Fujitsu Builds Shared Mission-Critical Platform for Toshima City

Tokyo, August 25, 2010

Fujitsu today announced that it is building a shared platform system employing virtualization technology that will serve as a mission-critical open architecture platform for Toshima City in Tokyo. The system, which is currently under construction, is scheduled to begin operations in January 2011.

With the construction of a new municipal building scheduled for completion in fiscal 2014, the new system is being built to enable the creation of new resident services that can be accessed through a single access point. Featuring Fujitsu's reliable mission-critical PRIMEQUEST 1000 Series x86 servers and VMware vSphere4 virtualization software, the system enables the creation of a virtualization environment that excels in terms of cost-performance, reliability, and scalability.

Background

Toshima City, located in the center of the Tokyo metropolitan area, is in the midst of a municipal redevelopment project, including the construction of a new municipal building. As part of a major initiative to deliver new services that meet the needs of city residents and can be accessed through a single access-point, the city is constructing a new core information system in conjunction with the opening of the municipal building in December 2014.

Over the years, the city has actively integrated ICT into its city services, such as pioneering Japan's deployment of an electronic family registration system. Due to severe fiscal constraints in recent years, it has been reluctant to invest in information system upgrades. However, in order to respond to the various demands of city residents, Toshima City adopted the plan to rebuild its mission-critical system, using open architecture, into a platform that provides new, cost-efficient services.

Furthermore, in an effort to address the challenges associated with migrating the mission-critical system to open architecture, including increasingly complicated system operations, Toshima City is deploying a shared system platform that enables users to access all of the district's information systems through a common system. With the adoption of this shared platform, it will become possible to reduce operating costs by seamlessly connecting all of the city's information systems through centralized data management, as well as minimizing the impact upgrading a single system has on other systems.

Fujitsu is building the shared platform utilizing two of its mission-critical PRIMEQUEST 1400S x86 servers and VMware vSphere4 virtualization software. The platform is configured using VMware HA (High Availability), which delivers high availability⁽¹⁾ through a redundant architecture for the platform's five systems, including a connection platform, a shared information management system, and an integrated operations management system. The PRIMEQUEST 1000 Series maintains the same high level of reliability as mainframe systems, and given the servers' superior cost-performance, they can be used to build virtualized systems that excel in terms of TCO as well as reliability. There are also plans to outsource the operations of the shared system platform to Fujitsu's datacenters.

Based on a performance evaluation after the new system begins operations, Toshima City plans to consider the adoption of cloud computing, in addition to employing virtualization technology in its other information systems.

By providing support for the new platform, Fujitsu will continue to contribute to Toshima City's growth and the safety and convenience of its residents.

About the Shared System Platform

The new shared system platform consists of five systems: a connection platform that manages the connectivity of data, a shared information management system that administers shared data, a system that manages non-standard Chinese characters, a shared EUC system that assists in the production of documents, and an integrated operations management system that manages all of the systems' infrastructure and job operations.