Ultramar Diamond Shamrock implements IBM UNIX servers and Shark storageSan Antonio 10 January 2001 Oil refiner and convenience store giant Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corporation (UDS) has implemented powerful IBM UNIX servers and Shark open disk storage to run its enterprise business applications, including its SAP enterprise resource planning environment.
Ultramar Diamond Shamrock chose two IBM RS/6000 S80 and eight
RS/6000 M80 systems, which now run UDS's core business applications
two to three times faster than the 50 Sun systems that they replaced.
The company also elected to store their business data on a 5.3
terabyte IBM Shark disk storage system. The complete IBM solution for
UDS was designed and implemented by Sirius Computer Solutions.
Ultramar Diamond Shamrock operations consist of refineries,
convenience stores, petroleum pipelines and terminals, a home heating
oil business and natural gas operations.
Two RS/6000 S80 12-way systems and eight M80 4-way servers running
AIX, IBM's award-winning UNIX operating system, serve as the backbone
of an information technology infrastructure that will run some 60
different software applications and databases. The IBM systems are
responsible for critical business functions, including enterprise
resource planning, business intelligence, human resources,
backup/recovery, refinery maintenance, environmental tracking, bar
coding, point of sale, credit card reconciliation and product
movement.
UDS's choice of IBM UNIX servers was driven by the company's need
for a long-term solution. The flexibility of the S80 and M80 servers
and the Shark storage system allows for future expansion with fewer
server and storage platforms meaning better manageability and lower
cost of ownership for the diversified conglomerate.
The S80, available with up to 24 microprocessors, and the
rack-mounted M80, with up to eight microprocessors, provide customers
power, flexibility and reliability needed for mission-critical
applications. Both servers contain IBM innovative copper
microprocessor technology and have mainframe-class reliability and
serviceability. Smaller, denser, faster and cooler than their aluminum
counterparts, copper chips are also more reliable and less expensive
to manufacture.
Ultramar Diamond Shamrock chose the groundbreaking disk storage
solution, Shark Enterprise Storage Server, based on IBM's superior
price performance. Shark enabled UDS to proceed with plans to
implement a storage area network (SAN) for consolidation and increased
manageability. The 5.3 terabyte Shark is attached to all the IBM UNIX
servers. Shark works with the industry's leading servers and operating
systems including Windows NT, UNIX, Novell NetWare, the entire eServer
family, and with a variety of interfaces, including Fibre Channel,
Ultra SCSI and ESCON. Shark incorporates IBM unique technology such as
Parallel Access Volumes (PAV), currently unavailable in competing
systems from EMC and Hitachi Data Systems. Shark also offers Ultramar
Diamond Shamrock serious growth potential of up to 11.2 terabytes.
Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp., with about $15.0 billion in
annual revenues and more than 20,000 employees, is one of the largest
independent refining and marketing companies in North America. The
company now operates seven refineries in the United States and Canada
with a total throughput capacity of 850,000 barrels per day and has
over 5,000 branded retail gasoline/convenience merchandise stores, the
majority of which are branded Diamond Shamrock, Ultramar, Beacon or
Total. The corporation also has growing petrochemicals and home
heating oil businesses. Please visit our Web site at
http://www.udscorp.com for more information including annual reports,
press releases, SEC forms 10-K and 10-Q, and audio archives of recent
conference calls.
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