Humanitarian Group Offers Timely Emergency Relief with Scalable, Hosted Private Cloud

Case Study

Members of Czech Red Cross rely on timely information in order to provide humanitarian aid during emergencies. The nonprofit organization wanted to implement a solution that it could use to share information with volunteers over the Internet. However, it had neither the financial resources nor the personnel to build a robust server infrastructure to support an online communication solution. Czech Red Cross turned to Web4U, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, and took advantage of a hosted private cloud built on Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V technology and Microsoft System Center products. By using a private cloud, Czech Red Cross has achieved critical levels of infrastructure scalability to support its relief efforts. At the same time, it has created an IT infrastructure that can be easily managed by its volunteer staff.

An Overview

Business Situation
The organization relied on inefficient, paper-based communication processes that could potentially hamper the transmission of information during emergencies.

Solution
Working with Microsoft partner Web4U, Czech Red Cross developed a communication platform that it deployed to a hosted private cloud infrastructure built on Hyper-V technology.

Benefits
- Achieved critical scalability
- Improved timeliness of relief efforts
- Simplified infrastructure maintenance

Hardware
Supermicro modular servers with 196 GB of RAM, 9.8 TB of storage

Software and Services
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2
- Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal 2.0
- Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional
- Microsoft Hyper-V
- Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.0
- Microsoft ASP.NET

Vertical Industries
Non-profit Organizations

Country/Region
Czech Republic

Business Need
- Cloud & Server Platform
- Cost Containment

IT Issue
- Cloud Services
- Private Cloud
- Virtualization    

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Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 R2 is a multipurpose operating system designed to increase the reliability and flexibility of your server and private cloud infrastructure, helping you to save time and reduce costs. It provides you with powerful tools to react to business needs faster than ever before with greater control and confidence.

For more information, visit:
www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/windows-server