A Customer Success
from the Experts in
Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
Executive Summary
DTS, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTSI) is a digital technology company dedicated to delivering
the ultimate entertainment experience. DTS decoders are in virtually every major
brand of 5.1-channel surround processor, and there are hundreds of millions of DTSlicensed consumer electronics products available worldwide.
With its recent Avocent purchase, DTS has embraced–for its winning IT staff–cuttingedge technology for virtual server and remote power management, technologies
that are changing the face of IT.
With its previous solution, the DTS staff was unable to establish remote console
access to work on company servers, and they lacked some remote power
management capabilities. In addition, the company had no way to remotely access
a growing pool of servers running VMware® ESX software.
Company
DTS, Inc.
Location
Agoura Hills, California
Type of Business
Audio Technology
Web site
www.dts.com
Applications
DSRTM 2020, DSR 8035 and DSR 1021
KVM over IP switches
ACS 4 and ACS 16 advanced console servers
DSViewTM 3 management software
MergePointTM 5200 service processor manager
“It was pretty clear early on that Avocent had the total solution we were looking for,”
says DTS IT Manager Charles Tanpoco.
With Avocent, the DTS staff is reaping the benefits of IT productivity improvements,
new remote power management capabilities, improved data center security,
increased system uptime and an ability to remotely manage a growing cache of
virtual servers.
“Using the virtualization piece also adds another layer of
access rights to virtual machines, which allows control
over unit settings configuration, viewer sessions and
device power.”
– Charles Tanpoco, IT manager, DTS, Inc.
Challenge
“Prior to Avocent, our biggest challenge was console access. We had remote access
with our previous solution, but for many tasks, you need remote console access–as
if you were standing in front of the server. There’s a big difference,” says Tanpoco.
As a result, Tanpoco and his colleagues had to walk into the server room, locate a
specific server and stand in front of the machine for several minutes, carrying out
tasks such as software installations.
“Walking back and forth to the data center hinders productivity and
can compromise data center security,” says Tanpoco. “Ideally, you
want to limit access to the data center. With the Avocent solution,
the need to physically touch a server is minimal.”
Moreover, the company had no way to remotely access its growing
pool of virtual servers running VMware ESX Server software.
“We can now remotely power down a server
within just a few seconds through any
Web browser. We don’t have to make any
phone calls or ask for help. The benefits are
tremendous.”
Another challenge was a lack of remote power management
capabilities.
“We centrally support multiple data centers from our corporate
headquarters. We don’t have any data center personnel in any of
our remote data centers, so we have to manage everything centrally
from here,” says Tanpoco. “We anticipate building out more data
centers in remote locations in the near future. It gives us peace
of mind knowing that we will have remote BIOS-level visibility
and remote power management capabilities from our corporate
headquarters.”
Solution
DTS did its due diligence, comparing other vendor offerings
with Avocent.
“I looked at some white papers but it was pretty clear early on that
Avocent had the total solution we were looking for,” says Tanpoco.
Avocent offered pure remote console access with virtual media
capabilities, remote management for virtual servers, integrated
power management and advanced security features—all accessible
through one Web interface: DSView 3 management software.
“Avocent also offered a KVM over IP switch with 32 ports,” adds
Tanpoco. “The Avocent DSR switch offered more available ports than
any other KVM over IP switch at the time.”
Virtual Servers
Comprehensive management software and solutions for
remote server access and power management increase IT
staff productivity and help improve data center security.
DSView 3 software discovers and inventories
the ESX servers and virtual machines.
Results
“Deploying Avocent was about saving time and saving money. It was
also about delivering better services to the company,” says Tanpoco.
“With Avocent’s virtual media technology alone, we’re probably
saving about 50 hours per year.”
Virtual media is simulated media that performs the same function
of a mass storage device without physically being connected. It’s a
very easy and convenient method to transfer files, applications, OS
patches, conduct diagnostic testing or load software.
Since virtual media capabilities are built into DSView 3 software,
there’s no need to walk into the data center, stand in front of a
server and load a large Microsoft® Office application, for example,
via CD. Administrators can load the software from their desktop
using DSView 3 software while they carry out other job duties for
improved IT productivity and better data center security.
“There are a number of console access tasks that our administrators
can now carry out from their desktops,” says Tanpoco.
“When we first deployed Avocent, our IT staff was really blown
away. The first time our information security manager logged in and
remotely rebooted a device, he was impressed by the BIOS-level
visibility the Avocent solution provided. It was so easy to use. Once
you have your desktop console set up you can see all of your servers,
and you can reboot and watch the whole process as if you were in
front of the server,” says Tanpoco. “It gives you tremendous
remote visibility.”
“Our goal is 100 percent system uptime for
our staff. With Avocent’s technology, we are
much closer to that goal.”
A recently added virtualization plug-in to DSView 3 software
also allows DTS to manage its growing cluster of virtual servers—
remotely—which is becoming increasingly important as more and
more IT organizations adopt virtualization technology.
“The virtualization component is an important feature because it
provides administrators console access to a virtual machine using the
Avocent VMware viewer. This provides a single interface for
managing both physical and virtual servers. Using the virtualization
piece also adds another layer of access rights to virtual machines,
which allows control over unit settings configuration, viewer
sessions and device power,” says Tanpoco.
A Customer Success
from the Experts in
Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
With ACS advanced console servers deployed, new remote power
management capabilities are saving time.
DTS is well on its way to meeting the stated goals of saving time,
saving money and improving service levels.
“We can now remotely power down a server within just a few
seconds through any Web browser. We don’t have to make
any phone calls or ask for help. The benefits are tremendous,”
says Tanpoco.
“Our goal is 100 percent uptime for our staff. With Avocent’s
technology, we are much closer to achieving that goal,” concludes
Tanpoco.
About DTS
Regular, automated reboot cycles have been set up for most
company servers to maintain overall server health.
Tanpoco has also been very impressed with the security features built
into DSView 3 software. “Previously, we couldn’t designate security
protocols down to the machine level. With Avocent, it’s
great, because I can provide console access to an administrator
who needs to work on a certain SQL server, for example, limiting
server exposure. I can also place controls on various IT groups and
designate the specific servers that each group can access.”
A pioneer in multi-channel audio, DTS technology is in home theatre,
car audio, PC and game console products, as well as DVD-Video,
HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc and Surround Music software. Additional
information is available at www.dts.com.
Emerson Network Power.
The global leader in enabling Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
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the Avocent logo, DSR, DSView and MergePoint are trademarks of Avocent Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
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