English Premier League Club Scores the Winner with EMC Unified Storage

HOPKINTON, Mass., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) today announced that Barclays Premier League side Fulham Football Club has implemented a new physical security system based on EMC® unified storage with VMware virtualization and cloud infrastructure technologies, forming a private cloud environment. EMC has introduced a wireless IP Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system on EMC unified storage, working with video management software provider Genetec: the solution is accessible on mobile devices, such as Apple iPads, allowing Fulham's security team to more effectively monitor crowd safety and improve stadium security.

Customer Benefits:

• Return on investment: Fulham expects the solution to pay for itself within two years of operation, via reductions in operational expenses, savings on valuable floor space, and the consolidation of over 36 servers into just six.
• Increased agility: Security staff – as well as the Metropolitan Police – can access the cameras' streaming video from anywhere in the world, on a 24/7 basis, on almost any device.
• Increased efficiency: Storage space and cooling and power requirements were substantially reduced by moving Fulham F.C.'s traditional data centre infrastructure to a private cloud leveraging EMC unified storage and VMware virtualization and cloud infrastructure technologies.
• Simplified management and dual functionality: EMC unified storage allows Fulham to run both file and block services from a single solution, all tied together with EMC Unisphere® storage management software.

Fulham F.C. previously used a network of six VHS recorders and 27 cameras to observe the many thousands of visitors to the famous Craven Cottage ground. Based on a stand-alone storage infrastructure, this system was costly and difficult to manage and maintain, each camera required maintenance before every match and video tapes would have to be manually scanned in the event of a security incident.

Nicolas Pendlebury, Head of IT Projects at Fulham F. C., said, "We were incredibly impressed by EMC's proposal, which presented us with an entire security package from storage to cameras.  In addition, it was based on an open-architecture model, allowing us to choose best-of-breed products. The cloud environment is key to the success of the new system, which we estimate will pay for itself in two years. It has enabled us to increase the agility, speed and functionality with which the security team can monitor our sites remotely and safely, and new cameras can be connected to the network at any time."

The new IP-based CCTV system took just weeks to implement. The Club now benefits from an innovative security surveillance system comprising 63 high-definition (HD) cameras at its Craven Cottage stadium and Motspur Park training ground, which operate over Wi-Fi and within a virtualized storage environment that saves space and money. The cameras' resolution is sharp enough to enable security staff to see a number-plate at 200 feet – with visual acuity that would stand up in the event of a court case – and the system is both smart and efficient: the cameras record at a low-definition level until motion-detectors automatically trigger HD recording. Activation is flagged to the security team, indicating that an incident is underway, meaning that the staff does not have to monitor all 63 screens simultaneously.

To support the CCTV security network, EMC has deployed two cloud environments with VMware virtualization and cloud infrastructure technologies and EMC unified storage. This has enabled Fulham F.C. to condense its 20 servers previously installed at Motspur Park and 16 servers at Craven Cottage to just 6 servers, resulting in the Club being able to save vital floor space and lower operational expenses while also reducing server racks from five to one.

Hosting the storage system in a cloud environment means the security team can access surveillance footage from any cameras they choose on almost any mobile device, using an application specifically developed by Genetec.  This allows the security team to constantly review the security of the stadium and training ground, both on-site and off-site, enabling them to find, retrieve, and replay incidents within minutes.

CCTV blackouts, due to server failures, are an unacceptable risk to spectator safety at Fulham F.C. The virtualized environment means that, should one of the servers fail, the service is automatically transferred to available capacity elsewhere, minimizing any risk to security. By using VMware vSphere® 4.1 and VMware vCenter™ Server to intelligently manage their virtualised storage, Fulham F.C.'s IT team is also able ensure its storage infrastructure is always running at optimum capacity.

About EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyse their most valuable asset – information – in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. More information can be found at www.EMC.com.

EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation. VMware, VMware vCenter and VMware vSphere are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE EMC Corporation