Vocus Communications increases network scalability and port density with Brocade

BANGALORE, INDIA: Vocus Communications, one of Australia’s fastest expanding communication and data center service providers, has successfully rolled out a next-generation core infrastructure to 43 points-of-presence in cities across Australia and New Zealand. Implemented by Brocade local partner, ASI Solutions, the deployment of Brocade MLXe Series Core Routers gives Vocus more than a 16-fold increase in network capacity, enabling it to meet the requirements for enhanced data center performance and growing demand for cloud services.

During its last financial year, ended 30 June 2014, Vocus Communications’ key driver of business growth was its Fibre and Ethernet product line. Revenue from Fibre and Ethernet services grew 87 percent to reach AUD$28.02 million. The Vocus Fibre network now reaches over 1,000 buildings in Australian cities and provides near-net connectivity to an additional 30,000 buildings.

“In the last three years we’ve been expanding rapidly through both acquisitions and organic growth, with the progress of our Fibre and Ethernet business focusing on meeting the demand for cloud services,” said Luke MacKinnon, Chief Operating Officer of Vocus Communications. “We continue to invest in our Fibre network, which now runs more than 600 kilometers through city centers.”

“The correlation to this is that, with additional pressure on our network assets, we require high performance from every device connected to our network core. With Brocade the reliability of its solutions and existing network infrastructure was never an issue. However, adding ports to our data centers was paramount.

“As we’ve built the business, we’ve also been standardizing our infrastructure using best-of-breed solutions, and with the Brocade MLXe deployed as our next-generation platform, we now have addressed the need for extensive scalability that could quickly ramp up and provide the high port density our customers demand,” MacKinnon ued.

Vocus had already experienced the performance and reliability of Brocade Ethernet solutions implemented previously at its points-of-presence locations. With fast-rising demand for 10 Gigabit per second Ethernet (GbE) services the option of deploying Brocade MLXe routers – which can also support 40 and 100 GbE – was an attractive choice.

And, because the Brocade MLXe runs the same Brocade Multi-Service IronWare operating system as the previous generation of Ethernet service infrastructure, the upgrade implementation path was smooth, with no interoperability issues.

In addition to providing much greater scalability, industry-leading port density, and a path to 100 GbE, the Brocade MLXe reputation for non-stop reliability was also a significant factor in Vocus’ decision. As well as the usual redundant power supplies and fans, the routers feature an advanced redundant switch fabric architecture that helps the system operate at peak performance even in the case of a switch fabric card failure.

“In the last few years Vocus Communications has emerged as one of the savviest players in the Australian and New Zealand service provider markets,” said Gary Denman, Senior Director, Australia and New Zealand, Brocade. “Its decision to deploy the Brocade MLXe Series as its delivery platform for metro Ethernet services is a testament to their reliability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. In the era of cloud-based service delivery this is a smart investment.”