Kingston's Memory Would Get Lost Without Fault-Tolerant Servers

摘要

Federal Express has nothing on Kingston Technology Compa-ny Inc. (Fountain Valley, CA). The $ 1.4 billion manufacturer of memory products for PCs, palm computers, printers, and digital cameras prides itself on next-day delivery. But considering that Kingston receives about 40,000 unit orders per day, of which 80% are placed after 3:00 p.m., the company requires a highly automated and, more importantly, reliable operation to fulfill its promise. "Our cut-off point to get product there the next day is half-past four in Europe," says Mark Brack-ley, management information systems (MIS) director at Kingston's distribution facility in West London, England, where all of the specialized packaging and labeling takes place prior to shipping. "Fed Ex leaves at 6:30, so we have two hours to get the orders processed. If the system went down at 4:00, it would be disastrous."