NetApp Opens New Global Research and Development Engineering Lab in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
May 30 2014 - 8:00AM
Marketwired
NetApp Opens New Global Research and Development Engineering Lab in
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
State-of-the-Art Facility Provides Shared Infrastructure
Backbone for Global Development and Test of Next-Generation Storage
and Data Management Solutions
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC--(Marketwired - May 30, 2014) -
NetApp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) today hosted a grand-opening
celebration for its new state-of-the-art, energy-efficient research
and development lab located in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North
Carolina. The celebration also marks the 15-year anniversary of
NetApp in the RTP region.
The grand-opening event will be attended by Sharon Allred
Decker, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce;
Harvey Schmitt, president and CEO of the Raleigh Chamber of
Commerce; Bob Geolas, president and CEO of the Research Triangle
Park foundation; and other leaders from the local community and
universities. Key executives from NetApp and its technology
partners, including Cisco, will be present.
The new engineering facility furthers NetApp expansion efforts
globally and in the region. The 155,000-square-foot
second-generation global dynamic lab (GDL-2) provides NetApp with
an enhanced 24/7 shared-services infrastructure for testing its
hardware and software against conditions that meet or exceed the
extreme performance requirements of today's enterprise data centers
and cloud environments.
"As the industry moves to complex hybrid cloud approaches, our
customers are increasingly turning to our proven expertise to
navigate this time of unprecedented technology-driven change," said
Rich Clifton, executive vice president, Customer Success
Operations, NetApp. "The state-of-the-art engineering facility
showcases best practices in advanced data center design. It will
enhance our ability to innovate on the next generation of storage
and data management technology and provide an efficient global
backbone for delivering enterprise-class service and support."
Facilitating 24/7 Global Engineering Collaboration and Customer
Support GDL-2 includes 2,235 racks of data-processing equipment
hosting applications on a shared, tiered virtual infrastructure.
Because the lab features a high-speed 40Gb/s Ethernet network
backbone (100Gb/s Ethernet ready), NetApp engineering teams from
around the world can quickly access private cloud resources to
perform complex engineering tasks. Additionally, state-of-the-art
automation and self-service capabilities at the lab allow NetApp
engineers to provision and deprovision development and test
environments for business-critical applications in minutes,
dramatically accelerating the development and quality control
process. The lab can scale to support environments comprising up to
one million virtual machines and thousands of NetApp
controllers.
Commitment to Energy Efficiency NetApp's commitment to
sustainability and to reducing data center power consumption is
reflected in the innovative design and construction of the data
center. With new window design systems, an energy-efficient HVAC
fan system, and a redesigned power distribution architecture,
NetApp estimates that GDL-2's power-usage-effectiveness (PUE)1
ratio will be 1.14, an 18% improvement over GDL-1. In comparison to
a typical 2.0 PUE facility, NetApp's energy efficiency savings are
equivalent to powering more than 15,000 homes per year.
A Foundation Built on FlexPod The GDL-2 lab is one of the
largest FlexPod® installations in the world. Delivered in
partnership with Cisco, FlexPod combines the Cisco® Unified
Computing System™, Cisco Nexus® data center switches, and NetApp®
storage components in a prevalidated, integrated infrastructure
solution that can be rapidly deployed to meet the demands of
business leaders who need to consolidate IT infrastructure, save
energy costs, host more applications, and share resources across
different departments. GDL-2 is one of the first customer
environments to feature FlexPod reference architectures with Cisco
Nexus 9000 switches with NetApp clustered Data ONTAP®-enabled
storage systems -- key components of a Cisco Application-Centric
Infrastructure.
15 Years in RTP NetApp began operations in RTP in 1999 and
currently employs more than 1,600 people in the region. NetApp RTP
operations include product research and development and a 24/7
global service and support center. In October 2013, the
Triangle Business Journal recognized NetApp as the #1
"Best Place to Work" in the area.
Reflecting its commitment to fostering the region's best
engineering talent, NetApp has partnered with Wake Tech Community
College (WTCC) and its president, Dr. Stephen Scott, to develop
curriculum for a degree program and certification in NetApp
storage. NetApp currently employs 10 interns from the inaugural
class in roles supporting the new facility. In addition, NetApp
recruits talent from the region's most prestigious universities,
including Duke University, the University of North Carolina, North
Carolina State University, Clemson University, and Virginia
Tech.
NetApp's success in RTP is due in part to close collaboration
with state and local governments. The State of North Carolina has
fostered a business-friendly environment with grant programs
designed to stimulate job creation. NetApp currently has three
active Job Development Investment Grants from the state of North
Carolina and is one of the largest job creators in the state.
1 Power usage effectiveness (PUE) is a metric established by The
Green Grid that determines the energy efficiency of a data center.
PUE is determined by dividing the amount of power entering a data
center by the power used to run the computer infrastructure within
it. PUE is therefore expressed as a ratio, with overall efficiency
improving as the quotient decreases toward 1. A value of 1.00
indicates 100% efficiency: All energy going into the data center is
used to power the computer equipment and nothing else.
Additional Resources
- Learn about NetApp Certifications
- Follow NetApp on Twitter
- Get the latest on NetApp culture
- Join NetApp on Facebook
- View NetApp videos on YouTube
- Connect with NetApp on LinkedIn
About NetApp NetApp creates innovative storage and data
management solutions that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and
accelerate business breakthroughs. Our commitment to living our
core values and consistently being recognized as a great place to
work around the world are fundamental to our long-term growth and
success, as well as the success of our pathway partners and
customers. Discover our passion for helping companies around the
world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.
NetApp, the NetApp logo, Go further, faster, Data ONTAP, and
FlexPod are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in
the United States and/or other countries. Cisco and Cisco Nexus are
registered trademarks and Unified Computing System is a trademark
of Cisco Systems. All other brands or products are trademarks or
registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be
treated as such.
Press Contact: Jeremiah Glodoveza Director, Global
Communications 1 408 822 4567 xdl-uspr@netapp.com
NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
