Brocade Provides Remote Office Data Management Solution for Camden Property Trust
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Real Estate Investment Trust Enhances Productivity and Data Protection
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 8 -- Brocade® (Nasdaq: BRCD), a leader in data center networking solutions that help enterprises connect and manage their information, today announced that Camden Property Trust, one of the nation's largest real estate investment trusts, is using Brocade StorageX® and the product's file virtualization capabilities to aggregate and automate the management of mission-critical file data generated at its seven remote offices. The Brocade StorageX file data management software eliminates the costs and time required to maintain tape backup systems at remote offices, and is designed to help ensure that the firm meets Sarbanes-Oxley regulations mandating the safekeeping of key business information.
With nearly 200 communities across the U.S. encompassing 70,000 apartment homes, Camden clearly requires effective data backup. The 2,000-employee enterprise, founded in 1982, must preserve files and records, including images of properties, blueprints, leases, and financial and HR data, which it uses to invest in, develop, and operate properties in 13 states. The Houston-based firm must also secure e-mail and other data as required by Sarbanes-Oxley.
"Brocade StorageX is an easy, very cost-effective strategy for efficiently managing file data across distributed sites," said Charles Collins, Network Administrator, Camden Property Trust. "By consolidating file data daily at our data center without manual intervention, we did away with tape solutions at every remote office and the hours employees spent every week to operate them. There's now a single point of ownership for our stored files and we control all of it centrally. By working seamlessly with our Brocade SAN switches, Brocade StorageX provides a superior backup and disaster recovery solution, ensuring the safety of our business data and regulatory compliance."
Automation and Aggregation Meet Camden's Needs
Camden's need for a more effective backup strategy stemmed from the costs and complexity of its prior approach. Previously, staff at the firm's remote offices backed up approximately 30 gigabytes of locally created data onto tapes each week, mailed the tapes to the firm's data center, and inserted new tapes into the remote office backup systems. The process required up to three hours weekly at each facility and, because most sites lacked skilled IT professionals, the process was subject to error.
"We needed a much more secure means to protect the data produced in our field offices along with a more efficient and reliable method of backing up that data," said Collins. "Using Brocade StorageX now allows Camden's employees more time to focus on day-to-day operations."
Camden deployed Brocade StorageX to remedy this situation. The Brocade solution is an integrated application suite featuring multiple file data management capabilities, including migration and consolidation, business continuity, remote site data management, Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), storage optimization, and data classification and reporting. Camden administrators configured the solution's replication policies to automate the daily replication of data from each distributed facility across Camden's Wide Area Network (WAN) to its data center in Houston, Texas. The replication and corresponding backups are performed at night to leverage the firm's WAN during times of low traffic volumes.
At the data center, the firm uses two Brocade SAN switches to distribute the data to storage systems containing approximately four terabytes of information.
"Brocade StorageX improved our productivity by eliminating the need to ship and handle tapes or own, operate, and troubleshoot remote tape libraries," concluded Collins. "We easily administered the solution to automate and consolidate backups to our precise needs, reducing our administrative burden while enhancing the reliability, availability, and safety of our crucial data. Brocade StorageX is an ideal solution for Camden, and it has significantly lowered the costs, headaches, and uncertainty of remote site data management."
About Brocade
Brocade is a leading provider of data center networking solutions that help organizations connect, share, and manage their information in the most efficient manner. Organizations that use Brocade products and services are better able to optimize their IT infrastructures and ensure compliant data management. For more information, visit the Brocade Web site at www.brocade.com or contact the company at info@brocade.com.
About Camden Property Trust
Camden Property Trust is a real estate company engaged in the ownership, development, acquisition, management and disposition of multifamily apartment communities. Camden owns interests in and operates 186 properties containing 64,191 apartment homes across the United States. Upon completion of 12 properties under development, the Company's portfolio will increase to 67,973 apartment homes in 198 properties. For additional information, please contact Camden's Investor Relations Department at ir@camdenliving.com or visit the Camden website at www.Camdenliving.com.
SOURCE Brocade - 01/08/2008
CONTACT:
Media Relations
Kathryn Craig
+1-832-230-2249
kcraig@brocade.com
or
Ian Yellin of Ogilvy PR
+1-415-677-2714
ian.yellin@ogilvypr.com, for Brocade
Web site: www.brocade.com
