IT-Integrator has successfully completed a project to migrate the database management system to the modern Oracle ODA hardware and software complex for the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre.
Background
It’s not hard to imagine the large volumes of data processed by the StateGeoCadastre on a daily basis. The load on the equipment used to store the data is steadily increasing and its limited disk space is being exhausted. In addition, there is a need for backups and high-quality infrastructure support, which together leads to potential high risks of critical information systems failure and, as a result, a complete shutdown of the organisation’s business processes.
In this project, the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre’s approach to ensuring the smooth operation of the DBMS, achieving the required amount of disk space with the maximum possible use of available equipment was rather an exception to the rule, as the service’s management and the responsible IT unit approached the implementation process in a balanced, knowledgeable and, most importantly, timely manner.
Solution
The first stage of the implementation was to audit the current state of the server infrastructure equipment and collect recommendations for its improvement in accordance with the requirements of time and system load. Process evaluation and rapid analysis of the software environment showed a low level of fault tolerance of the StateGeoCadastre’s electronic document management system, lack of backup and significant limitations of the enterprise’s storage space without the possibility of further increase, which was almost exhausted at the time of the audit.
The IT-Integrator technical team was engaged as a qualified consultant with relevant experience in working with the server infrastructure of critical infrastructure enterprises and the public sector, as well as the necessary competencies and resources to implement projects of this scale and responsibility.
After carefully reviewing the results of the audit and evaluating the proposals for infrastructure modernisation, the service applied to an international donor, providing all the necessary conclusions and comprehensive perspectives to obtain funding for the project.
Dmytro Zhukovskyi, Director of IT Department at IT-Integrator: “Taking into account the existing needs of the service at the starting point of the project and the results obtained as a result of the implementation, the StateGeoCadastre chose the most financially viable solution on the market – Oracle Database Appliance, which provides the necessary usable storage space, fault tolerance and the required performance in accordance with the institution’s processes.”
One of the primary tasks of the engineers was to fix the existing errors in the infrastructure, from hardware to analysing the current Oracle DBMS configuration. In particular, they configured access to servers and disk resources, the so-called multipassing drivers, streamlined the suboptimal allocation of disk resources by storage systems, and cleaned up temporary and unused database files, including those related to the storage of PLSQL program objects.
Already at these stages of the project, the Integrator’s team corrected the identified deficiencies, prepared a migration schedule to Oracle Database Appliance, and provided its own hardware resources to ensure backup of the current DBMS state until the project was successfully completed. Important requirements for the technical team during the implementation were to maximise the use of the existing hardware infrastructure and ensure that all users had access to the new software and hardware complex without interrupting the organisation’s work processes, as well as to update the DBMS to the version of the electronic document management system recommended by the developer and fix the identified deficiencies and backup issues.
In accordance with the approved project for upgrading the existing server infrastructure, the Oracle Database Appliance X9-2-HA software and hardware complex was installed and a number of works were carried out by the integrator’s team of engineers, including:
- Audit of the current state and recommendations on the identified shortcomings of the software and hardware complex of the electronic document management system of the StateGeoCadastre
- Updating the DBMS to the version of the electronic document management system recommended by the developer
- Backup of the current Oracle DBMS configuration
- Planning and organization of ODA disc resources
- Creating and configuring an Oracle database on ODA
- Preparation for the migration of the electronic document management system from the existing equipment and the migration itself, testing and transition of users to the new equipment (the amount of useful data at the time of migration was about 200TB)
- Backup of the electronic document management system data on the existing equipment
- Support of the software and hardware complex of the electronic document management system at all stages of the project until its successful completion
Results
The implemented Oracle software and hardware complex is equipped with tools for centralised monitoring of equipment and Oracle DBMS itself, and ensures the most efficient use of licence capabilities in accordance with the manufacturer’s policy.
As a result of the data migration and successful switching to new server hardware, IT-Integrator engineers managed to increase the capacity of the two existing systems from which the migration was carried out by 50% at once, which allowed them to be used for backup purposes in the future.
The project lasted six months from the start of the audit to its successful completion. The actual migration process to Oracle Database Appliance and the testing phase lasted 2 months.
Dmytro Makarenko, Acting Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre: “We understood the importance of technological modernisation of our computing facilities, as well as the criticality of choosing the right system vendor and technical consultant to carry out such a complex migration in the service’s operating mode, without downtime and providing reliable guarantees for future work. The performance of the implemented solution allowed us to store the data of the electronic document management system as efficiently as possible in the face of rapid growth of our resource needs. So, we can state that we are satisfied with the result of these innovations.”
Dmytro Zhukovskyi, Director of IT Department at IT-Integrator: “Due to the professional approach and responsible control at all stages of the project by the team and management of the StateGeoCadastre, the implementation resulted in maximum use of the resources of the equipment already available at the StateGeoCadastre, increased overall performance, fault tolerance and provision of the necessary disk space for the electronic document management system, which meets the current needs of the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre and has reserves for its growth. In particular, together with the client, the company successfully tested the system’s operation and found no deficiencies.”
