Dougall - Redundant. Relentless. Ready
Dougall Media replaced aging VMware infrastructure with a powerful Proxmox and JetStor solution. Fully redundant RAID 60 arrays and blazing performance ensure nonstop digital media operations in Thunder Bay.
The organization
Download solution PDFDougall Media, a leading regional broadcaster in Thunder Bay, modernized its entire virtualization and storage stack by moving from legacy VMware systems to a high-performance Proxmox cluster.
With dual JetStor SANs, RAID 60 arrays, Lenovo M5 blade servers, and Aruba 5400 switches, the new setup delivers full redundancy, blazing performance, and nonstop availability for their media operations.
The challenge
The client was operating on outdated VMware infrastructure with aging storage and growing risk of failure. With an always-on broadcast environment and increasing digital demands, they needed a rock-solid, redundant architecture and a fast, seamless migration path without disruption to daily operations
The solution
To modernize its environment, Dougall Media migrated from VMware to a Proxmox-based virtualization platform supported by fully redundant JetStor storage. One XS3324S unit was configured with SSDs for production workloads, while the other used high-capacity HDDs for backup. Both systems run RAID 60 with active replication and are configured for failover using multipath I/O. Installed in separate areas of the building, they provide site-level resilience and integrate with Lenovo M5 blade servers and Aruba 5400 switches to ensure seamless VM migration, high availability, and long-term scalability.
System configuration
PRIMARY STORAGE
JetStor XS3324S
24x 1.9TB SAS Kioxia SSDs | 4U 24-bay | RAID 60 | iSCSI
Delivers low-latency performance with active replication
BACKUP STORAGE
JetStor XS3324S
24x 24TB SAS WD HDDs | 4U 24-bay | RAID 60 | iSCSI
Supports offsite recovery from isolated location
VIRTUALIZATION & INFRASTRUCTURE
12-node Proxmox Cluster
Lenovo M5 Blade Servers | Aruba 5400 Core Switches
Configured with MPIO for storage path failover
Benefits Immediately realized
This new infrastructure delivers reliable performance and full redundancy. With continuous VM expansion, RAID 60 fault tolerance, and scalable architecture, the platform is built to support demanding virtualization workloads
>>> SSD-powered storage for production workloads
>>> Redundant RAID 60 arrays for data protection
>>> Scalable Proxmox cluster for future growth
How we did it
About
Dougall Media is a leading broadcaster in Thunder Bay, delivering regional news, TV, and radio content through multiple platforms. Learn more at dougallmedia.com
JetStor delivers scalable, high-performance storage solutions built for modern workloads like virtualization, cloud, and analytics. Explore more at jetstor.com
Conclusion
“I’m happy to say we have both JetStor SANs up and running in a redundant pair with 2 massive RAID 60s as the backend for our 12-node Proxmox Cluster. The level of redundancy is insane, second only to JetStor performance.”
— Chris Dorota, Director of Engineering, Dougall Media
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