A public maritime hydrocarbon transportation company that could not afford system downtime
An Ecuadorian public-sector company dedicated to the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons and other natural resources was operating with insufficiently redundant IT infrastructure. With an active fleet and onshore data centers that had to remain continuously operational, any single point of failure could compromise both administrative operations and vessel management.
With an operating budget of approximately $10 million annually and headquarters in Esmeraldas, the institution required an in-depth infrastructure assessment and the implementation of a solution that would eliminate single points of failure and achieve true 7×24×365 availability.
High availability for operations that never stop
Maritime hydrocarbon transportation is a critical operation that requires information, logistics, and control systems to remain available without interruption, both at onshore facilities and aboard vessels.
Identify vulnerabilities and build an architecture with no single points of failure
Objective 1 — Identify points of failure
Audit and assess the existing server and storage platform to identify all components lacking redundancy.
Objective 2 — 7×24×365 redundant architecture
Design and implement a solution that guarantees complete system continuity across data centers and aboard vessels.
High-speed transmission
16 Gb/s Fibre Channel with Flash Core Module drives to drastically reduce response times compared with the previous architecture.
Server failover
Implement automatic failover mechanisms so that the failure of any individual server does not affect the operation of critical systems.
Hardware requirements
Enterprise storage, SAN switches, and Intel servers to build the new world-class redundant architecture.
Efficient cross-functional management
The solution had to be centrally manageable, with information available to internal and external users without interruption.
Design, architecture, and implementation of complete redundancy using Intel + enterprise storage
Infodataserv led the entire project lifecycle: from assessing the existing infrastructure to designing the new architecture, implementing it, and conducting functional validation through redundancy and high-availability testing. The team included technical specialists in Software, Intel, Storage, and SAN Networking.
The solution deployed Intel servers running VMware ESXi for virtualization, enterprise storage with Flash Core Module drives, and 16 Gb/s SAN connectivity with zone segmentation, all configured with dual paths and redundant components across every layer of the architecture.
The combination of Flash Core Module drives, 16 Gbps SAN interconnection, and zone segmentation resulted in a 90% reduction in access and transaction times compared with the previous architecture.
Specifications of the deployed infrastructure
Extensive redundancy and high-availability tests were performed on servers, storage, and SAN switches, verifying system behavior under simulated failures in each component.
| Component | Platform | Specification |
|---|---|---|
| Compute servers | Intel (CISC) | 264 physical cores · 2.6 TB RAM · VMware ESXi Operating System |
| Storage | Enterprise | 240 TB · Flash Core Module · 16 Gb/s Fibre Channel I/O |
| SAN network | SAN Switch | Dual fabric · Zone segmentation · 16 Gb/s bandwidth |
| Virtualization | VMware | ESXi with HA enabled · vMotion · Automatic VM failover |
| Coverage | On-site | Onshore data center (Esmeraldas) + systems aboard vessels |
Technical specialists across every layer of the architecture
The project required the coordinated participation of specialists across four technical disciplines, working in parallel with the client's IT team to ensure an orderly transition to the new architecture.