia-Pacific infrastructure was being built from the ground up, giving the company an opportunity to evaluate a full range of hardware platforms.

The company’s databases were running on Sun hardware, so Plexus was already appreciative of the reliability and cost-efficiency of Sun technology. Plexus asked Maryville Technologies, a Sun Advantage Partner, to suggest a solution for the Asia-Pacific deployment. Maryville recommended the Sun Fire X4100 for fast, reliable, and energy- and space-efficient 64-bit computing based on AMD Opteron processors.

Although Dell, HP and IBM all have competitive offerings, the key differentiator of the Sun Fire X4100 was its extensibility. The server’s ability to run multiple platforms-such as Solaris, Linux, and Windows operating systems-was critically important to Plexus, and a capability no other competitor offered.

The initial deployment of the X4100 yielded impressive performance results. The two Sun Fire X4100s deployed to support Plexus’ Asia-Pacific routinely sustain more than 150 concurrent Citrix connections. By comparison, the company’s North American server farm requires as many as 20 servers to provide the same performance levels. The X4100 server is also more flexible, allowing for easy upgrades.

Armed with that favorable comparison, Plexus bought four Sun Fire X4100 servers to host the ERP application for its UK and North American facilities. Based on the success of the Asia-Pacific deployment, the company plans to replace its entire application tier with the purchase of three additional Sun Fire X4100s, resulting in significant savings.

Plexus estimates that consolidation from 68 servers to nine Sun servers will result in a six-fold reduction in the data center footprint, a 33 percent reduction in power consumption, and an 84 percent reduction in time spent on administration and support.

Plexus is extremely pleased with the results, and the company’s investment in the Sun Fire X4100s has already proved more than worthwhile: Plexus achieved a return on investment in less than a year. As a result, the company is planning to transition all of the servers supporting its ERP application to X4100s, and is looking at additional Sun technology, such as the Sun Fire T2000 server, to support other business-critical applications.

It’s a relationship that works: Plexus stakes its reputation on its flexibility, reliability and commitment to innovation, and naturally wants the same values reflected in its vendors and technology partners. And Sun more than delivers.