As part of the project, We-Ankor replaced storage infrastructure, expanded virtualization to several petabytes, installed dozens of physical servers and over 1,000 virtual servers, and implemented a centralized monitoring and management system.
By Yossi Hatoni – January 15, 2024

Eliran Shemesh, Head of Infrastructure at Meitav, and Shlomi Price, CEO of NetApp Israel
(Photo: Courtesy | Credit: Nadav Cohen Yonatan)

We-Ankor, part of the Hilan Group, has implemented NetApp storage and infrastructure systems at Meitav Investment House, one of Israel’s leading financial institutions. The project began in mid-2023, with the main components recently going live, and is expected to be fully completed by March 2024. While the financial terms were not disclosed, industry sources estimate the deal to be worth millions of shekels.

Facing the need to modernize its existing infrastructure, Meitav initiated a comprehensive evaluation of market technologies to identify the most effective solution for meeting its business goals. Key criteria during the vendor selection process included significant performance improvements, support for business processes, and enhanced business continuity. The IT department also sought reduced time-to-market and lower operational costs.

Modernization Without Disruption

The project included replacing the entire storage infrastructure, including SAN switches, expanding virtualization systems to several petabytes, installing dozens of physical servers, and launching more than 1,000 virtual servers. A centralized monitoring and management system was also deployed. The implementation was carried out simultaneously across two sites, with no system downtime or performance degradation.

NetApp’s high-end A900 systems were installed, providing SAN, NAS, and object storage services, along with full integration and synchronous data replication between Meitav’s two data centers. The deployment also featured end-to-end encryption, integration with existing backup infrastructure, DevOps integration, and enhanced backup capabilities.

Performance, Agility, and Cost Efficiency

Eliran Shemesh, Head of Infrastructure at Meitav, explained:

“We operate in a highly dynamic and strictly regulated environment. We’re required to respond quickly and integrate the latest technologies. This project delivers a higher standard of infrastructure than we’ve had before — including faster performance, greater agility, and simplified workload migration. We also achieved faster recovery times and significantly reduced operational costs, especially power consumption.”

Shlomi Price, CEO of NetApp Israel, added:

“We provided Meitav with an optimal solution for its technological challenges, including compliance with frequently changing regulatory demands. Our solutions support hybrid environments and enable organizations to manage large volumes of sensitive data effectively.”

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