Turn Up the Power: External Disk and Hardware Replication on i... A Case Study!

"Your IBM i does a great job of managing internal disk, so why upgrade to external storage using a SAN? Your replication software may require some extra time and attention, but it gets the job done - so why change? Turns out there are lots of reasons to change both! This won't be a nuts and bolts how-to session. Rather it will be a case study of the decisions made by one large appliance and electronics retailer to implement these technologies, including the considerations, decisions, trade-offs, and benefits. You may not leave this session knowing how to do it, but you'll understand why you might want to, and you'll be ready to ask many of the right questions to get you there.

You'll leave this session better prepared to:

Determine if external storage is right for your environment
Understand the trade-offs involved with external storage and hardware replication
Know what questions to ask along the way!"

Steven Wolk

CTO, PC Richard & Son

Steven Wolk is the CTO for PC Richard & Son, a 110 year old family owned and operated chain of 66 appliance, electronics, and mattress superstores located throughout NY, NJ, CT, and PA. Steve's deep background in retail began on the sales floor while in college, and he's applied those lessons learned to many roles in IT throughout his 33 year career with PC Richard. As CTO, Steve feels fortunate to lead teams of very talented and dedicated people who are collectively responsible for all phases of technology development, acquisition, deployment, and support throughout the company. Always looking to the future, Steve enjoys speaking about the future of retail at conferences and events, along with subjects ranging from leadership and personal success to a wide variety of technical topics. Steve is passionate about applying technology to create business value, along with a world-class customer experience for PC Richard's customers. He's driven to teach and finds it very rewarding to help his teams reach their full potential. Steve and his wife live in Commack, NY, and enjoy traveling as a family with their two daughters who are attending college. If you’d like to strike up a conversation with Steve, mention anything related to Disney or Star Trek, and you’ll have his undivided attention!