Blood Systems is using 3PAR's InServ. The INI Group interviewed Alain Black, senior systems administrator. This is how Alain describes his role:

“My title at Blood Systems is senior systems administrator. I’ve been with the company now for about seven years. I’m responsible for our UNIX systems as well as our medical devices and our storage that all of our servers run upon. I have also taken on the responsibility of being our virtualized server administrator. So I’m responsible for, right now it’s a Virtual Iron that all of our virtual servers run on and I’m in the process of looking for a new replacement for Virtual Iron.”

The following is an overview of Blood System’s IT environment:

• Thirty-nine hundred employees across seventeen states
• One hundred fifty-three servers
• Linux (Red Hat and SUSE)
• Tru64 UNIX
• HP-UX
• Windows 2003 and Server 2000
• Exchange
• Eighty-four terabytes of online storage

Listen to individual answers by clicking on the following questions:

1. Why did you decide to implement the 3PAR InServ?
   
2. Can you share with us the process you went through to decide on which storage system to go with?
3. Can you give us examples of how the 3PAR InServ provided real value to your company?
   
4. Can you tell us how the 3PAR InServ has improved on the overall economic effectiveness within your IT operations?
   
5. Can you give us any insights on the 3PAR InServ that would be useful for other IT professionals considering this solution?
6. Some IT professionals are skeptical about thin provisioning. What made you decide to implement it?
7. What are the next steps using the 3PAR InServ?
8. Would you recommend the 3PAR InServ to other IT professionals and can you tell us why?

For more information on 3PAR, go to www.3par.com