Marquardt tunes global interaction with data

Marquardt develops and produces intelligent switches, controls, and access systems so that cars drive themselves, lights turn on, and washing machines think for themselves about the right cleaning program. Teamwork and files stored in Germany and used worldwide drive Marquardt’s success. But productive work in a network spanning four continents needs a high quality of service. NetApp^® Global File Cache jumpstarts file services and makes working easy.

Marquardt consulted system integrator Bechtle. As Marquardt’s IT partner, Bechtle was familiar with the situation. They knew that NetApp Global File Cache could noticeably improve working conditions. The solution caches active files at remote offices within a software fabric to improve performance. Its integration with Marquardt’s current NetApp storage, an AFF A220 cluster, would be seamless.

Marquardt was so satisfied with the results that the solution went directly from test to operation. The team extended the core server at Marquardt’s headquarters in Rietheim-Weilheim and three edge servers from the POC setup by five more instances. Marquardt provided the virtual machines. Bechtle rolled out a template at the sites, installed the licenses, and located the caching within the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS) and the respective Active Directory domain.

Global File Cache simplifies access to the global file share and absorbs peak loads in Marquardt’s heavily used WAN. The IT team provides a global namespace using Microsoft DFS and applies DFS replication for geo-redundancy. Depending on a user’s location, file access happens from the geographically closest system, caching convenience included.