IBM - Peter Hahn

Vendor: IBM (NYSE: IBM)
Channel Partner: COMPAREX Deutschland www.comparex.de
Customer: Peter Hahn www.peterhahn.com     
Vertical Markets: Retail

Technology Used: IBM System z9 with Integrated Facility for Linux, IBM System Storage DS8100, IBM SAN Volume Controller, IBM DB2 for Linux on System z

Solution: Peter Hahn, a prestigious, Germany-based clothier, specializes in producing women’s clothing made from natural fibers. Extremely successful, this company has stores in 10 European countries, and also sells its products over the Web and through catalogs.

While Peter Hahn was rapidly expanding, the company recognized that data availability had become more critical than ever before. The clothier faced several challenges related to data availability. First, Peter Hahn’s call centers were operating around the clock because there were locations in different time zones, so regularly scheduled downtime was not an option. Second, the downtime required by storage units for backups was proving to be a challenge. Finally, the company’s database was made more complex by new features, and performance began to reach capacity levels.

To address their data availability challenges, Peter Hahn migrated their IBM DB2 database with IBM z/VSE applications to a modern DB2 on Linux on System z environment, deploying a new IBM System z9 mainframe that improves flexibility and performance. The new system replaced Peter Hahn’s legacy IBM zSeries mainframe. Both IBM and IBM Premier Business Partner COMPAREX provided support to Peter Hahn, allowing its technicians to carry out the upgrade and install Integrated Facility for Linux. Within four weeks, the legacy environment had been replaced, and a completely parallel environment with a migration path for data had been built.

To improve storage access and availability, and to enable automated backups, an IBM System Storage DS8100 was installed and connected to the company network via IBM System Storage SAN Volume Controller. By creating a redundant storage solution, the company’s zero downtime requirement was met.

The changes and upgrades have resulted in numerous benefits for Peter Hahn. The availability and performance of their IT environment has improved dramatically, and their DB2 database now has more flexibility and capacity. Finally, the enhancements have enabled automated backups with zero downtime, reducing the company’s risk and allowing Peter Hahn to continue operating its call centers around the clock.

Further details: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/common/ssi/pm/ab/n/zsc03048usen/ZSC03048USEN.PDF