The Challenge:
Users at Lucy Switchgear were experiencing severe delays when accessing files away from their local offices. In some cases it could take up to 90 minutes to log on and download very large CAD files.
Lucy Switchgear has four offices in the UK and one in Dubai. Wide area network (WAN) connections are via leased line and aggregated ADSL lines with all sites connecting back to Thame in the UK via VPN.
The main applications used are Siemens NX (3-D CAD and modelling), Teamcentre PLM (product lifecycle management), Sage ERP, and Microsoft Office. All CAD files are held in Thame and data is synchronised overnight to Banbury and Dubai.
Chris Ireland, Global Network Manager for Lucy Switchgear explained, “Thame was becoming a bottleneck for our employees trying to access documents. We have a number of users who move around between sites and they were complaining of the lengthy delays in downloading files. We were also seeing an increase in the use of CAD, Outlook and video conferencing. It was obvious that we were using up all of our available bandwidth.”
Options: Increase bandwidth or optimise the WAN traffic
Ireland identified that increasing the bandwidth option would become very expensive as they would need to add more leased lines and concluded this wasn’t the answer.
With the help of Foundation IT, an independent solutions provider, who helped scope and manage the project, Lucy Switchgear decided to investigate WAN Optimisation solutions from Riverbed and one other competitor. After running trials it became clear that the Riverbed outperforming the alternative product and could also handle the CAD file requirements. Lucy Switchgear also tested the possibility of using the Riverbed Steelhead appliances to backup a server remotely. With Riverbed backing up a 770MB folder the backup time was reduced from 122 minutes to 2 minutes 27 seconds.
As Chris Ireland concluded, “We were so pleased with the results that we asked them to let us keep the Riverbed box at the end of the trial.”
Benefits:
Since installing the Riverbed Steelhead appliances Lucy Switchgear has seen bandwidth utilisation reduced by approximately 50%, and file download speeds have increased by up to 90%. Data is now also backed up remotely enabling more protection for the bu designers travelling to Dubai it would take 90 minutes to first log on and download large CAD files from the UK offices, and then further downloads could take around 20 minutes. With Riverbed, logging on to the UK servers has now been reduced dramatically and downloading files has reduced to just a couple of minutes.
On reflection:
Having opted for the WAN optimisation project over increased bandwidth costs,
Chris Ireland reflected, if Lucy Switchgear had just increased bandwidth we would have added significant cost to our existing IT Budget. Instead and tegether with the advice and support Foundation IT we chose the Riverbed route which meant not only have we avoided those costs but also improved user productivity
Looking ahead
Lucy Switchgear has recently purchased Steelhead Mobile licences and plans to use these for their roaming employees. Steelhead mobile is a software only version of the technology that sits on the laptops of mobile workers, providing the same improved application performance to workers on the move.
About the Technology
Riverbed Steelhead appliances optimise WAN traffic by using a techniques that overcome the limitations of bandwidth and, equally importantly, limit the effects of network latency.
Network latency, or round-trip delay time, is a function of the communications path between two locations and typically there is little that can be done to improve it, especially over international connections; it is this delay time that makes WAN connections sluggish. Riverbed is uniquely able to address this issue by reducing the number of packets sent over the link, therefore greatly improving the responsiveness seen by the end-user.
About Riverbed
Riverbed Technology is the IT infrastructure performance company. The Riverbed family of wide area network (WAN) optimisation liberates businesses from common IT constraints by increasing application performance, enabling consolidation, and providing enterprise wide network and application visibility – all while eliminating the need to increase bandwidth, storage or servers. Thousands of companies with distributed operations use Riverbed to make their IT infrastructure faster, less expensive and more responsive. Additional information about Riverbed (NASDAQ:RVBD) is available at
www.riverbed.com
For More Information about Foundation IT's products and services:
Visit: www.foundation-it.com
Alternatively email or telephone:
Tel: +44(0) 1635 203700
Email: mailto:info@foundation-it.com
Foundation IT Ltd
Foundation Court, Old Stree, Hermitage, Newbury, Berkshire, RG18 9SE.