Data Centre to host an SAP Application

Designing and implementing a network infrastructure in the form of a Data Centre for a sensitive SAP application deployed on an international scale.

Designing and implementing a network infrastructure in the form of a Data Centre for a sensitive SAP application deployed on an international scale.

Challenge

The objective was to establish a network infrastructure in the form of a data centre to host an SAP application suite, on an architecture distributed across two locations, in “active/active” mode.

The challenge was to define and implement the technical infrastructure with a minimum reduction in performance requirements and a very short lead time.  Furthermore, numerous further requirements emerged during the course of the project which had to be integrated and taken into account.

Scope

The initial scope of the project was 450 blade servers but the infrastructure was able to connect up to 800 blade servers.  The total infrastructure had to be able to handle 8 Gbps of traffic at any time and at any point in the network.

Aims

The major issue was to define and put in place a reliable, high performing and scalable technical architecture in a very short timescale and to guarantee a high level of performance and availability across the entire infrastructure.

Implementation

The implementation was based on a collaborative approach between the client, the hosting company and the other partners, with regular project updates to ensure that actions were coordinated globally.  A sequential deployment took place in the two data centres, in coordination with the server deployment teams.

• A two step approach :
  • Technical network infrastructure
  • Global  network infrastructures, servers and applications
• Project summary
  • Design of  the infrastructure according to performance and availability requirements
  • Timescales adhered to in spite of changes to specifications
  • Support for server deployment teams
  • Incorporation of configuration changes during the planning stages
  • Collaborative effort between the client, the hosting company and ARTESYS
  • Skills transfer to the technical team of the hosting company.

Solution

We proposed infrastructures based on innovative and robust architectures.  The architectures of the two data centres were completely identical and were interconnected at the second layer by DWDM technology with 8Gbps broadband.

From a technical point of view the infrastructure was as follows:

• The data link layer
  • Commutation: Catalyst 6500 intégrés en « Virtual Switching System » de chez Cisco Systems
  • Switching: Catalyst 6500 as part of Cisco systems Virtual Switching System
  • Security: Châssis X80 exécutant Checkpoint VPN-1 de chez Crossbeam
  • Security :  X80 Chassis running Checkpoint VPN-1 from Crossbeam

• Bandwidth optimisation:
  • BIG-IP 3500 de chez F5 Networks
  • BIG-IP 3500 from F5 Networks

 Results

The completed infrastructure today offers the required levels of performance, availability and scalability.