GroupOne: Quadrupled Storage

Summary

GroupOne, a managed service provider, was facing challenges with their traditional storage solutions. They partnered with StorPool, implementing their software-defined storage solution in multiple data centers. This led to a four-fold increase in performance, improved scalability, and reduced costs.

Award-winning storage solutions that deliver enterprise performance at a fraction of the cost.

** Main Story**

Are you, like many managed service providers or cloud companies, wrestling with the limitations of traditional storage? Maybe you’re dreaming of a storage setup that can effortlessly grow as your business does, without costing a fortune? Well, GroupOne, a leading managed service provider, found themselves in a similar boat. Their search for a solution that was high-performing, scalable, and wouldn’t empty their wallets led them to StorPool, a software-defined storage platform. Let me tell you about their journey and how you can potentially achieve similar success with software-defined storage.

Spotting the Storage Snag

GroupOne’s existing storage setup, using iSCSI SANs and a hybrid system from Tegile, just wasn’t cutting it anymore as they grew. What they really needed was a solution that ticked these boxes:

• Scalability: Being able to easily add more storage when needed without big upfront costs or causing disruptions.
• Performance: A real boost in storage speed to handle the demands of their customers’ applications. After all, nobody likes a slow app.
• Cost-Effectiveness: Better bang for their buck compared to what they were already using. Seems fair, right?

Picking the Perfect Platform

So, GroupOne looked at a bunch of options before settling on StorPool’s software-defined storage. And it’s easy to see why, StorPool offered some pretty compelling stuff:

• All-Flash Performance Without the Price Tag: StorPool let GroupOne get all-flash storage performance, but, crucially, they didn’t have to pay the crazy prices you usually see with all-flash setups. That’s a win!
• Multi-Data Center Deployment: StorPool was flexible enough to let GroupOne use it in multiple data centers. It made things like redundancy and disaster recovery much easier, which is always a good thing.
• Scalability That’s Actually Seamless: With StorPool’s software-defined setup, GroupOne could scale their storage just by adding more drives to their existing servers or adding new servers to the cluster. No more huge investments in storage hardware that might just sit around unused! I saw that happen once at a previous employer, what a waste!

Making it Work

Integrating StorPool with GroupOne’s existing OnApp cloud management platform was key, you see. And it paid off. Here’s why:

• Less Time Spent on Engineering: Streamlined storage management meant their engineers could focus on other important things. You know, the stuff that actually moves the business forward.
• Simpler Storage: StorPool’s easy-to-use interface and management tools made storage operations a breeze, not the headache they used to be.

The Payoff: Quadruple the Performance and Fatter Margins

Implementing StorPool really changed things for GroupOne. The numbers speak for themselves:

• 4x Performance Boost: GroupOne saw a four-fold increase in storage speed compared to their old hybrid setup. That’s huge!
• Scalability That Works: StorPool allowed GroupOne to scale their storage up or down easily, depending on what their customers needed. No more bottlenecks!
• Lower Costs: The combination of better performance and efficient scalability meant GroupOne saved money, boosting their profit margins. That’s what we all want, right?

Building a Gold Standard Cloud

They were so happy with the results that GroupOne decided to use StorPool as the standard for all their future data centers. They saw StorPool as a vital part of their “gold standard cloud solution,” combining high-performance hypervisors with StorPool’s software-defined storage. The benefit of that standardised approach is that it makes deployments simpler and keeps performance consistent across all locations.

Want to Implement Software-Defined Storage? Here’s My Advice

Based on GroupOne’s success, here are some steps you can take to get similar results with software-defined storage:

1. Know What Hurts: What are your biggest storage problems? Is it performance, scalability, or cost? Knowing what you need to fix is the first step. I once saw a company invest in a solution that didn’t even address their core issue, you don’t want to be that company.
2. Shop Around: Do some research and compare different software-defined storage solutions. Look at the features, performance, and cost. Don’t just go with the first thing you see.
3. Think Ahead: Plan your deployment carefully. Consider things like where your data centers are, how it will integrate with your existing systems, and how much you might need to scale in the future. Planning ahead is key.
4. Test, Test, Test: Before you fully deploy anything, test it thoroughly to make sure it meets your performance and scalability needs. Don’t skip this step!
5. Keep an Eye On It: Continuously monitor your storage and tweak settings to make sure you’re getting the best possible performance and efficiency. Storage isn’t set it and forget it.

Following these steps can help you use software-defined storage to improve your storage, boosting performance, scalability, and saving money, just like GroupOne. This is accurate as of today, May 22, 2025, but remember, things change fast in the tech world.