Companies moving workloads to the cloud want to be confident that their critical business applications are operational around the clock. In addition, they seek cost efficiency and security. Working with Intel, Wortmann AG developed its Managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, which provides a managed private data center, including infrastructure, network, security features, and automated processes. Enterprises can use the TERRA CLOUD Managed IaaS solution with confidence that it will work, without having to spend precious resources managing servers.
Challenge
Whether it’s retail, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, or a myriad of other industries, every business needs compute, storage and networking resources. But not everyone is an IT expert, and time spent provisioning and managing IT infrastructure is time not spent concentrating on business and customer needs. And while the public cloud offers tantalizing benefits such as cost efficiency, concerns about security, and unpredictable performance caused by multi-tenancy often hinder cloud adoption.
Solution
To solve these challenges, Wortmann AG and Intel worked together to design a managed private cloud-based data center service, called Managed IaaS. Available in several standard and enterprise configurations, Managed IaaS provides modern data center architecture based on Intel® processors and solid-state drives (SSDs), with high security standards and a multitude of automated processes and excellent scalability. The Managed IaaS solution is used for a wide variety of workloads, including databases, terminal servers, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and document management systems (DMS).
Results
Managed IaaS customers—more than 4,000 to date—serve about 40,000 end customers via Wortmann AG’s data center. Using the broad resources that are provided, customers can configure their own custom data center and use the resources of Managed IaaS to reduce operating costs, increase profits, and drive business growth.
Businesses Want Cloud Computing Benefits without Worrying About the Infrastructure
While shared infrastructure in the public cloud is a viable solution for some enterprises, other businesses have requirements that are better met by dedicated, private cloud platforms. Such platforms eliminate the noisy neighbor issue, where performance can be affected by workloads sharing compute, storage, and network resources. They can also help to increase security, because the hardware is used solely by a single customer, and enhance flexibility because they are not limited to predetermined configurations.
But managing dedicated hardware can be time-consuming. If a server goes down, or workload demand spikes unexpectedly, someone must spin up a replacement server, or add infrastructure resources to accommodate the increase. Many businesses lack either the expertise or the time (or both) to adequately manage a private cloud. To fully concentrate on their business and customer needs, these companies seek a managed service provider (MSP) solution.
Private, Managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
The Managed IaaS solution is far more than just a hosting service. It is based on a multi-host infrastructure in combination with dedicated all-flash storage. The infrastructure is completely managed up to the hypervisor (Figure 1). Automatic deployment processes, role-based installation routines, and simple administration with the Managed IaaS Technical Center enhance usability and scalability.
Figure 1. Customers can choose Managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Managed IaaS Basic (or a combination) for their managed private data center.
Customers can also choose Managed IaaS Basic, where the entire provisioning takes place on a single host system with storage included. This offering allows a different cost structure and enables customers to implement a different strategy. Many customers combine both offerings.
Customers receive quick, efficient network deployments and high-performance server infrastructure based on Intel® architecture and Intel® SSDs. And because the Managed IaaS solution’s cost structure is based on infrastructure only—not on consumption—customers enjoy cost transparency.
Latest Intel® Technology Powers Business Growth
All Managed IaaS servers feature the latest innovations from Intel to help customers grow their businesses. There are configurations designed to meet a range of customer compute requirements. For example, standard configurations are available with either 12 or 16 dual-socket Intel® Xeon® Gold 6226 or 6226R processors. Enterprise configurations feature 8 dual-socket Intel® Xeon® Gold 6244 processors, which have a higher frequency than the processors used in the standard configurations. All-flash storage is provided by large-capacity Intel® 3D NAND and high-performance Intel® Optane™ SSDs. To meet higher storage demands, customers can configure their private managed data centers with 5 terabytes (TB) up to 80 TB. Intel and Wortmann AG worked together to choose efficient processor and storage technologies and validate the Managed IaaS configuration designs.
Figure 2. The Managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution provides enhanced security, high scalability, technical support and automated processes1—all of which help customers focus on serving their own end-customers and increasing revenue.
Managed IaaS Provides High Business Value
With the ability to configure their own custom cloud-based data center and leave infrastructure management to the experts at TERRA CLOUD, Managed IaaS customers can reduce operating costs, increase profits, and drive business growth. Customers appreciate the security features, high scalability, technical support, and automated processes they receive with their managed private data center (Figure 2). And it’s not just customers that benefit from Managed IaaS—after a large fire in its production facility in 2017, Wortmann AG began moving its server infrastructure to Managed IaaS to minimize risk to the business. They also converted all workstations to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). For the last three years, the entire Wortmann AG company has been working from Managed IaaS. This move to the cloud proved to be a good long-term strategy. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, working from home offices was not a challenge but instead was normal for the company.
Wortmann AG and Intel have enjoyed a close relationship. When working in the data center, we pool our joint expertise and validate the technology and architecture together."
Spotlight on Wortmann AG and TERRA CLOUD
With the motto, “IT made in Germany,” Wortmann AG is an international medium-sized family business that has been providing products and services in the area of information technology for 34 years. The company generated about EUR 890 million in 2019, and is one of the most successful independent German IT companies. As a manufacturer, distributor and cloud service provider (CSP), the company’s 670 employees serve more than 15,000 specialist resellers and IT providers all over Europe. Besides running its own data center on TERRA CLOUD Managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), the company also markets TERRA-brand notebooks, tablets, PCs, workstations, all-in-ones, servers, storage, and thin clients—all assembled in Germany. Wortmann is also a distributor for other well-known manufacturers. It maintains a central service center at the production site, which covers more than 40,000 square meters, as well as several overseas service centers and sales offices. Wortmann works closely with the IT ecosystem; for example, it is a Microsoft Cloud OS Network partner and is also a platinum-level member of the Intel® Technology Provider program.