AMTRA is the Animal Medicines Training Regulatory Authority. As a professional regulator, the client is appointed by the Secretary of State to ensure that standards are upheld, and codes of practice are followed for all those working as registered animal medicine advisors.
Based in Woolpit, Bury St Edmunds, the client has five users in its headquarters but hundreds more could require access to the AMTRA web servers as part of their ongoing registration process.
The Challenge
AMTRA contacted Lucid Systems directly because they needed a new web server. They knew that the transfer of data could be complicated, so they required a system which could run side-by-side with their existing server until they were ready to make the switch.
Initially, the client was looking to facilitate a web server which would allow them to undertake web development. However, because their live website was running on a PC with Apache software, it was becoming increasingly tricky to manage. They needed a new web server which would not just have Internet Information Services (IIS) installed, but it would be SQL ready and able to easily become their live website host.
Our Approach
The client first approached us after finding us via a Google web search. As is our commitment to customer care, we quickly went to meet the client in person to discuss their current IT solutions, and to determine what requirements we felt would be most beneficial.
We felt that they would be suited to the installation of a physical server which would act as a hypervisor hosting two separate virtual servers. This would allow them one dedicated web server which would host their live website, whilst a second virtual web server could be used by the client to test and develop a new website. This would allow the client confidence that they could continue their web development plans without comprising the functionality of the existing website until it was ready to go live.
As part of our analysis, we also wanted to ensure that AMTRA was set up as efficiently as they could be to manage the needs of their internal users as well as their external audiences who may require access to their web server. As a result, we suggested that we moved away from a single dynamic IP to a fixed external subnet. This would allow us to install a new firewall and router which could handle multiple web-facing servers. It also had the added benefit of allowing us to create a new virtual local area network (VLAN) which would separate the corporate network for visitor and guest Wi-Fi access.
Finally, we recommended that we relocated the equipment and the new NAS drive into a dedicated communications cabinet. This meant that we could ensure that everything was set up in an easy-to-use manner for the client.
Throughout the process, we worked closely with AMTRA to ensure that they were fully informed of what we planned to do and why. We worked alongside the internal team to schedule the installation at a time that suited them, and regular email updates were managed up until the point that we arrived on site.