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Network Emulation: Remote Storage and Disaster Recovery Performance Validation

Case Studies

Summary

 

For many large companies, establishing remote data centers represents an important business and regulatory requirement. This case study describes how Ixia Network Emulators are helping one such organization meet its business-critical storage needs.

 

Client Profile

 

One of the largest auto insurance companies in the US with more than 12 million customers purchased the Ixia Network Emulator. The company needed to emulate a DASD mirroring configuration across 1400 - 2000 miles as part of a disaster recovery/business continuity backup solution from its Midwest headquarters to a remote data center in Colorado.

 

Project Initiative

 

Delays and impairments experienced on an optical network of this size can have devastating affects on storage and other software applications. In particular, such problems can impact the performance of the network and the integrity of critical business data as well as recovery time should a disaster occur.

 

“Information is becoming the key to success for any organization. The amount of data that is being accumulated per person per year is estimated to be approximately 2.5GB, and electronic transactions are increasing rapidly. But many companies are losing ground in the race to turn available data into valuable business knowledge. Indeed, for some companies, storage requirements are doubling or tripling every three to six months.” — BCS.org

 

An Hitachi Data Systems storage array was used as the target device. The purpose here was to simulate the delays and impairments these devices would experience in a production network and quantify their performance.

 

Project Objective

 

In a test environment, they connected the bi-directional Network Emulator box between two endpoint multiprotocol switching platforms. Both Cisco’s Optical Multi-Service Edge & Transport (COMET) and CNT UltraNet Multi-Service Directors were tested.

 

Ixia Network Emulators at Work

 

Ixia Network Emulators enabled the company’s IT department to validate its remote storage solution in a lab setting prior to deployment. The IT team was able to confirm that the complete backup plan meets business continuity and disaster recovery objectives given the approximate 10 ms transmission latency and specified carrier service level. Without Network Emulators from Ixia, the company would have had to “wait and see” how the realities of the production network impacted its recovery and continuity plans at the time of and after deployment, a risky proposition to say the least.

 

Customer Value

 

With Ixia Network Emulators, performance can be repeatedly tested and characterized under different scenarios in a lab environment, streamlining the rollout of new technologies and applications, and producing significant savings in terms of both efficiency and productivity.

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