Socionext – Efficient backups with fast recovery on a global scale

Socionext – Efficient backups with fast recovery on a global scale.

Socionext designs, develops and produces system-on-chop (SoC) solutions and is one of the world’s leading providers of them. Created in 2015 after a merger of Fujitsu and Panasonic’s system LSI business, Socionext has 40 years of experience in the semi-conductor industry. On the hunt for a new backup strategy, Bechtle equipped Socionext’s two German sites with a perfect solution. The result was greater data security and optimised IT security thanks to Rubrik-integrated ransomware protection within the backup and recovery process.

Project details.

Services

IT Security

Industry

Manufacturing

Manufacturer

Rubrik

Company size

250 – 1,500 employees

Challenge.

Socionext’s focus is on open innovation for the development and production of optimally tailored system-on-chip (SoC) solutions. Socionext Europe GmbH (SNEU) plays an important role with three locations in Europe (Langen, Neuried, Maidenhead) plays an important role in the worldwide semiconductor business. Close to 200 employees around Europe are dedicated to innovative chip solutions, which are critical to cutting-edge applications in automotive, industrial automation, IoT and radar sensor, networking and visual environments. Calculations, layout planning and analysing chip tests generate large amounts of data—which can quickly reach up to 300 TB.

Depending on the customer, this data has to be securely stored for at least ten years and be quick to recover should any problems arise. The previous backup-to-tape method was no longer up to the job, and so Socionext Europe began the search for a new on-premise backup solution for all global sites which was both flexibly scalable and protects data according to SLAs from ransomware and other external threats. The overarching objective was to be able to save large volumes of data and recover them in a matter of minutes—securely, stably and in the two European data centres as well as at the US location.

The switch to the new backup solution at all locations worldwide went extremely well. The Bechtle consultants collaborated well with our admins, treating them as equals and sharing their extensive IT expertise in all areas. Now, if we lose our data, we can recover it in under an hour rather than in several days. Bechtle’s recommendation saves us time and has boosted our security.

Christian Drews, Senior Manager IT, Socionext Europe GmbH

Solution.

Bechtle presented Socionext Europe GmbH with Rubrik and several other manufacturers as a potential solution. With a Rubrik hardware appliance combined with the existing storage solution, SNEU has considerably optimised the time between an application problem and recovery (Recovery Time Objective (RTO)) plus the amount of data lost in the event of a system issue (Recovery Point Objective (RPO)). Up to 10 years of data backups with an RPO and RTO of less than one hour are possible. Together in several workshops, Socionext and Bechtle defined the new backup solution’s necessary sizing requirements before a decision was finally made to go with the Rubrik system after a proof of concept. Rubrik already covered Socionext’s requirements on board—easy operation and scalability, automated and therefore time-saving backup management, data recovery within minutes, compliance with Socionext’s very strict SLAs and protection against ransomware and other cybersecurity threats. All critical aspects in semi-conductor development and chip production.

After a final sizing, Bechtle put together a detailed concept. The existing storage is used to save the data that the Rubrik r6416 4-node appliance implemented by Bechtle migrates where it is kept for at least two weeks (instant recovery). Rubrik’s smart management software decides which data is to be backed up based on previously defined SLA policies. Larger volumes of data are automatically outsourced with meta data held on the Rubrik appliance, Which also intelligently protected against ransomware in the backup and recovery process. Once planning had been completed, Bechtle took on the roll out of the new backup solution, configuring the interfaces for the storage system and VMware environment already in place. Once Socionext’s IT team had installed the prepared hardware, Bechtle’s consultants used the implementation period to train the company how to use it. Bechtle also trained the team at the USA location on operating the environment and were on-hand to support during the implementation phase.

Business benefits.

The new Rubrik-based backup solution considerably reduces Socionext’s daily backup and recovery admin work. Rubrik’s intelligent, automated backup management runs in the background without manual input, fulfils the company’s requirements and is flexibly scalable ensuring that data is secure in the long run and can be restored in a matter of minutes and the push of a button.