Customer Challenge
When a traditional engineering company approached us, the issue was evident and quite typical in today's landscape. Continuously increasing data from users, backups, archives, and insufficient capacity of existing storage combined with low flexibility for temporary storage needs for projects and services, generated a requirement to rethink data storage solutions. Rather than investing in an on-premise data center, the customer chose a scalable, cost-effective, and efficient solution on AWS storage services. Together with Hardys Digital, they built a flexible hybrid storage solution, saved costs, and gained flexibility.
Solution
The developed storage solution includes:
- AWS Storage Gateway, S3, and Workdocs: To fulfill the need for hybrid and durable storage with the flexibility of AWS Workdocs for temporary project folders for both internal and external users.
- AWS S3 Infrequent Access: Used for accessing less frequently needed data.
- AWS Glacier: Utilized as a long-term archiving solution, serving as a single archive for all server, machine, and user-based data that needs durable storage.
- Directory Services (AD Connector): Manages access for internal employees, controls access to folders, and reuses existing domain controllers on-premise to provide maximum comfort for end-users accessing both existing and cloud services.
- Service Layer: Includes automatic monitoring, notifications, and alarms through AWS CloudWatch, SNS, CloudTrail, and its automation and integration by AWS Lambda with monitoring and service management systems.
Results and Benefits
The customer achieved a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of almost 30% for their storage and archiving solutions and gained flexible storage options for projects and both internal and external employees. The breadth of AWS storage services addressed various use cases for storage needs. Throughout the implementation, several approaches were tested without the need to invest in hardware or purchase licenses. The final solution is a hybrid setup that efficiently utilizes customer assets under managed services without the need for further capital investments.