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

NEWS : Westcoast Solutions Lab is now open for business!

Westcoast is proud to announce the new...



The Westcoast Solutions Lab is a multi-vendor, fully functional demo facility that you and your customers can take advantage of to maximise your business. The Lab will always showcase the most up to date products and technologies from a range of manufacturers to keep you ahead of the competition.

The Solutions Lab has an HP Rack system fully loaded with the latest technologies from HP, including Generation 7 BL460c blades and DL380 rack servers, HP 5400zl and A5800 core switches, P4000 SAN storage running Virtual SAN appliance software as well as the full suite of HP management tools and Microsoft software.

Westcoast Solutions Lab

The lab also benefits from multiple tech pods which are available to demonstrate the latest solution combinations from HP, Microsoft and other key vendors, to help you position the benefits to your customers.

• The live environment is fully Microsoft Lync enabled so demonstrates the software and technology using various Lync optimised end points.

• The Solutions Lab staff can show you and your customers Virtualisation and Management demonstrations using Microsoft Hyper-V and System Centre on an HP Blade Systems platform.

• The facility uses the latest AV technologies to ensure presentations and training are of the highest visual standard.

• The space can be re branded to suit the audience and the event using the visual display capabilities on site.

Westcoast Solutions Lab

Located in Milton Keynes and with easy access from the M1 motorway the Westcoast Solutions Lab is available for many different types of events free of charge to our resellers including;

• Reseller and end user events
• Vendor days
• Conferences
• Focus groups
• Breakfast meetings
• Training sessions

We would encourage you to please visit the Lab on our open days on the 12-14th October to see what the lab can offer you and your customers. There will be 3 identical sessions at the below times on these days.

• 10am - 12pm
• 1pm - 3pm
• 3.30pm - 5.30pm

Plus! Join us on one of these open days and get entered  into a draw for 3 chances to £200 cash back on your next servers, storage or networking order! 
One must be given away each day!

Please click the image above to book the lab

We hope that you can make use of this fantastic new facility, so please In the meantime if you need anymore information then please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you wish to book the lab then please either click the Calendar image (above) or go to this link

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

Westcoast Smart Bid website now extended to HP Networking..

The new HP Networking section of the popular Westcoast SmartBid website has been now been launched where you can obtain special pricing on specific HP Networking product part numbers.

The site allows you to manage your bids and get a decision within 4 business hours.

Visit the site today and log in with your Westcoast log in details www.westcoast.co.uk/smartbid

If you have a Networking solution you wish to implement or would like help or more details on HP's range of networking solutions, then please do not hesitate to contact the Solutions team.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

Westcoast at Convergence Summit South (4-5th October 2011)

With the worldwide IT and Infrastructure changing rapidly over the last 3 or 4 years as organisations of all sizes, commercial and public sector look at ways to reduce costs, increase ROI on investments and maximise their current infrastructure Westcoast have reacted to this challenge.

Westcoast have partnered with Microsoft, HP and Aastra to bring you a complete Unified Communications Solution.

Combining technologies from these three vendors will allow you and your customers to adapt to evolving business needs with a secure communications platform that spans across all the different ways people communicate, including telephone, e-mail, voice mail and instant messaging. Westcoast is also a leading supplier of IT Infrastructure products to the computer reseller channel.

Click here to arrange a meeting with us.

For more details on the Convergence Summit South event please go to http://www.convergencesummit.co.uk

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

September 2011 - HP Server and Storage offers.

In order for you to have your own copy of this months offers, We can now offer them in a easy downloadable PDF for you.

Please click the image above to open the PDF.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

HELP : VMware vSphere 5 licensing Explained

Since the lauch of HP VMware Sphere 5 there have been a number of questions on how it is licenced as there is a little confusion from people moving over from vSphere 4.

In vSphere 5 the licence you use (Standard, Enterprise or Enterprise plus) is partly determined by how much vRAM the virtual machines have been allocated.

vRAM is new in Version 5, Unlike in vSphere 4 where the core and physical RAM entitlements are tied to a single server and cannot be shared among multiple hosts, the vRAM entitlements of vSphere 5 licenses are pooled, aggregated, across all vSphere servers managed by vCenter Server.

So what is a vRAM?
When a virtual machine is created, it is configured with a certain amount of memory available to the virtual machine, this is called vRAM.

What are the new Licences?
 The licences are split up into 3 different versions...

• Standard 1 Processor licence allow for a maximum of 32GB/entitlement
• Enterprise 1 Processor licence allow a maximum of 64GB /entitlement
• Enterprise plus 1 Processor licence allow a maximum of 96GB/entitlement

So how do I licence Servers and vRAM?
The easiest way to explain it is to provide an example.

If you were to use two DL380 G7 servers each with two 6 core processors (4 processors in total), 128GB of physical RAM and you wanted to use vSphere Enterprise edition, each physical CPU would require a license. To correctly licence vShpere you would need to purchase a minimum of four vSphere 5 Enterprise licenses (one for each processor). Now as each Enterprise license provides a vRAM entitlement of 64GB this creates a vRAM pool of 256GB.

Next, you would need to create the virtual machines.

In this example lets say you want to create 50 virtual machines each having 4GB of vRAM in each, and planned to deploy them across the two DL380 G7 servers, this would only take up 200GB of your 256GB entitlement. As both of the DL380 servers are connected to the same vCenter Server and are running the same VMware vSphere edition This vRAM pool also allows DRS and VMware vMotion to move the virtual machines between any of the CPUs without needing any additional licenses.

Even if all 50 virtual machines were running on a single CPU, no additional vRAM capacity would be required, because the pooled vRAM entitlement would not be exceeded.

If you increased the memory in the DL380 servers to beyond the vRAM entitlement, you would need to purchase additional processor licences (of the same type) for the additional physical memory you installed in the servers to be used.

For instance If you increased the memory in the servers from 128GB to 192GB each (384GB in total) but only had the 4 Enterprise licences as shown above, you would only ever see an entitlement of 256GB of that 384GB. You would therefore need to purchase another 2 enterprise licences to allow the additional memory in the servers to be used.

So what do the different versions give me?

Below is a table showing what features are with each edition of vSphere 5

I Hope that has helped with any questions around licencing vSphere 5.
If you have any questions please post them below and i will be happy to help or please contact us.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

NEWS : VMware Vsphere 5 now released on HP part numbers.

VMware from HP provides a comprehensive suite of virtualization solutions designed expressly for mission-critical enterprise computing.

HP offers a complete portfolio of VMware licences Server and Desktop Infrastructure Software.
VMware software from HP includes either a 1year or 3year 9x5 of unlimited support and subscription with uplifts to 24x7 and multiyear support for 3,4 or 5 years. With this support, customers receive installation, configuration and troubleshooting support. HP also offers VMware software bundled with HP Insight Control and the HP P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance software.

The VMware OEM portfolio from HP includes:

• All VMware vSphere 5 core server editions and related acceleration kits
• Upgrade licenses within the core server editions
• VMware vCenter management products including Site Recovery Manager (SRM), Lab Manager, AppSpeed, Chargeback, CapacityIQ
• vCloud products including vCloud Director, Request manager
• vShield products
• VMware View products
• VMware ThinApp products
• The VMware OEM portfolio from HP includes a 1- or 3-year 9x5 unlimited support and subscription services. Additional care pack services can be purchased separately with 24x7 or 3/4/5 year terms.

For more information (part numbers etc) then please go to the HP quickspecs

If you have a virtual server solution you wish to implement or would like help or more details, then please do not hesitate to contact the Solutions team.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

NEWS : New Installation services from Westcoast

A couple of months ago (in this post) I mentioned that we have some exciting new services that were soon to be announced.
I am therefore pleased to announce a whole host of new Installation services that Westcoast are now offering, these include..

• Network installation and configuration,
• Server & Storage Deployment,
• Project Management,
• Site surveys,
• Capacity planning,
• Software Configuration,
• Rental

As always the Westcoast Solutions presales team are always happy to help you with your Server and Storage solution and now as we can offer the above services we can provide a full service suite to make your solution concept and implementation run more smoothly.

If you have a solution you wish to implement and would like details on the above services, then please do not hesitate to contact the Solutions team.

Regards

Technical ISS Solutions Team

Video of the Week : HP 3PAR - The next generation of storage

Virtualization is transforming data centers. But this shift is also placing new demands on infrastructure that legacy storage platforms were never designed to handle.

The next generation of Tier 1 storage, HP 3PAR Utility Storage was built from the ground up to exceed the economic and operational requirements of even the most demanding and dynamic IT environments. HP 3PAR Utility Storage delivers 100% of the agility and efficiency demanded by the virtual data center and cloud computing. It does this through an innovative, purpose-built architecture that offers secure multitenancy, built-in thin processing capabilities, and unique autonomic management and storage tiering features.

Get the SAN infrastructure performance, scalability, and availability you need to transform your data center and enable virtual and cloud computing.



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