Due to the termination of support and maintenance of Microsoft cloud products in Russia, Nordgold decided to replace Microsoft OneDrive with an affordable, reliable analogue. First of all, this was important to ensure the security of business data when working with confidential information.
So, the customer's business challenges were as follows:
· The need to replace existing solutions for working with documents;
· The need for a reliable corporate data storage with the ability to scale;
· Difficulties with exchanging large amounts of data between departments (from 2 to 5 TB);
· The lack of a unified collaboration system for a team of geologists.
It was important to take into account that the new solution should be able to integrate with professional software for geological exploration, as well as provide offline access to all documents for the company's field employees. The customer turned to ICL Services for these tasks.
Key Challenges
- Implementation of a new corporate cloud data storage
- Ensuring secure file sharing between employees
- Creating an infrastructure for collaboration
- Setting up integration with Microsoft Active Directory
- Setting up replication of user data
- Providing technical support and creating documentation on operation
Infrastructure preparation
First, the team needed to ensure the selection, installation and configuration of a new system for 25 employees with the ability to scale up to 300 people.
The first stage involved installing the Ubuntu 24.04 operating system on the customer's servers. The network infrastructure and security were configured to ensure reliable operation of the future solution. Particular attention paid to optimizing the system's performance for the specific tasks of geological exploration.
Deploying a new solution
The Nextcloud system was chosen as a worthy replacement for Microsoft OneDrive.
The solution was deployed in a Docker container, which ensured application isolation and simplified the update process. All necessary system components were configured, including OnlyOffice for working with documents, Groupfolders for organizing collaboration and Deck for project management.
Integration with Active Directory
Then the specialists began a comprehensive configuration of integration with Microsoft Active Directory. Seamless user login to the system was implemented, and group policies and access rights were configured. This made it possible to significantly simplify account management and increase the level of security.
Configuring data replication
A system for replicating user data between servers was also configured and implemented. This ensured high availability of information and protection against data loss in the event of possible failures.
Implementation of a security system
For comprehensive protection of the customer's sensitive data, the ICL Services team implemented and configured security software from its partner Kaspesky Lab, providing comprehensive protection against various types of threats. At the same time, data encryption and access control mechanisms were implemented.
Testing and training
The final stage of the project was comprehensive testing of all system components and parallel training of Nordgold users to work with the new solution - for this, experts developed detailed documentation on operation.
Products and technologies
- Nextcloud: OnlyOffice, Groupfolders, Deck, Calendar
- Ubuntu 24.04
- Microsoft Active Directory
- Security software from Kaspersky Lab
Results
- Implemented a new cloud platform in response to the challenges of import substitution.
- Simplified the corporate big data exchange system.
- Implemented technical support for the implemented solution and training for the customer's users on how to work with it.
- Provided secure offline access to documentation for a team of field geologists.