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Dec 01
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The Solvay Group uses Reflex VMC to manage server consolidation, reduce costs and centrally control more than 500 virtual machines worldwide
The Solvay Group has implemented Reflex VMC (Virtualization Management Center) to manage more than 50 servers with 500 VMware-based virtual machines running in nine datacenters throughout Europe and the U.S. Solvay has significantly consolidated its physical servers, reduced costs, and gained complete visibility into all global virtual machines and hosts across multiple sites from a single console.
“The number of VMs we had implemented began to outgrow our tools’ ability to manage them efficiently. We needed a cutting-edge solution to centrally manage our entire virtual environment from a single pane of glass,” said Bruce McMillan, Manager of Emerging Technologies at Solvay, an international chemical, plastics and pharmaceutical organization with 2008 sales approaching 14 billion USD. “Reflex VMC has been become the cornerstone of our virtual infrastructure management. Not only does it enable one-stop-shop management, it allows us to put in place the corporate-wide standards that are critical to our success.”
“Solvay is a technology savvy organization that clearly recognizes the importance of using a comprehensive management and security solution to enhance its virtual infrastructure,” said Pete Privateer, president and CEO of Reflex Systems. “We’re extremely pleased that Solvay selected Reflex and is realizing such great benefits.”
The award-winning Reflex VMC solution enables next-generation datacenters to enforce IT policies, ensure compliance with government mandates, and manage and protect virtual servers, desktops, and networks across multiple platforms. The benefits Solvay has gained from using Reflex VMC include:
- Total visibility across multiple, distributed sites: Using Reflex VMC, all of Solvay’s 50 physical server hosts and 500 virtual machines can be viewed, monitored and managed at one time. This enables Solvay to assess the current implementation and plan for expansion so that new virtual machines can be logically added without impacting datacenter service levels.
- Consolidated servers and reduced costs: Leveraging Reflex, Solvay has reduced the physical host servers in each office. For example, its Atlanta office cut the number of physical servers from ten to 5, which run approximately 150 virtual machines. Other offices have realized a 12-to-1 consolidation. These high consolidation ratios have also helped to lower datacenter cooling and electrical costs.
- Improved security: According to McMillan, “The Reflex VMC security features are robust and enable us to monitor network activity within our virtual infrastructure that you normally don’t see. The IPS lets us see a lot of traffic that we did not know was there before. It gives us the opportunity to know what is going on. If you are running VMs without Reflex VMC you are blind to this activity.”
McMillan added, “With the management, security and compliance that Reflex VMC offers, combined with the stability of today’s virtualization platform from VMware, there is nothing I wouldn’t virtualize.”
About Solvay Group
Solvay is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. Its companies employ more than 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2008, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.5 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: Chemicals, Plastics and Pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels (NYSE Euronext: SOLB.BE – Bloomberg: SOL.BB – Reuters: SOLBt.BR). Details are available at www.solvay.com.