NAKIVO Helps an Emergency Dispatch Communication Center Achieve 100% Backup Success Rate
Business Challenge
The Jefferson County Communications Center Authority, or Jeffcom 911, is a dispatch communications center serving as a vital link between emergency services and the community in Jefferson County, Colorado, USA. Jeffcom 911 works with local fire, police and emergency medical service providers to dispatch the appropriate emergency responders and to provide support for public safety education.
Jeffcom 911 currently operates on 2 sites with 3 production Nutanix clusters running 75 virtual machines. VMs primarily store Microsoft SQL databases and application data for the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system used by emergency telecommunicators. Backup, replication and recovery are of paramount importance given the nature of the work done by Jeffcom 911. As a 911 center, the recoverability of the center’s systems can literally mean the difference between life and death, as the emergency communications specialists rely on the center’s technology to assist them in sending help. If critical data is unavailable, there is a huge impact on Jeffcom’s operations, emergency services, and the citizens the center serves.
Jeffcom 911 protected their data with a different data protection solution not so long ago. The center was compelled to look for a new backup system for two main reasons: the center sought a solution which could back up all their VMware and Nutanix AHV VMs, as well as their physical computers, and the center needed a solution that would not “stun” the VMs and disrupt applications. With the previous solution, jobs did not complete fully and errors disrupted the running applications and VMs. Moreover, too much time was spent on backup administration and the process of recovering the VMs.
Solution
“NAKIVO Backup & Replication fit our needs with being able to back up different platforms, both virtual and physical environments. The NAKIVO team also offered a demo session that allowed us to thoroughly test the solution in our live environment,” says Kevin Biegert, Information Technology Manager at Jeffcom 911. “The installation and configuration process was simple and easy – completed in just a few hours. The web interface is not overly complex nor overly simple.”
Jeffcom 911 took advantage of integrating NAKIVO Backup & Replication with their existing Synology NAS to combine hardware, software, and backup storage together. NAKIVO Backup & Replication on Synology NAS provides higher performance, smaller backups, and faster recovery. “With NAKIVO Backup & Replication on Synology NAS, we perform VM backups on a daily and hourly basis. We are most fond of the ease of use and the cross-platform compatibility,” says Kevin.
With the network acceleration feature in NAKIVO Backup & Replication, network load is reduced in busy WAN/LAN environments, allowing for shorter backup and replication windows during business hours and when using offsite targets. “Network acceleration allows us to back up and recover VMs much faster than with previous solutions. Previously, we waited hours to restore a virtual machine of 100GB or less,” says Kevin.
“NAKIVO Backup & Replication has saved our organization a significant amount of time and money – both in personnel’s time needed to maintain the backup system and in licensing itself. The solution did not require us to purchase a proprietary backup appliance, significantly cutting the cost for the solution as a whole,” says Kevin.
Results
“NAKIVO Backup & Replication is easy to use, runs on top of our Synology NAS device, and provides the speed and responsiveness needed to fit our use. NAKIVO Backup & Replication just works,” says Kevin. “Once configured and taking routine backups, there is little to no time needed to administer the software, just check-ins. The biggest accomplishment of NAKIVO Backup & Replication in our environment is achieving 100% backup success rate. Now we can back up VMware, Nutanix AHV, and physical computers side-by-side.”
About the Jefferson County Communications Center Authority
The Jefferson County Communications Center Authority, or Jeffcom 911, is the largest consolidated Emergency Communications Center (ECC) in the State of Colorado, United States. Jeffcom dispatches police, fire, and medical services for a 775 square mile area, processing 250,000 911 calls per year. Daily operations are made possible by a staff of 136 emergency communications specialists and communications supervisors who are supported by administrative, human resources, and information services personnel. For more information, visit jeffcom911.org.