WebDeal

Success Story

WebDeal has met its customers' demands for flexible and highly available Web hosting services by implementing SUSE® Linux Enterprise Server on IBM* System p* hardware. With virtualised Linux* servers running on the IBM POWER5* architecture, WebDeal's customers enjoy excellent stability and flexibility with dramatically improved price-performance.

Overview

WebDeal AS is one of Scandinavia's leading hosting service providers, operating two data centres in Norway and one in the UK. The company offers a comprehensive range of solutions, from Web site hosting and ISP services to advanced corporate portals and server hosting solutions.

Challenge

WebDeal's state-of-the-art data centres and finely tuned management processes enable it to service some 8,000 customers with a staff of just 15 people. To maintain its competitive edge, the company aims to continue boosting service levels and growing its customer base while constantly pushing down costs.

With corporate customers requesting better price-performance, greater flexibility and an enhanced ability to scale up dynamically, WebDeal needed to create a new hosting-services infrastructure to match its internal needs for low costs and high manageability.

In particular, WebDeal wanted to use server virtualisation technologies to reduce the number of physical servers it needed, while increasing the speed and ease of setting up new environments for customers. The use of virtualised servers would also enable customers to run multiple environments simultaneously without a corresponding increase in software licensing charges.

Novell solution

"By creating multiple virtual servers using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, we easily run dozens of separate customer environments on a single redundant physical system."

Jan Aril Sigvartsen
CEO
WebDeal

WebDeal chose a solution based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server running on the IBM System p platform to create a scalable and flexible new hosting environment for its customers. The company replaced sixteen physical servers running Unix* and Linux with two IBM System p5 520 Express OpenPower* Edition systems and four IBM System p5 510 OpenPower Edition systems.

The new servers are based on the IBM POWER5 microprocessor architecture, which offers advanced server virtualisation capabilities - enabling WebDeal to divide each physical server into numerous logically distinct systems.

"By creating multiple virtual servers using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, we easily run dozens of separate customer environments on a single redundant physical system," said Jan Aril Sigvartsen, CEO of WebDeal.

This use of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server simplifies the deployment of new virtual servers. Because WebDeal services numerous hosted customers with such a small in-house team, it was critical to create an easy-to-manage infrastructure. The external hardware management console on the IBM System p servers enables WebDeal staff to monitor and maintain the Linux virtual servers from a single point of control.

"With some open source software, we find that a lot of adjustment and configuration is required, but that has not been the case with SUSE Linux Enterprise," said Sigvartsen. "Installation and deployment is more efficient than with similar platforms - it's pretty much out-of-the-box - which helps to keep our costs down."

WebDeal's IBM System p servers use mainframe-derived partitioning technologies to ensure the security and stability of virtualised server instances. This means that any software problem in one customer's environment will have no adverse affect on the system as a whole, and other customers will be absolutely unaffected. Similarly, each virtual server has its own partitioned memory and disk, and there are stringent safeguards to keep each environment totally distinct from the others.

"Running SUSE Linux Enterprise virtual servers on the IBM System p platform effectively gives us dozens of physical machines for the price of one," said Sigvartsen. "Each customer's applications and data are completely isolated from the rest, and we can easily allocate computing resources between the different partitions as patterns of demand change."

Results

"With SUSE Linux Enterprise, we can complete patches and upgrades in minutes, not the hours typically required by other operating systems."

Jan Aril Sigvartsen
CEO
WebDeal

As a server-hosting business, WebDeal is judged by customers on its ability to provide security, stability, scalability and exceptional availability. Moreover, the company is under constant pressure to keep pricing competitive and to introduce new features for customers. With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server running as virtual servers on the IBM POWER architecture, WebDeal can provide enterprise-class services at mid-market pricing.

"With virtualisation, we can pack around 40 server instances onto a single physical server with a single SUSE Linux Enterprise licence, producing a significant cost saving for our customers," says Sigvartsen. "I recently calculated that one of our new customers reduced their annual costs by €8,500 per server by following our recommendation to move to Linux virtual servers."

With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server and other open source technologies, WebDeal can offer reliable, high-performance services to its demanding customer base.

"The Novell® team behind SUSE Linux Enterprise has a strong focus on stability and security, making the platform extremely well-suited to the business environment," said Sigvartsen. "It is reassuring for us and for our customers that Novell ships SUSE Linux Enterprise Server with a seven-year warranty. And with SUSE Linux Enterprise, we can complete patches and upgrades in minutes, not the hours typically required by other operating systems."