Running head: CARLSON COMPANIES

Carlson Companies
Junaid Khan
Strayer University
Dr. Gideon U. Nwatu
May 20, 2014

Carlson Companies

Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Carlson SAN approach in todays environment ............................................................................. 4
Comparison between consolidating data and dispersed arrange SAN data .................................... 5
Issues raised from the Carlson SAN mixing equipment ................................................................. 6
Cloud computing used by Carlson instead of a SAN ..................................................................... 6
Reference ........................................................................................................................................ 8

Carlson Companies

Abstract
In this case study Carson Company discuss its business strategies and also discuss about
the Information technology Division. The central computing environment of Carson Company IT
consists of IBM mainframe and over 50 networked Hewlett-Packard and sun servers. The
mainframe supports a wide range of applications; include Oracle financial database, email,
Microsoft Exchange, web, PeopleSoft, and a data warehouse application.
The IT division established six goals for assuring that IT services continued to meet the
needs of a growing company with heavy reliance on data and applications. These goals are
implemented for a storage area network (SAN).

Carlson Companies

Introduction
Carlson companies is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States,
with more than 180,000 employees in more than 140 countries, Carlson enterprises include a
presence in marketing business and leisure travel, and hospitality industries.
Its information Technology (IT) division, Carlson shared services, acts as a service
provider to its internal clients and consequently must support a spectrum of user applications and
services. The mainframe included an efficient disaster recovery plan to preserve data in the event
of major system crashes or other incidents and to get data back online with little or no disruption
to the user.
The core of the Carlson SAN is an IP-based scheme in which Gigabit Ethernet switched
carry IP traffic among servers and between serves and the central storage. Carlsons IP SAN
helps reduce the ongoing administration and management of storage networking by taking
advantage of well-established and well-understood IP networking technologies. Carlson
Companies is one of the largest privately held ... (n.d.).

Carlson SAN approach in todays environment

The Carlson SAN approach in todays environment can be assessed by the preparation,
impact and benefits obtained by Carlson in using such an approach. Carlson established six (6)
essential goals reliant on data and applications that would ensure the IT services provided
continued to meet the needs of a growing company. In order to meet those goals, implementing
a storage area network (SAN) that provided a reliable, highly scalable facility to accommodate
the increasing demand of its users vital in the potential success.
The Carlsons IT group find out that the initial cost of working with fiber channel and
found out that it is same as working with IP, whereas IP approach would save money for a long

Carlson Companies

time, also cost avoidance. Enterprise data warehouse is the important part of the business
because data warehouse help to maintain the data in a proper way and easy to access.
For promoting the business Carlson Company started its global networking that help to
spread the business among different parts of the countries. They also made SNIA shared storage
model that have the great advantage of the storage networking industry. Carlson's data center
relies on IP SAN. (n.d.).

Comparison between consolidating data and dispersed arrange SAN data

Server consolidation involves gathering data and applications stored or running on
two or more physical servers onto a single server. This reduces the number of physical machines
required to meet all the processing and storage requirements of the data center. Many of the
organizations take this concept a step further through virtualization, which makes a single
physical server look like multiple logical servers. Either way, there are a number of ways in
which consolidation reduces the data center's total cost of ownership (TCO):
Lessened hardware requirements because it's no longer necessary to purchase a new
server for every application or business unit, organization can cut the total number of machines.
When each department has its own dedicated servers, these reductions can be dramatic.
Minimized physical spaces are fewer servers mean less total space dedicated to your data center.
Reduced energy costs same way, fewer physical servers in a reduced physical space means
reduced energy required to heat and cools the facilities. As energy costs continue to escalate,
cutting down on servers can result in significant. IT Business Insider. (n.d.).

Carlson Companies

Issues raised from the Carlson SAN mixing equipment

Some of the issued raised from the Carlson SAN mixing equipment from the vendor. The
shared Storage Model, the storage architects clarified the relationship between application
requirements and storage resources and also revealed the administrative overhead incurred by
dedicated storage units. The system required four large storage frames and six additional arrays
to support Carlson's data center applications. Each storage unit required separate administration
as well as maintenance contracts from the supplying vendor. Because storage consolidation is
one of the key benefits of SANs, the Shared Storage Model offered a framework for modifying
the components in the block subsystem to reduce the number of storage devices while still
serving Carlson's business applications. Most of the vendor doesnt like that way of SAN mixing
equipments. In my opinion they can call the meeting with the vendors and ask them what they
want and also tell them the importance of SAN mixing equipment. Practical applications. (n.d.).

Cloud computing used by Carlson instead of a SAN

Cloud computing is internet-based computing, Carlson used cloud instead of SAN
because cloud technology is less expensive and also provide more data space. Carlson companies
have the biggest network thats why they used cloud computing instead of SAN. These
phenomena explain briefly in the figure below

Carlson Companies

Figure 1:- Carlson companies IP SAN Carlson's data center relies on IP SAN. (n.d.).

Carlson Companies

Reference
Carlson Companies is one of the largest privately held ... (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.justanswer.com/homework/2bven-carlson-companies-one-largest-privately-heldcompanies.html
Computer Networking/Computer Science - Just Answer. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.justanswer.com/homework/02y0r-urgent-help-computer-networking-computerscience.html
Carlson's data center relies on IP SAN. (n.d.). - Infostor. Retrieved May 22, 2014, from
http://www.infostor.com/index/articles/display/152933/articles/infostor/volume-6/issue-8/newsanalysis-trends/carlsons-data-center-relies-on-ip-san.html
The Pros and Cons of Server Consolidation - IT Business Insider. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.itbusinessinsider.com/inf/pros_cons_server_consolidation/index.html
SNIA Shared Storage Model: Practical applications. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/feature/SNIA-Shared-Storage-Model-Practical-applications