AutoNation Partners with Flexential to Achieve High-density Disaster Recovery Environment

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 30, 2018) – Flexential a hybrid IT infrastructure provider, announced the recent deployment of a high-density Disaster Recovery environment for AutoNation, Inc., a Fortune 500 company. The automotive retailer chose to house its DR environment within Flexential’s data center in Texas. Combining the expertise of its people with state of the art infrastructure, Flexential helped the company overcome a significant, time-intensive IT challenge faced by many organizations today.

View the Flexential and AutoNation video case study here.

“As a large enterprise, we recognize that investing in DR is critical to our core operations,” said Adam Rasner, senior director of IT operations and infrastructure at AutoNation. “If our applications and data aren’t available, we can’t deliver for our customers.”

Before turning to Flexential to fulfill its DR requirements, AutoNation moved its IT infrastructure into the public cloud. During testing, it quickly realized that its application and data needs required too much horsepower and were too expensive to operate in the cloud. AutoNation recognized it needed a third-party colocation and DR provider with industry-leading power and cooling capacity that could accommodate its equipment within a small footprint to reduce costs. AutoNation toured several providers’ facilities, and ultimately chose Flexential.

“Flexential achieved for us what few providers could: a high-density DR environment at one of its newest and most innovative data centers,” added Rasner. “The facility’s capabilities, coupled with the team’s expertise and flexibility, helped us take an original design of close to 20 cabinets at 5kW per cabinet and optimize that to seven cabinets at almost 20kW per cabinet – delivering the ability to scale our environment very cost-effectively as we continue to grow our business.”

To demonstrate this high-density capability to enterprises, the Flexential Texas data center features a test bed that showcases the ability to support high-density, hyper-converged server deployments. The facility is one of the company’s 40 data centers spanning the US, connected by a 100Gbps network backbone delivering network options and interconnection capabilities that extend to hundreds of global carrier offerings.

“AutoNation chose one of our most innovative and technologically advanced facilities, supporting density levels up to 2,000 watts per square foot,” said Tom Myers, regional vice president at Flexential. “This is attractive for high-growth companies who require a small, dense physical footprint that enables them to cost-effectively scale their IT environment.”

“We are glad our team and facility earned the trust and confidence of AutoNation,” added Myers. “We look forward to helping support its business operations and enable further growth.”

About AutoNation, Inc.

AutoNation, America’s largest automotive retailer, through its bold leadership, innovation and its comprehensive brand extensions, is transforming the automotive industry. As of September 30, 2017, AutoNation owned and operated 361 new vehicle franchises from coast to coast. AutoNation has sold over 11 million vehicles, the first automotive retailer to reach this milestone. AutoNation’s success is driven by a commitment to delivering a peerless experience through customer-focused sales and service processes. Through its Drive Pink initiative, AutoNation is committed to drive out cancer, create awareness and support critical research. AutoNation is a proud supporter of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and other cancer-related charities.

Please visit investors.autonation.com, www.autonation.com, www.autonationdrive.com, https://twitter.com/autonation, www.twitter.com/CEOMikeJackson, www.facebook.com/autonation, www.facebook.com/CEOMikeJackson, where AutoNation discloses additional information about the Company, its business, and its results of operations.

About Flexential

Flexential helps organizations optimize their journey of IT transformation while simultaneously balancing cost, scalability, compliance and security. The company is committed to building trusted relationships and delivering tailored solutions that suit the individual needs of its customers. Utilizing its people, values and reliable performance, Flexential is deeply invested in the success of its 4,200+ customers, who trust it to deliver core data center solutions of colocation and connectivity, as well as cloud and managed solutions. Flexential’s robust suite of assets span 21 domestic and international markets and comprises 40 highly redundant and connectivity-rich data centers. For more information on Flexential, please visit www.flexential.com.
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