Executive Summary

Introduction

Exponential-e was founded in 2002 to challenge the

prevailing Telecoms service providers in three specific

areas:

• Network Service Excellence

• Customer Service Excellence

• Applied Innovation

More information can be found at: http://www.exponential-e.com/about-us/what-we-do/

Since 2006, our R&D and ongoing network innovation

culminated in our approach to network infrastructure

and deployments which we termed ‘Smart Wires’, to

differentiate our approach from competitors that could

only deploy rigid network architectures with no flexibility

or versatility to accommodate the emerging ‘cloud’

technologies as ICT platforms.

Smart Wires for the Smart Cloud era . . .

Smart Wires so lends itself to the Cloud that in April 2008,

we held a conference at The Emirates Stadium entitled:

‘The Complementarity of Next Generation Networks and

Virtualisation Projects’. We actually demonstrated the

versatility of our Smart Wires approach with VMware’s

vSphere long before the phrase ‘Cloud’ was coined.

Today, our Smart Wires approach has matured to the point

where we have hundreds of customers leveraging our

highly resilient network for a multitude of business-critical

services demanding a non-stop compute platform. From

Cloud-based SaaS, algorithmic/high frequency trading, high

definition TV over IP to in-play gambling, and geospatial

location systems, Exponential-e’s Smart Wires offers the

versatility demanded of today’s businesses living in a

dynamic, fast moving global economy.

There is a requirement for leaders in the design and

development of WAN solutions and ICT services to guide

its customers through the “noise” of cloud debate. This is

crucially important to maximise the value of assets, create

buy-in for customers and achieve value for money.

Extensive research has shown that security, performance

and service level guarantees (SLGs) are usually listed as

the main concerns by organisations considering external

cloud services.

Their main focus of attention will be risk avoidance: Is their

data safe? Will the new cloud-based service improve on the

performance of its current internal infrastructure?

Reduced performance and SLA-based credits spell potential

disaster for organisations. If they are to be convinced they

must gain a clear visibility into the proposed solution. They

must be allowed to manage it simultaneously with systems

operating outside the cloud – or those that switch between

the internal and external cloud, such as Smart Wires.

WHITE PAPER

Applied Innovation

Detailed Solution

Smart thinkingSmart Wires exist at the core of an extended highly

virtualised environment in which the traditional LAN-

WAN-cloud perimeter is merged as a single entity. This

pioneering technology will cope with all workloads and

manage the interface between private virtualised and

public cloud environments. Most importantly, Exponential-e’s

Smart Wires embraces change simply and cost-effectively

in today’s challenging and dynamic economic environment.

Network redesigns and new server deployments can be

changed with keystrokes and with little disruption whilst

safeguarding corporate systems and data.

Exponential-e’s Smart Wires evolved from our VPLS

architecture to offer:

• Market leading performance & operational latencies

• End-to-end SLAs and SLGs (Unified Infrastructure)

• Data security

• Visibility

• Trust and Confidence

• Cost savings and environmental efficiencies

In the context of virtualisation, Smart Wires offer the much

desired end-to-end transparency that ensures the best

performance standards are maintained.

If virtualisation is the technique for managing systems and

resources regardless of their location, then layer 2 Smart

Wires oriented architecture is ideal as it allows it to happen

across the WAN.

The result is: An enterprise-class cloud offering seamless

agility and scalability intertwined with the security,

interoperability and control that enterprises demand.

This bespoke solution outshines the use of the alternative

approach with “dumb wires”, which effectively just

transport IP packets from A to B, and are the favoured

mode of traditional carriers offering leased line connectivity

across legacy networks. But these will not empower your

cloud or virtualisation project.

Scalable, flexible Smart Wires offers the versatility to your

network and IT infrastructure allowing you to design and

create secure physical and logical operational domains,

whilst converging multiple services on a single platform

to deliver the low latency, excellent availability and high-

throughput required for departmental acceptability.

With Ethernet supporting the cloud management layer,

virtualised desktops, servers and storage resources can be

moved as “logical blocks” around an organisation.

Smart Wires extends the LAN environment into the wide

area using Ethernet as a ubiquitous service interface

on which to support converged services. The local area

network becomes an extended private cloud and flexible

compute resource for the whole organisation. Virtual

servers can be dragged and dropped across the cloud

without end-users knowing they have moved.

When ICT can no longer be touched because it is delivered

from the data centre, latency becomes key. The sub-

millisecond round-trip times which result from a single hop,

bridged interface offered by Smart Wires, make all the

difference. Virtualised compute power gets to the desktop

in a fraction of a second; imperceptible to the end-user.

De-risking the public cloud

4 = high

3

2

1 = low

20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

CHART 2 – Cloud Computing Barriers to Adoption(Source – Ovum 2010 Enterprise IT Architecture Survey: 150 Large Enterprise in US, Asia and Europe)

10%0%

Data Governanceand Privacy

Security

Use of Public InternetInfrastructure

Loss of Control

Service LevelAgreement

Lack of Standards

Whilst organisations of all sizes rely on private clouds

to support steady-state predictable workloads, many

are exploring public cloud services to provide capacity

on demand, especially as these services become more

mature. Amazon.com, Salesforce.com, and many more,

offer elastic, pay-as-you-go compute resources with

significant advantages for cost reduction and simplicity.

Whilst the drivers for using such services are clear, senior

management will take a dim view of any decision to procure

them if having saved money, performance is poor.

Contractually it is clear that the risk element exists with

the customer. Weak service levels, limited financial redress

and lack of operational transparency are the common flaws

and, worryingly, for services relying on best-effort Internet,

network congestion is often identified as a “get-out” clause

for any liability.

The network provider must embrace the main concerns for

adopting cloud services as this is where the opportunity

exists. Statistics from studies by Ovum and Hosting.com

(below and above right) reveal clearly that security and

associated concerns such as privacy, governance, access

and compliance are of paramount importance. The second

issue centres on service levels – and the use of public

Internet for connectivity – and loss of control.

CHART 2 – Obstacles to Cloud Computing(Source: http://www.hosting.com/resources/ebooks/2011-cloud-computing-trends-report)

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

68%

54.9%

44.8%

37.4%

26.8%

26.4%

34.5%

Security/SharedEnvironments

Inability to Integrate withExisting Infrastructure

Performance

Poor Management Tool

Consumption Based Pricing

Regulatory Concerns

Control/Vendor Lock-in

The well-documented downtime problems experienced

by Amazon.com in April 2011 serve as ample evidence

that performance, security and availability guarantees are

intrinsically important to the running of business critical

services. This is backed up by findings from the IDC Private

Cloud Management Survey (below) which reveals that

service-level guarantees are a key decision factor when

choosing between public and private cloud.

CHART 4 – Public vs. Private Cloud Decision Influencers(Source: IDC Private Cloud Management Survey, September 2010)

0 10

44

40

36

32

27

27

25

24

23

21

Specific Needs of Application

Service-Level Guarantees

Security/Access/ Data Ownership

Total Cost of Hardware

Total Cost of Software Licenses

Privacy

Match IT Spending to Usage

Total IT Staff Cost

Deployment Time

Compliance

Percentage of Respondents20 30 40 50

Obstacles to Cloud Computing(Source: http://www.hosting.com/resources/ebooks/2011-cloud-computing-trends-report)

Cloud Computing Barriers to Adoption(Source: Ovum 2010 Enterprise IT Architecture Survey: 150 Large Enterprise in US, Asia and Europe)

Public vs. Private Cloud Decision Influencers(Source: IDC Private Cloud Management Survey, September 2010)

For more information please contact us: Call: 0845 470 4001Email: enquiries@exponential-e.comVisit: www.exponential-e.com

The Smart Wired Cloud

By extending the private cloud to the public cloud using

Smart Wires it is possible to separate the customer

environment from the public cloud in a controlled way, as

detailed in the diagram below.

Smart Wires unite the public and private cloud so that

a computing environment can be selected on demand.

Workloads can be switched to the environment most

capable of offering the appropriate service level, security

policy and price point required for the task in hand.

Centralised firewalls keep the “pipes clean” by tracking the

Smart future horizonsMajor new opportunities for streamlining operations and

more efficient computing are possible when organisations

decide to switch to next-generation Smart Wires

networking. The new dawn in IT is about extending the

virtualised setting across the enterprise as a private cloud

and the secure integration of publicly-provided services

into the mix. Where the network provider can make a real

difference is by offering a service level guarantee that

includes visualization – a real insight into how a service

works.

status of network connections and distinguishing legitimate

packets from other traffic not matching a known state.

Deep packet inspection mitigates application-level attacks

from compromising the network with web-filtering, anti-

spam and anti-virus services keeping threats at bay.

Smart Wires protect customers from the vagaries and best

effort contracts on offer from the public cloud providers.

Businesses get to access a mix-and-match menu of

different services provided as part of an extended private

cloud and deployed with a high-pedigree service wrap.

IT leaders must also be aware that the network must not

be the forgotten piece in the rush towards virtualisation,

as many show signs of struggling with the network

requirements needed to engage with the maximum benefits

of virtualisation and the options available by delivering

services via the cloud.

Network design must be an important decision for

organisations; otherwise the benefits they hope to gain

from virtualisation are likely to be undermined.

Applied Innovation