Business need

Maintaining separate networks for connecting LAN traffic and remote data storage is inefficient and expensive. Financial services firms need to provide high-speed Local Area Network (LAN) connectivity between locations, and implement data replication to support the strict storage requirements necessary for disk mirroring and Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) solutions.

Challenges

Consolidating onto a single Wide Area Network (WAN) requires high-performance transport of both storage and LAN traffic between data centers with maximum availability and security. IP networks have difficulty handling more than 100 gigabytes of traffic per day, and at more than 100 gigabytes per day IP-routed WANs exhibit significant packet loss and retransmissions. While IP equipment is appropriate for the edge of the network, Layer 1/2 networks are needed to provide the required capacity and efficiency. Financial services firms also need network equipment with proven interoperability with storage systems to ensure efficient operations.

Solution

For better efficiency and easier control, financial institutions are increasingly consolidating their traffic onto a single network. This allows them to reduce network operational costs and simplify network management. Consolidating onto a WAN designed for high-availability levels is critical, since the cost of network downtime can exceed $1 million per hour. Both storage and LAN traffic must be transported efficiently between locations, and database replication must be implemented to regularly transfer major amounts of data. Database replication is a time-sensitive application requiring machine-to-machine communications using block-mode transfers that are sensitive to network latency, so the network must be extremely efficient so firms can control bandwidth costs.

Ciena's offerings

Ciena's assured, adaptive network architecture has been implemented around the globe to help organizations implement WAN consolidation with the reliability and performance levels demanded by financial institutions. Leveraging technologies like Course and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (C/DWDM), optical Ethernet and next-generation SONET/SDH, Ciena’s adaptive network solution uses flexible, software-programmable hardware to support any protocol on any port. Adaptive networks optimize and switch traffic at the lowest possible layer to provide low latency with maximum throughput and application transparency. Solutions based on Ciena's adaptive architecture are qualified by all major storage vendors, including Hitachi Data Systems®, EMC®, IBM®, ,McData® and Qlogic® so financial firms can connect data centers across long distances while leveraging existing storage investments.

Benefits

• Simplify network operations and reduce hardware and management costs by consolidating previously separate WANs onto a single network
• Provide real-time access to information by interconnecting remote locations.
• Any-distance connectivity is possible, and adaptive networks have already been implemented across transcontinental and transoceanic distances
• With multi-protocol hardware-based data compression, efficient protocol mapping and dynamic bandwidth allocation, Ciena’s solutions minimize leased-line costs with more efficient bandwidth utilization
• With minimized latency and maximized throughput, Ciena’s solutions enable high-performance, WAN consolidation
• Minimize latency and maximize throughput
• FlexiPort technology provides software-programmable ports that minimize capital expenses and maximize flexibility and scalability
• Eliminate external switching/routing equipment for many scenarios, resulting in reduced network hardware costs