Green IT: British Library embraces virtualisation
The Turning the Pages project:
Now in version two on Windows Vista, it allows you to read valuable books online and virtually turn pages, zoom in on details and listen to audio commentary from experts.
e.g. “Diamond Sutra” the oldest printed book and the first European Atlas compiled in 1570.
Today, the Library is investing in a storage capacity of 120 terabytes to support future save requests.
The British Library is embracing virtualisation as a way to make the best use of its data centre space and reduce the associated costs, not only to purchase equipment, but to curb and reduce the electrical power required and cooling. Currently, it has 250 servers – a mixed environment of Windows, Solaris and VAX/VMS and other UNIX variants and is looking to build a virtual environment based on Microsoft SQL servers.
Lilgert says:
“We’re looking to reduce our large physical server infrastructure through a combination of consolidation and virtualisation. We are running a clustered, high availability
VMware infrastructure working on the basis of around 25 virtual servers sitting on one physical host. Bandwidth, therefore, needs to be increased at the distribution layer hence
the deployment of gigabit Ethernet Fastlron Edge X Series switches in our computer rooms.”
The Iron Layer 4/7 Foundry Server application delivery switch is also used to load balancer the online library catalog that lists all items present or on loan to users and their availability. This service is available 24/7. The bookseller receives thousands of requests for information.
In the same way, the QoS (quality of service) feature of Foundry switches distribute bandwidth between sites to better use VoIP and Video Conferencing.
Bob Schiff, vice president of the Foundry, says:
“The British Library plays a huge role in capturing the intellectual capital of the nation and
is a renowned knowledge repository not only for the UK, but for the entire world. The fact that one of the largest libraries in the world has standardized on Foundry is a testament to
the performance and reliability of our technology. We are proud to be its networking solutions provider of choice as the Library continues digital archiving and opening its enduring
collection to users far and wide.”
