Ariston Group
Migration to IBM Storage 5300
Migration of enterprise storage to IBM Storage 5300, as part of managing the entire IT estate over around six years.
Official partners of Dell and HP
A storage decision is a five-year decision
Servers and storage arrays are the hardest components to replace once they are in. We design, supply and migrate them around what runs on top — and show you upfront what each stage locks in.
Overview
We supply, deploy and operate the hardware layer
ILS Networks specifies, supplies and deploys enterprise servers and storage — and carries out the data migration off the existing environment, which is most of the work in a project like this. After handover we monitor availability and capacity and handle hardware faults with the vendor, so a service call does not become an administrative project for the organization.
The work follows a fixed method: mapping before any change, maintenance windows the organization defines, a way back at every stage, acceptance testing and full documentation of what is handed over. That is how projects finish on the date that was set rather than drifting.
We are official partners of Dell Technologies and HP, and additionally design and implement IBM storage systems. These are the platforms we work with most, not a closed list. If something else runs in your estate, we will design, build and maintain that too.
We work with organizations over years rather than over a single project — Ariston Group for around six years running the entire estate, Combe for more than fifteen, CooperVision and Galmarine for about five each.
The commitment timeline
What closes at each stage
The decision itself is short. What follows from it lasts five years. This timeline shows when each thing stops being negotiable — and how much room is left after it.
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Week 0
The choice
Specification from the real load and the systems running on top — not from a spec sheet.
What closes here Nothing yet. This is the only stage where changing your mind is free.
Room 100% -
Weeks 2–8
Supply
Ordering, lead times, and the support contract with the vendor.
What closes here The vendor, the model family, the capacity tier and the support-contract term.
Room 55% -
Defined maintenance windows
The migration
Moving the data off the existing environment, with a way back at each stage. This is most of the work — the installation is not.
What closes here The data layout, the virtualisation platform the storage serves, and the backup design.
Room 30%The virtualisation platforms -
Years 1–4
Operation
Availability and capacity monitoring, hardware faults handled with the vendor, and staged expansions.
What closes here The growth headroom left, and which expansions are possible at all without replacing the system.
Room 15%Backup and continuity -
Year 5
The refresh
The decision comes back around. What was chosen in year 0 sets how expensive it is to replace now.
What closes here Nothing — everything is open again, provided the first migration was documented properly.
Room 100%
How much can still change without paying for it
Before choosing
Five questions worth more than a spec sheet
These are the checks we run before recommending a system. Every one of them has already changed the outcome of a project.
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What is the real load profile?
Not what the spec sheet claims. A read-heavy load and a write-heavy load point at different systems.
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Which virtualisation platform runs above it — and is there a plan to change it?
Switching platforms after the storage is chosen costs far more than planning for it upfront.
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What are the RPO and RTO targets, and what backup system exists today?
Storage and backup are one system. A decision about either constrains the other.
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How fast has the data grown over the last three years?
Capacity is planned for growth, not for today. This is the most common reason for an early replacement.
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What has to stay available throughout the migration?
That is what sets the maintenance windows, and therefore the schedule for the whole project.
Platforms
Three vendors, and no standing preference
ILS Networks is an official partner of Dell Technologies and HP, and additionally designs and implements IBM storage systems. The choice comes from the environment — not from the partnership.
Dell Official partner Servers and PowerStore storage. The migrations we delivered at CooperVision and Galmarine ran on this platform.
HP Official partner Servers and storage arrays, including supply and vendor service contracts.
IBM Storage Enterprise storage. We migrated Ariston Group storage to IBM Storage 5300.
Proof
Storage migrations we have delivered
CooperVision
Migration to Dell PowerStore
Migration of enterprise storage to Dell PowerStore, alongside the full network infrastructure we designed and built on site.
Galmarine
Storage migration including the data move
Migration of enterprise storage to Dell PowerStore including the data move itself, as part of managing the whole estate.
The projects shown here are based on work delivered by the ILS team in customer environments.
FAQ
Questions and answers
Which server and storage vendors do you work with?
ILS Networks is an official partner of Dell Technologies and HP, and additionally designs and implements IBM storage systems. Projects delivered include migrating Ariston Group enterprise storage to IBM Storage 5300, and Dell PowerStore migrations at CooperVision and Galmarine.
How do you choose between storage systems?
Not by spec sheet, but by what runs on top of it: the virtualization platform, the real load profile, backup and DR targets, and growth over the next three years. A system chosen on paper IOPS without looking at those reaches its limit very quickly.
Do you handle the data migration too?
Yes. The migration is most of the work; the installation is not. We plan the move around defined maintenance windows with a way back at each stage — as in the Galmarine storage migration to Dell PowerStore, which included moving the data itself.
How long does a servers and storage project take?
It varies with the environment, but the split is consistent: specification and selection take a few weeks, supply depends on vendor lead times, and the migration is planned around maintenance windows the organization defines. The installation itself is the shortest part of the project.
Do the servers have to be on-premise?
Not necessarily. Some organizations stay on-premise for performance or regulatory reasons, some move to cloud, and many end up hybrid. We design the compute layer around what the systems require, not around a direction decided in advance.
How does this connect to backup and virtualization?
Storage, the virtualization platform and the backup system are one system. A decision about any one of them constrains the other two, so we design them together rather than as three separate projects. The full detail of each layer lives on the virtualization and backup pages.
Do you serve organizations in Israel?
Yes. ILS Networks is an Israeli IT infrastructure company, and an official partner of Dell Technologies and HP.
When should you replace servers rather than extend the support contract?
The decision follows three things: whether the vendor still supports the model, whether the hardware meets current load, and whether the extension cost is approaching the cost of new hardware. A server past end of support is an operational risk even while it works, because a replacement part may not be available when it is needed.
What does it take to put a server room in order?
A tidy comms cabinet with labelling and managed cabling, power with UPS backup, adequate cooling, separation of network equipment from servers, and documentation of what connects where. It sounds mundane, but an undocumented server room is the most common reason a small fault turns into hours of searching.
Next step
Before you commit to new storage
A short technical call with the team: what runs today, where the bottleneck is, and what an orderly migration takes — no commitment.
We have your inquiry
Thanks for contacting ILS Networks. We will come back to you shortly. If it is urgent, you can also call us directly.
+972-54-454-6020