Live like a Millionaire with Microsoft and Westcoast

Westcoast have launched their latest incentive for our Microsoft resellers.
Its a good one so read on!

The Main Prize!
Is a space for two on a luxury yacht on the Tabacco corner of the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix in 2012. You can win one of three spaces for two to watch the Monaco grand Prix in style from the yacht with full hospitality.

There are two other monthly prizes are available..

Month One
You can win a shopping trip for two to Harrods with £250 to spend per person followed by drinks in the Veuve Cliquot Champagne bar in Harrods. Lunch in a top London restaurant and spend the night in a top London Hotel

Month two
You could win a night out in London for two, dinner at an exclusive West End Restaurant, a complementary bottle of champagne and admission to any Top London West End show followed by a night in a 5* hotel

So how you can win?
You will have been set two monthly targets. The first runs from the 17th October – 16th November and the second the 17th November to the 16th December 2011. During this time all Microsoft sales will count towards your monthly targets.

If you achieve your monthly target you will be entered into the draw for one of the monthly prizes, with each 20% you achieve over target giving you one additional ticket.

In order to be entered into the main prize draw you will need to achieve your target for both months and log in at least once every month.

You can gain additional tickets into the main draw for doing one or more of the following:

• 5 points for attending a Westcoast and Microsoft Event
• 3 points for sitting your MLSS exam*
• 3 points for requested marketing material from the Westcoast and Microsoft Gym
• 3 points each month you place an Open license order
• 1 point for adding yourself to Microsoft PinPoint*

To Login to the incentive and for full details, click here!

As always, if you need help with a Solution with Microsoft or Servers then please do not hesitate to contact us, we wish you all the best in this incentive.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

Westcoast’s new Smart Networking Tool - HP vs Cisco

Click on above Image to access the tool

Do you have a Cisco Networking opportunity?
Westcoast are pleased to announce our new Smart Networking tool, this tool will enable you to provide a HP Networking vs Cisco quote. Simply Enter the details of your Cisco quote and receive special pricing on HP Networking products

So what the benefits of using this tool?

• 48 Hour SLA – Upload your network designs or kit lists to the tool and our technical experts will endeavour to send your quote in under 48 hours*
• Pricing advantage – On average a HP solution is 20% cheaper than the equivalent Cisco offering
• Increased Margin – Qualifying deals will benefit from at least 10% additional margin**

All you need to do is simply upload your requirement to the portal and receive your competitive quotation back within 48 hours

*Timescale may increase depending on workload
**Specific criteria must be met as per HP’s partner guidelines

We hope that this tool is of use to you however, If you need help with the tool, or have questions surrounding a networking opportunity then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

Product Spotlight : Cisco Fabric Extender for HP BladeSystem

The Cisco Fabric Extender for HP BladeSystem (Model B22HP) provides an extension of the Cisco Nexus switch fabric to the HP server edge. Logically, it behaves like a remote line card to a parent Cisco Nexus 5000 series switch with the Fabric Extender and the parent Nexus together forming a distributed modular system.

The Cisco Fabric Extender for HP BladeSystem forwards traffic to the parent Cisco Nexus 5000 Series Switch over eight 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks. Low-cost uplink connections up to 10 meters can be made with copper Twin-ax cable, and longer connections up to 100 meters can use the Fabric Extender Transceiver. Standard 10Gb optics such as SR and LR are also supported.

Downlinks to each server are auto-negotiating and work with all HP Ethernet and CNA modules allowing customers a choice of Ethernet, FCoE or iSCSI connections. Being a seamless extension of a Nexus 5000 allows traffic to be switched according to policies established by the Nexus 5000 Series Switch with a single point of management.

Performance

• Sixteen 1Gb/10Gb downlinks
• Each Ethernet downlink supports FibreChannel over Ethernet (FCoE), Datacenter Bridging (DCB), and iSCSI
• Each Ethernet downlink can autonegotiate to 1Gb to support legacy NICs and/or Wake On LAN Eight 10Gb uplinks
• Each Fabric uplink carries both Ethernet and FibreChannel over Ethernet (FCoE) traffic
• Fabric uplinks support .5m/1m/3m/5m/7m/10m twinax, Fabric Extender Tranceiver (FET-10G), 10Gbase-SR, and 10Gbase-LR optics
• Up to 24 Fabric Extenders can be managed by a single Nexus 5000 series switch
• Ports support Ethernet, iSCSI and DCB protocols

Management

• Centralized Management - All configuration & monitoring performed on parent Nexus switch
• Up to 24 Fabric Extenders can be managed by a single Nexus 5000 series switch
• Supported by CiscoWorks and Cisco Data Center Network Manager
• Support for SNMP V1, V2, V3
• XML (Netconf) support.

HP ProLiant Servers Supported

• HP ProLiant BL2x220c G7
• HP ProLiant BL280c G6
• HP ProLiant BL460c G7
• HP ProLiant BL460c G6
• HP ProLiant BL465c G7
• HP ProLiant BL465 G6
• HP ProLiant BL490c G7
• HP ProLiant BL490c G6
• HP ProLiant BL495c G6
• HP ProLiant BL620c G7
• HP ProLiant BL680c G7
• HP ProLiant BL685c G7
• HP ProLiant BL685 G6
• NOTE: Some servers listed above may be discontinued.

• HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade
• HP Integrity BL860c i2 Server Blade
• HP Integrity BL870c Server Blade
• HP Integrity BL870c i2 Server Blade
• HP Integrity BL890c i2 Server Blade

Cisco Network Switches

• Cisco Nexus 5010
• Cisco Nexus 5020
• Cisco Nexus 5548
• Cisco Nexus 5596

For some more in-depth specs of this new Fabric Extender then please click "here".
If you need help with a HP Blade solution then please contact us and we will provide a solution to your customers needs.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

NEWS : Announcing the Next Generation of Tier 1 storage

On 23rd August HP announced two new additions to their Converged Storage portfolio, namely the HP P10000 3PAR "V-Class" systems and HP Peer Motion.

Watch the HP 3PAR Thin Conversion & Peer Motion video (5 mins) below to see how HP’s Peer Motion Software non-disruptively moves data and HP’s Thin Conversion Software can help customers rapidly migrate from legacy storage.



HP Peer motion software delivers the industry’s first peer-to-peer storage federation capabilities that span from a virtual storage area network (SAN) software appliance to midrange and high-end storage systems.

If you need help with a 3PAR storage solution then please contact us and we will provide a tailored solution to your customers needs.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team