Recent years have seen an increase in the popularity of community-oriented credit unions, many positioning themselves on offering a closer relationship between banking clients and the experts that advise them on their financial futures. Cascade Community Credit Union is one such institution, operating in Douglas County and serving its constituents exclusively. At the center of the stability and outstanding service that Cascade C.U. clients rely on are the servers and network that keeps their valuable information secure and accessible.
The Client: Cascade Community Credit Union
Cascade Community Credit union is a not-for-profit, federally insured credit union operating in Douglas County. Cascade prides itself in its close connection to its client base, choosing to serve only residents of Douglas County in a bid to remain closely entwined with the local community. The credit union currently operates two branches in the Roseburg, OR area.
The Problem: Existing server structure does not provide adequate redundancy and expandability
Some of Cascade’s ancillary servers operated on Windows 2000 Server software that was rapidly becoming dated. Knowing Core Business Services’ prowess in the field of server virtualization, Cascade CIO Dale Debs reached out to the experts at Core to structure a plan to consolidate and streamline the credit union’s servers to provide for more modern, efficient, and capable data-handling.
Levi Daily, VP of Technology for Core, was there to answer the call. Having a background in Cascade’s server environment from a prior network audit he conducted, Levi suggested the complete migration of the existing servers to a virtual platform, offering increased expandability and redundancy. In addition, the server platform was to be updated to a more modern version currently supported by Microsoft.
The Solution: Fully Virtualized Server architecture provides jumping-off point for future expansion
Initial assessment of Cascade’s network and pre-migration preparation was conducted remotely from Core’s facilities in Medford OR. This pre-work is standard with all of Core’s projects and is intended to provide a clear picture of a company’s network and server health before a project commences.
On Saturday, Sept ember 19, the project began at Cascade’s location in Roseburg, OR. Cascade’s two existing servers were migrated to a virtual environment, and two additional virtual servers were created for additional support and redundancy. Following a complete review of potential server operating system options, Cascade opted to go with Levi’s suggestion of Microsoft Server 2008 R2, a technology so cutting edge that it has yet to become widely available to the general public. Upgrading to R2 from the archaic Windows Server 2000 enables the credit union to remain current and relevant in terms of its servers for years to come.
Successful migration of the servers was accomplished seamlessly in one day, and members of Cascade’s internal IT department were given hands-on training in managing and maintaining Windows Hyper-V, the hypervisor that will be controlling their sleek new server environment.
As the bank poises to grow its client base and move forward into the years ahead, it can now rest assured that its servers are well equipped to safely and reliably handle the rigorous demands of the banking world, while service and support, if needed, is just a phone call away. |
