F5 Case Studies PersonalizationMall.com Ensures Fast, Reliable Remote Access with BIG‑IP Edge Gateway

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	PersonalizationMall.com Ensures Fast, Reliable Remote Access with BIG‑IP Edge Gateway F5

PersonalizationMall.com Ensures Fast, Reliable Remote Access with BIG‑IP Edge Gateway

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud
Applicable Industries	Retail E-Commerce
Applicable Functions	Business Operation
Use Cases	Remote Asset Management Remote Collaboration Remote Control
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services System Integration
Challenge	PersonalizationMall.com, an online retailer, was facing challenges with its existing VPN solution. As more employees required remote access, the Cisco technology they were using no longer delivered acceptable performance. This was especially evident after the company migrated to Windows 7. Mobile users needed the 64‑bit operating system but were unable to connect to the VPN. Another concern was the slow connection speed between office and home, which was limited by the older VPN technology. Users were also experiencing difficulties with dropped calls on VoIP, which was frustrating and negatively affected the business. Read More
About Customer	PersonalizationMall.com is an online retailer founded in 1998 that specializes in personalized gift buying. The company has seen significant growth, achieving $50 million in annual sales, and recently consolidated in a 120,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Woodridge, Illinois. PersonalizationMall.com employs 200 full‑time staff, adding up to 500 during peak seasons. The company operates in a demanding and highly competitive retail industry, and its executives and IT staff require reliable and fast remote access to stay in constant touch with the business. Read More
Solution	To address the challenges, PersonalizationMall.com turned to F5 and its BIG‑IP Edge Gateway technology. The company had previously used F5 BIG‑IP solutions to manage website traffic, which traditionally spikes with seasonal activities. To ensure a fast, seamless customer experience, IT implemented F5 BIG‑IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Application Delivery Controller for load balancing, and BIG‑IP Global Traffic Manager (GTM) to intelligently manage traffic across data centers. With the success of BIG‑IP LTM and BIG‑IP GTM, the company researched solutions for VPN issues and learned about F5 BIG‑IP Edge Gateway, an advanced access solution that brings together SSL VPN remote access, security, application acceleration, and availability services for remote users. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud

Applicable Industries

Retail

E-Commerce

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Remote Asset Management

Remote Collaboration

Remote Control

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

System Integration

Challenge

PersonalizationMall.com, an online retailer, was facing challenges with its existing VPN solution. As more employees required remote access, the Cisco technology they were using no longer delivered acceptable performance. This was especially evident after the company migrated to Windows 7. Mobile users needed the 64‑bit operating system but were unable to connect to the VPN. Another concern was the slow connection speed between office and home, which was limited by the older VPN technology. Users were also experiencing difficulties with dropped calls on VoIP, which was frustrating and negatively affected the business.

About Customer

PersonalizationMall.com is an online retailer founded in 1998 that specializes in personalized gift buying. The company has seen significant growth, achieving $50 million in annual sales, and recently consolidated in a 120,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Woodridge, Illinois. PersonalizationMall.com employs 200 full‑time staff, adding up to 500 during peak seasons. The company operates in a demanding and highly competitive retail industry, and its executives and IT staff require reliable and fast remote access to stay in constant touch with the business.

Solution

To address the challenges, PersonalizationMall.com turned to F5 and its BIG‑IP Edge Gateway technology. The company had previously used F5 BIG‑IP solutions to manage website traffic, which traditionally spikes with seasonal activities. To ensure a fast, seamless customer experience, IT implemented F5 BIG‑IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Application Delivery Controller for load balancing, and BIG‑IP Global Traffic Manager (GTM) to intelligently manage traffic across data centers. With the success of BIG‑IP LTM and BIG‑IP GTM, the company researched solutions for VPN issues and learned about F5 BIG‑IP Edge Gateway, an advanced access solution that brings together SSL VPN remote access, security, application acceleration, and availability services for remote users.

Impact #1	Improved application performance across the WAN, giving remote and mobile workers a far better user experience.
Impact #2	New security features and a fast, easy deployment process provide clear advantages.
Impact #3	Switching to SSL has given an important security advantage. Active Directory (AD) permissions and security settings are now integrated, which means users can use existing domain logins, without a new set of user and password credentials.

Impact #1

Improved application performance across the WAN, giving remote and mobile workers a far better user experience.

Impact #2

New security features and a fast, easy deployment process provide clear advantages.

Impact #3

Switching to SSL has given an important security advantage. Active Directory (AD) permissions and security settings are now integrated, which means users can use existing domain logins, without a new set of user and password credentials.

Benefit #1	The video feeds are much faster than before—at 20 frames per second.
Benefit #2	Over BIG‑IP Edge Gateway, the VoIP call sounds as clear as a wired phone, for more effective communication.

Benefit #1

The video feeds are much faster than before—at 20 frames per second.

Benefit #2

Over BIG‑IP Edge Gateway, the VoIP call sounds as clear as a wired phone, for more effective communication.

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Overview

PersonalizationMall.com Ensures Fast, Reliable Remote Access with BIG‑IP Edge Gateway

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit