The Navy Marine Corps Intranet is the largest individual network in the world. The only larger network is the Internet.

This huge network sprawl requires a great deal of strategy, concern and planning. Over 700,000 users rely on the intranet to receive IT services. This is a huge network, and the NMCI cannot afford to be behind the eight-ball.



NMCI uses VMware Infrastructure for a few different reasons. The first is to virtualize Microsoft Exchange Servers. They host over 350k users on VMware servers. NMCI can run five virtualized exchange servers on every single physical server. This enables higher usage of server capabilities. As well, it adds value, and enables instant provisioning of new servers when necessary.

 

The second use NMCI has for VMware Infrastructure is server consolidation. Following OMB’s directive to consolidate servers, the NMCI is finding VMware Infrastructure key to these efforts. They have  consolidated 2,000 servers into roughly 300 physical hosts, a ratio of 9:1 (expected to rise to 12:1).

NMCI has extended the lives of their older servers, all the while consolidating their needs. This is huge for them, as their budgets diminish and user needs increase. E-mail is not something that they can waste a large amount of server space on, when there are so many mission critical applications out there.

Find the VMware case study here.