Introduction
NYK Logistics Belgium is one of seven Belgian subsidiaries belonging to Japan’s NYK Group. As one of the biggest and most important logistics providers in the world, NYK Group has a physical presence in over 120 countries.
NYK Logistics Belgium specialises in goods storage and distribution, freight haulage, international network solutions, supply chain consulting and IT solutions. At present, the company’s operating facilities in Belgium extend to over 90,891 m², spread across three logistics hubs and a total of six
warehouses. The Belgian division employs more than 420 staff and also runs its own pan-European distribution network. Since it was established in 1989, NYK Logistics has grown to become one of the major players in the Belgian and international logistics market, with a broad portfolio of customers operating in six sectors and generating an annual turnover of €60 million (2008).
Need for a fast and simple backup and recovery system
Because a logistics company has to be operational 24/7, it is vital for the supporting IT environment to be available at all times too. NYK Logistics Belgium’s business-critical IBM I-Series and Wintel servers are centralised at the IT department in Melsele, where the company’s seven-strong ICT department is also located. The success of NYK Logistics Belgium has seen this vital fleet of servers quadruple in 18 months.
With the previous backup and recovery system, it was only possible to make copies of the server when it was offline, which was an obstacle for the fast-growing company. To ensure high availability, Wilfried Van der Elst, Manager IT Network & Systems at NYK Logistics, began to search for an alternative for creating backups using disk images.
The growing number of servers meant there was too much downtime, in addition an IT employee had to be on hand at all times while the backups were being carried out. Because it was impossible to consider taking the servers offline during office hours, the backup task became a traditional evening and weekend chore. Not only was this unpopular among IT staff, but it impacted on the IT team’s productivity.
In the end, Van der Elst decided to look for an alternative and his intensive research brought him to Acronis True Image Server for Windows, which won from a shortlist of three preferred backup and disaster recovery solutions. "We downloaded the free trial version and within three days, we could see that this solution had been tailor-made for us," enthuses Van der Elst. "Not only were we convinced by the ease of use of the Acronis solution, but the price-quality ratio was also the best on the market.".
Smooth implementation
The entire installation and implementation process for the Acronis True Image Server for Windows licences was carried out in-house by the NYK Logistics ICT team. In fact, the solution was so simple that no external assistance was required. "Within a week – most of which was taken up analysing and defining the what, when and how a snapshot needed to be taken – everything was up and running," recalls Van der Elst.
NYK Logistics uses the optional Acronis Universal Restore software for a number of virtual servers. After a disaster, the system managers can restore a server quickly onto dissimilar physical equipment or on to a virtual machine, enhancing flexibility and minimising interruptions to operations.
"Acronis True Image Server for Windows gives us peace of mind, while providing our ICT managers with the time to develop, support and implement more pressing strategic assignments," says Van der Elst. "The solution is extremely advanced, yet at the same time so simple and transparent that you only have to set up each new server once. You can also manage everything from a centralised location, which naturally saves us a great deal of time."
However, one of the best features of Acronis is that detailed images of the operating system, applications and data can be taken faster than with any other comparable solution, which means that it can also be restored in record time after a disaster. "After a business-critical server crashed, using Acronis, we have managed to restore in under 45 minutes, whereas the complex "from scratch" recovery process can take at least half a day," states Van der Elst.
Detailed snapshot for total system repair
NYK Logistics also likes the fact that the Acronis solution makes it possible to restore the whole system, as well as individual files and folders. "Because the backup images are visible in detail, we can restore a single corrupt file or an inadvertently deleted database without having to restart everything."
Asked about the solution’s ROI, the Manager IT Network & Systems says that a reliable, backup and recovery system is not a luxury, but an absolute necessity for a modern company. "I can safely state that we have already saved a huge amount of staff overtime, because no-one has to come in at night or at the weekend to make sure the backups run properly. This means that the solution pays for itself per server within about 2 weeks."
Because he is so pleased with the efficiency and speed of Acronis, Wilfried Van der Elst has already recommended it numerous times to his colleagues within the group. Since his implementation, the Dutch subsidiary of NYK Logistics has also decided to switch to the Acronis technology. Last but not least, there is even talk that Acronis may become the standard application for the entire European division of NYK Logistics – proof of the company’s trust in Acronis.
The future: more virtualisation
To guarantee and enhance the availability of all data and applications, NYK Logistics Belgium will increasingly focus on virtualising its business-critical servers. "We have taken the strategic decision, whenever the hardware in a physical server is due for an upgrade, to replace it with a virtual equivalent," says Van der Elst. "Over time, we are thinking about migrating to the Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Virtual Edition (the latest version of the Acronis software), which gives us an efficient way to make backups of similar environments, without having to install individual agents on each virtual machine."
About Acronis
Acronis is a global provider of storage management software that enables corporations and individuals to move, manage and maintain digital assets. Acronis sells innovative solutions for disaster recovery, server consolidation and virtualization migration, which allow users to maintain business continuity and reduce downtime in computing environments. Acronis software products are sold in more than 180 countries and are available in 15 languages. For additional information, please visit www.acronis.com
Acronis International GmbH,