Topping up data needs

Domino’s Pizza’s datacentre is as crammed as the toppings on one of the company’s pizzas, reflecting the rapid growth of the fast-food firm that is opening about 50 stores per year.

Aside from its expansion on the high street ­ there are now more than 450 stores throughout the UK ­ the company’s online presence has also grown and 15 per cent of all orders are now made on the web, up from 10 per cent 18 months ago. Such expansion creates increasing pressure on the datacentre.

Last year internet sales reached £23m and the company responded to customer demand by focusing on its e-commerce channels and using 15 new media platforms, such as search marketing and a virtual store on Second Life.

“Our datacentre is not huge ­ it has about 48 servers ­ but it is incredibly important because of our web site and it has increased 100 per cent in size over the past 12 months,” says Domino’s IT director Jane Kimberlin.

“It looks very compact with lots of servers in the physical space, but we use advanced technology to keep it running efficiently.”

Despite running an efficient datacentre, the company will have to build a new facility in the near future and is already planning for the eventuality ­ – see Key business process below.

“Because of Domino’s rapid growth, in two to three years’ time we will have to move to a larger site as our Milton Keynes headquarters is very close to full capacity. We will then create a new datacentre,” says Kimberlin.

The datacentre is run in-house, bucking the current trend of outsourcing datacentre activities to cut time, management, power and capital costs.

And Kimberlin sees no need to change to an outsourced model with the move. “We will most likely keep our datacentre in-house because of our history of rapid growth,” she says. “Outsourcing the datacentre would make more sense if we were not facing further growth and change because it is hard to build that into a contract that is acceptable to both parties.”

She says that technology could change, and managing the datacentre internally means the firm can be more flexible about incorporating new systems.

“A third party would not so easily accept the risk of change presented by Domino’s growth strategy, and you cannot be so open about what is needed if your datacentre is run by a third party,” says Kimberlin.

She also appreciates the benefits of having a strong working relationship with Domino’s infrastructure manager Phil Thompson, something Kimberlin says could not be replicated if Domino’s began outsourcing.

“Our systems are so important to us that we want to keep them internally to maintain that level of commitment. Our datacentre is near full capacity, and Phil’s team is very good at juggling when necessary as they live and breathe the business,” she says.

Although Kimberlin says outsourcing is often portrayed as a cheaper way of running a datacentre, she says a recent review challenged that assumption. “Some 18 months ago, an audit found that the turnover of our business versus the cost of IT was favourable,” she says.

A technology that Domino’s has used, and is keen to roll out further to keep down costs, is virtualisation software, which enables more efficient use of existing hardware.

Domino’s has been using Dell hardware since signing a contract with the supplier in 2003 and is using VMware’s virtualisation software on Dell servers.

“We have used virtualisation in our testing environment and are now assessing its potential on some of our live applications,” says Kimberlin.

When the new datacentre is built there are already plans in place to make wider use of efficient and green technologies, such as virtualisation.

“We want to create a datacentre that is as green as possible and we have a high-level budget for the new environment. We are looking at options on the space and power side and Dell’s Energy Smart range of servers in conjunction with virtualisation software will potentially play an important role,” says Kimberlin.

The new datacentre will also have a storage area network (SAN) which connects multiple servers to a centralised pool of disc storage, and Domino’s is in the initial stages of replacing its current SAN.

“We need to replace the SAN before we move to the new building as part of our upgrade cycle,” says Kimberlin.

Domino’s is looking at how to combine the pricier but faster fibre channel with internet SCSI (iSCSI), the IP-based standard used for linking data storage devices over a network and enabling the transfer of data by carrying SCSI commands over IP networks.

Once the architecture is in place, it will underpin the information lifecycle management policies of the firm.

“The flexibility of iSCSI appeals, but with the new SAN we will use fibre for connecting primary data, a combination of iSCSI and fibre for connecting secondary data and the cheaper iSCSI for connecting tertiary data,” says Kimberlin.

“Then we will look at archiving solutions and information lifecycle management.”

She says that financial data is not stored internally. “We do not store credit card details internally ­ it is externally cached by a third party for security reasons,” says Kimberlin.

The company hit the June deadline for payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS) compliance, which ensures that businesses handling credit card payments protect customer data. “We demonstrated that our financial data is well protected,” says Kimberlin.

And although she is always looking at how new technology can help the business, Kimberlin is not interested in adopting grid computing for Domino’s datacentre at the moment.

“Grid computing is an exciting technology ­ with the ability to buy at an optimum point, but it is not commercially viable for Domino’s right now,” she says.

Future plans for a grand datacentre are one thing, but a more pressing need is to keep the current facility running smoothly to ensure all orders ­ whether input through the web, SMS or telephone ­ are delivered on time during peak periods, such as the Christmas season and during big sporting events.

“In December it is all hands to the pump to make sure we continue to deliver great pizza within 30 minutes,” says Kimberlin.

“The speed side of our business is incredibly important. If you cannot be guaranteed of your pizza arriving within 30 minutes, you will not bother ordering again and a lot of our business is repeat business.”

To create 100 per cent reliability and ensure that pizzas are delivered fast, Kimberlin says every aspect of the datacentre is insured against failure.

“We are not just reliant on that one technology if a server fails. Our communication back-up is crucial and we constantly consider redundancy in our datacentre strategy,” she says.

All online orders come through to the web servers in the Milton Keynes datacentre, and are passed to the relevant store where the information appears on a screen.

“A web order comes through our systems and is automatically sent to the shop where it must be acknowledged. If it is not, we have an early warning system where the non-acknowledgement is flagged by an application to the helpdesk which can check if there is some technical problem,” says Kimberlin.

“A small percentage of orders have to be done verbally, for example, if there is a problem with an ADSL link.”

As well as stores, Thompson’s infrastructure team and the help desk are on alert when there are “big nights on TV”. The business goes through peaks and troughs on a weekly basis, with a spike in orders between 6pm and 9pm, Friday nights and during the weekend.

“Anything new going live goes out at the beginning of the week and we do not start any new IT projects during December,” says Kimberlin, as the business cannot afford delivery failures caused by datacentre glitches.

“If you are ordering a book and the servers go down and it is delivered the day after it was expected, you may not mind. If you order a pizza and it is delivered the following day, you will most definitely mind,” says Kimberlin.

Next week: The third part of Computing’s definitive guide to datacentres looks at the in-demand skills for datacentre managers

Key business process

Preparation for Domino’s Pizza’s new datacentre in two to three years is already under way and Jane Kimberlin, Domino’s IT director, says forward planning is crucial to success in tandem with an understanding of the facility’s importance to the business.

The company is moving from its current head office in Milton Keynes to new premises which will house the state-of-the-art datacentre.

“We have huge support from the board to keep the datacentre in-house because our systems are so important to the business, and that way we can guarantee the support it needs,” she says.

“It helps that I sit on the executive board and that we have a young-minded board which looks across the organisation at all its requirements. Information about any IT project is shared with the board and sponsored by someone else sitting on the board.

“I have twice transferred a datacentre for other companies in my role as IT director and planning takes the pain out of the process. My previous experience means I know the importance of looking at the move from every possible angle. If you think you can hire a van and drive down the road with your datacentre, you should not be in your job.”

With new technologies planned, including virtualisation, energy-efficient servers and a fresh new design, Kimberlin is already seeking expert advice.

“We are planning new software, we want to have green power generation and are looking at wiring and redundancy options,” she says.

“We are talking to consultants about the best way forward. But whatever is decided will not take
anything away from the input of our own team, who will help decide the best time and the best days of the week to take action.”

Kimberlin says a crucial part of the move is to work out how long the company can be without certain
systems.

“We do not have a duplicate environment, so we will need at least a 12-hour window in which to transfer the datacentre and ensure that it does not impact the business,” she says.

“At the end of the move we will have a new datacentre that is as efficient as is possible by making use of the best technology available with a built-in capacity for growth.”