Utility Case Study

ActivePort’s Orchestration sparks up the grid with national Utility

In collaboration with an Activeport MSP Partner, hear about a recent Orchestration and SD-WAN customer success story for a leading national utility. Read below or download PDF

A national power company looking to improve connectivity and visibility across their WAN. They have 350 sites and a large field force. The IT Team needed to manage 1,200 devices from multiple vendors.

SDN Solution

Activeport successfully integrated eight vendors into a single pane. This enabled workflow automation and increased visibility across their multi-vendor network footprint.

    • Scoping: 10 days

    • Development: 120 days

    • Implementation: 20 days

SD-WAN

Dell uCPE – VEP4600, VEP1425. The VEP4600 uses the latest Intel Xeon D-2100 x86-based processor. To improve connectivity & uptime for their remote offices the local country carrier is decommissioning copper links and replacing with fiber. Dell will be used as the uCPE to deploy an SD-WAN that is orchestrated in the ActivePortal single pane.

Switch Orchestration

Juniper EX2300, Cisco Catalyst and Nexus switch Orchestration. ActivePort automated the configuration, routing and frequently used commands, bringing them into the single pane to be used by the NOC/SOC. Use cases:

    • Base configuration

    • AAA, SNMP, services, hardening,

    • Routing: Spanning tree, OTV, LISP and Fabric Path

    • Ports/interfaces • VLANS & vPC

Wireless Orchestration

Cisco 5520 Wireless LAN Controller Orchestration.

To reduce the large quantity of support tickets created from issues with wireless connectivity, ActivePort automated end-to-end management for common use cases. Use cases:

    • Create and Delete SSID’s

    • Create and Delete users

    • View Reports on standard WLAN performance and security metrics

    • View Radio performance characteristics

Firewall NFV

Palo Alto Firewall 5020 & 460 VNF, Cisco Firepower 4112 and Cisco 4600 FMC.

Customer transitioned from Cisco to Palo Alto firewalls. Both vendors operated in parallel during a multi-year migration & refresh. Activeport orchestrated the most common feature sets of Palo Alto, rolling out to all new and existing sites. The Cisco UI was exposed in ActivePortal as these devices are already in place.
Use cases:

    • Create, Modify, and Delete Interfaces, Zones and Vlans

    • Create, Modify, and Delete Policy Objects

    • Create, Modify, and Delete Policy Rules

    • View Reports on standard security metrics

    • View Logs

SASE & ITOA

The customer required SIEM, SOAR & application performance monitoring (APM) for 200 servers to make IT operations more effective & efficient.

MixMode was used for network traffic analysis & Application Performance Management (APM). ActivePort exposed the MixMode UI into the ActivePortal single pane.

Elastic Search is integrated into ActivePortal & Elastic agent & fleet collects, analyses, and protects data from several sources.

    • Elastic Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) integration detects and responds to threats at cloud speed and scale

    • Elastic Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) streamlines SOC workflows with orchestration and automation.

SIP NFV

Ribbon SIP SBC VNF. Due to the carrier’s copper decommissioning, the customers voice network was migrated to SIP. All legacy PABX’s were replaced with Ribbon SIP, deployed as a VNF deployed on Dell CPEs. This meant less devices requiring support and reduced this national provider’s environmental impact.

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For more information on this case study or our SDN solutions, contact the Activeport team today.

What is NFV?

What is NFV?

How it works, the benefits, and why you’ll be left behind without it.

Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is an emerging technology that enables network operators to decouple network functions from proprietary hardware. With NFV, virtualised instances of network devices can be deployed on commodity servers, instead of relying on dedicated hardware appliances.

This technology allows network operators to gain greater flexibility in the deployment and management of their networks while lowering operational costs associated with purchasing and maintaining hardware equipment.

The concept behind NFV is simple: by virtualising traditional networking functions such as firewalls, routers, load balancers, WAN optimisation and intrusion detection systems (IDS), a single server can host multiple virtualised services that would have previously been provided by dedicated physical devices.

By deploying these services in software form on standard servers or “virtual machines” (VMs), they become much more flexible and cost-effective than traditional solutions. Additionally, this also frees up valuable rack space in data centres since there are no longer any physical boxes required for each service instance.

ActivePort’s NFV platform is helping companies deploy new technologies quickly without sacrificing reliability or security. As businesses increasingly move towards cloud computing platforms such as AWS or Azure for hosting applications and storing data, ActivePort’s software defined networking solutions will simplify network complexity and provide a seamless single-pane-of-glass view.

Below are five business benefits for using ActivePort’s NFV technology:

1) Lower Costs – By hosting multiple services on a single server or VM instance via NFV technology instead of needing dedicated hardware for each one individually, organisations can realise significant savings over time due to reduced capital expenditure costs associated with purchasing additional equipment;

2) Efficient Use Of Resources – Since resources like memory allocation and CPU processing power are no longer being wasted by running individual processes separately on different physical boxes but rather shared across multiple VMs running various applications simultaneously, system performance is greatly improved;

3) Scalability – Companies can easily scale their existing infrastructure based upon changing needs without having to purchase additional hardware. Businesses can reduce costs by only paying for what they need while still enjoying the scalability and flexibility that comes from running on virtual machines;

4) Simplified Deployment & Management – Deploying complex infrastructures becomes simpler than ever before thanks to automated provisioning procedures which eliminates manual configuration tasks;

5 ) Improved Security – By centralising control over access points between internal networks as well as external ones used for communication purposes, organisations are able create secure perimeters around sensitive areas ensuring better protection against malicious attacks.

The many benefits offered make doing so even more attractive. From lower costs due resource sharing among virtual machines, scalability options allowing easy expansion when needed along with simplified deployment & management processes leading improved security postures – the advantages and savings speak for themselves.

As leaders in the NFV technology, ActivePort understands the power of network functions virtualization. The ActivePort platform allows users to quickly and easily deploy network components in a matter of hours instead of months, as with traditional networking. Contact the ActivePort team and leverage the benefits of NFV today.

ActivePort NFV network makeover

ActivePort NFV styles network makeover for Australian fashion label

(Nov 2022) Activeport MSP Partner transforms national fashion retailer’s network with NFV & SD-Internet Solution. Read below or download the PDF.

Key Customer Objectives:

  • 24/7 access to cloud-based infrastructure
  • Improve connectivity and reduce EFTPOS downtime
  • Increase visibility across the national network
  • Centralise remote access to alarm and security systems

Retailer Network Challenges

One of Australia’s fastest growing fashion retailers was experiencing poor internet connectivity causing lost sales across stores. This connectivity issue caused breakdown of EFTPOS, no way to view stock availability, and no access to alarm and security systems. They were looking or a solution that allows 24/7 access to their cloud-based infrastructure.

Activeport NFV & SD-Internet Solution

Activeport designed a solution with SD-Internet with 4G failover & Firewall NFV which was implemented as all their OSS & BSS systems are available online. A Firewall NFV was deployed at each site to allow remote access to the digital alarm system and cameras.

ActivePort NFV and SD Internet diagram

Retail Group Outcome & Success

  • 24/7 Network Connectivity 
    When the primary access faults occurred 4G & Firewall NFV ensured the stores kept trading & maintained connectivity to their alarm and camera system 24/7.
  • Reduced EFTPOS outages. No more downtime across the network. Applications don’t see any failover. The same IP address is used for all circuits in a virtual tunnel. Event notifications advise of any lost connectivity.
  • Increased Visibility  Through ActivePortal dashboard, IT teams can now manage the entire network and proactively provision, deploy, and manage services.

For more information on this case study or our SDN solutions, contact the Activeport team today. Download this Case Study PDF now.

NFV MANO by ActivePort 6.5

ActivePortal v6.5. The next generation in NFV MANO Technology

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