IP fabric for scalable, fail-safe and cross-data centre provision of infrastructure services

Our customer is a specialised IT service provider that manages the entire IT infrastructure of a large industrial campus, home to numerous companies in highly regulated industries. Over time, their existing network began to struggle, reaching its limits in scalability, reliability, and the ability to roll out new services quickly.

A significant part of the data centre infrastructure is used for security critical applications such as video surveillance across the extensive campus. Due to the high security requirements and sensitive production environments, uninterrupted network connectivity and maximum availability are essential.

To meet these requirements, the existing architecture needed to be fully modernised and transformed into a scalable, automated and highly available IP Fabric.

Project goals and requirements

The aim was to create a future-proof, standardised and flexible network infrastructure that:

• Ensures high scalability and redundancy
• Works loop-free and efficiently
• Is easy to manage and automate
• Transparently connects two data centre locations with each other

From planning to implementation

Together with Arista, Xantaro designed and implemented a modern IP fabric architecture with EVPN-VxLAN, consisting of Spine, Leaf, Distribution and DCI switches. These connect two data centre locations seamlessly and enable transparent data communication across locations.

All lines and devices were designed redundantly to ensure maximum availability.
A centralised network management system was also established through the use of CloudVision Portal (CVP), which:

• Speeds up commissioning
• Simplifies operation and fault diagnosis
• Enables planned changes to the infrastructure in an automated and low-risk manner

The entire routing and switching was optimised so that L2 and L3 VPNs can be planned and rolled out flexibly.

The implementation was carried out by Xantaro in close coordination with the customer - from architecture planning and configuration through to commissioning and documentation.

Results for the customer

By modernising the network infrastructure, the customer achieved a range of business-critical advantages:

• Quick and easy provision of new network connections throughout the industrial park

• Standardised and uniform configuration for all devices and locations

• Improved transparency and monitoring functions (traffic, health status, utilisation)

• Greater reliability at line and device level

• More efficient operation thanks to centralised automation with Arista CVP

• Reduced response times in the event of faults and simplified fault analysis

A large part of the data centre infrastructure is used for video surveillance of the industrial park. A powerful and secure network infrastructure is therefore of central importance here. The customer is extremely satisfied with the solution, after six years of successful operation, the technological refresh of the infrastructure is currently being carried out step by step together with Xantaro.

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