A few weeks ago a NetApp power user who was considering giving his NetApp infrastructure to the grim reaper called us with his problem. NetApp refused to sell the customer 72 GB drives which they needed to provide their Oracle Database the spindle count it needed for performance reasons. Complaints by the customer to his Oracle DBA’s about a lousy Database design were not winning him any friends, and were falling on deaf ears in management. NetApp’s solution was to sell him larger drives. But if he went with bigger drives he would not be able to stay below the Raw capacity limits of his Filer and would therefore need to upgrade the head unit, incurring huge costs. He just wanted some drives! So he began looking at alternate sources for storage of his Oracle DB. In a conversation with one of his peers, he learned about Zerowait. Out of desperation he called us to learn if Zerowait could help him. We told him we have a large stock of refurbished 72GB drives and can ship right away. After a series of questions and answers he wanted to check our references. I provided him with a list of reference customers for him to contact and he said he would.
Subsequently I learned that our customers told him that Zerowait’s folks really care about the details and provide them with excellent follow up on issues. He told me how he was pleasantly surprised by the comments he heard about us and wanted to give us a try. He told me he was recommending to his purchasing folks that they place an order with Zerowait.
We got the order and delivered the product on time and as specified. After a few weeks the new customer wrote me: “NetApp filers are great for databases because you can quickly provision storage, tightly integrate the host and the filer with the SnapManager suite, and change filer parameters to handle different database workloads.” The same customer goes on to say “Zerowait is great because they can provision equipment faster than Network Appliance, procure equipment that means your specific needs, and provide parts at a lower cost than Network Appliance.”
Our customers recognize that Zerowait provides them with a unique blend of NetApp hardware and outstanding high availability service and support. Our commitment to independent high availability service and support is what separates us from resellers and distributors of NetApp’s products. We recognize that NetApp makes great products; our focus is helping our customers maintain them for the long term, and helping these customers get the most value and performance out of their NetApp investments.
