Arabian Embassies would connect afresh

SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is building a high-performance network infrastructure based on an interoperable solution from Juniper Networks designed to connect its embassies throughout the world.

The new infrastructure includes the headquarters data center backbone built using Juniper's routing, switching and security solutions. The MOFA network will connect its Riyadh headquarters with branch offices in Jeddah and Dammam and embassies globally to deliver, accelerate and secure the pace and quality of online services, such as issuing visas and consular assistance, and the Ministry's key internal applications used for financial and human resources.

"As the rate of travel into and out of Saudi Arabia increases, the scope and volume of our online services has increased exponentially, as has the Ministry's need for uncompromised network security," said Ghassan Kutobi, ICT Manager, MOFA.

"Our new high-performance network will deliver a responsive and trusted environment for deploying e-services more quickly and cost-effectively. We specifically selected Juniper Networks as our solution provider based on several key factors: the proven performance and reliability of its technology; the innovation of its EX Series Ethernet Switches that leverage JUNOS Software, a single source network operating system; and the company's ability to consult and execute on both a regional and global basis."

MOFA would integrate Juniper's application acceleration, enterprise routing, switching and security devices to create an optimized, secure high-performance network infrastructure.