NETSCOUT Case Studies U.S. University Adds Smart Visibility Solutions for Data Center Transformation

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	U.S. University Adds Smart Visibility Solutions for Data Center Transformation NETSCOUT

U.S. University Adds Smart Visibility Solutions for Data Center Transformation

NETSCOUT

Technology Category	Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms
Applicable Industries	Education
Applicable Functions	Business Operation
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services Data Science Services System Integration
Challenge	The university was undergoing a data center transformation, including virtualization and high-speed connectivity. However, their legacy network performance monitoring (NPM) tool was not up to the task of supporting this strategic initiative. The NPM tool had limited visibility due to its use of a NetFlow-focused data source, making collaboration nearly impossible due to the lack of integration between data and voice monitoring tools. Additionally, the troubleshooting processes were reportedly cumbersome and slow, which delayed resolution to application and network performance issues. With the university’s data center transformation including plans for VMware ESX hypervisor infrastructure, Cisco® Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) software-defined networking (SDN), and cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 services, there was a need for a new NPM tool that could support these IT transformation activities, while meeting firm budget guidelines. Read More
About Customer	The customer is a historic U.S. university renowned for its commitment to wide-ranging academic programs, as well as its athletic, cultural, philanthropic, and research activities. The university has over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled, with 850 faculty members providing education across nearly 50 fields of study. The university heavily depends on their network for many student- and professor-oriented services. Their website and portal for admissions serve as the university’s public face to new and prospective students. Admitted students use critical applications across the network to register for classes, complete payment for tuition and fees, and submit class assignments. Professors looking to review papers and exams, post scores, and complete student grading at the end of a semester have no time for slowdowns or unavailability. Student social media memes of poor campus network performance can be swift and caustic, so maintaining quality experience is a top priority. Read More
Solution	The university chose to move forward with a NETSCOUT® solution that provides IT with the smart visibility required to effectively deploy and proactively monitor next-generation SDN, virtual, and cloud environments. The NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Service Assurance platform provides a single pane of glass to view data, voice, and video service delivery performance and proactively manage the availability, performance, and quality of university users’ experience. The real-time nGeniusONE information platform leverages NETSCOUT smart data as a universal data source for providing smarter analytics for end-to-end visibility throughout the university’s virtualized and hybrid cloud environments. InfiniStreamNG (ISNG) hardware appliances with NETSCOUT’s patented Adaptive Service Intelligence™ (ASI) technology are deployed in the data center environment, transforming the university’s packet traffic into smart data. The vSTREAM virtual appliance is deployed to address VMware ESX platform monitoring needs by monitoring east-west traffic in the data center’s virtualized environment. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

Data Science Services

System Integration

Challenge

The university was undergoing a data center transformation, including virtualization and high-speed connectivity. However, their legacy network performance monitoring (NPM) tool was not up to the task of supporting this strategic initiative. The NPM tool had limited visibility due to its use of a NetFlow-focused data source, making collaboration nearly impossible due to the lack of integration between data and voice monitoring tools. Additionally, the troubleshooting processes were reportedly cumbersome and slow, which delayed resolution to application and network performance issues. With the university’s data center transformation including plans for VMware ESX hypervisor infrastructure, Cisco® Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) software-defined networking (SDN), and cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 services, there was a need for a new NPM tool that could support these IT transformation activities, while meeting firm budget guidelines.

About Customer

The customer is a historic U.S. university renowned for its commitment to wide-ranging academic programs, as well as its athletic, cultural, philanthropic, and research activities. The university has over 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled, with 850 faculty members providing education across nearly 50 fields of study. The university heavily depends on their network for many student- and professor-oriented services. Their website and portal for admissions serve as the university’s public face to new and prospective students. Admitted students use critical applications across the network to register for classes, complete payment for tuition and fees, and submit class assignments. Professors looking to review papers and exams, post scores, and complete student grading at the end of a semester have no time for slowdowns or unavailability. Student social media memes of poor campus network performance can be swift and caustic, so maintaining quality experience is a top priority.

Solution

The university chose to move forward with a NETSCOUT® solution that provides IT with the smart visibility required to effectively deploy and proactively monitor next-generation SDN, virtual, and cloud environments. The NETSCOUT nGeniusONE Service Assurance platform provides a single pane of glass to view data, voice, and video service delivery performance and proactively manage the availability, performance, and quality of university users’ experience. The real-time nGeniusONE information platform leverages NETSCOUT smart data as a universal data source for providing smarter analytics for end-to-end visibility throughout the university’s virtualized and hybrid cloud environments. InfiniStreamNG (ISNG) hardware appliances with NETSCOUT’s patented Adaptive Service Intelligence™ (ASI) technology are deployed in the data center environment, transforming the university’s packet traffic into smart data. The vSTREAM virtual appliance is deployed to address VMware ESX platform monitoring needs by monitoring east-west traffic in the data center’s virtualized environment.

Impact #1	The IT team is advancing their data center transformation initiatives, having closed virtual, cloud, and voice technology visibility gaps by using NETSCOUT solutions to monitor east-west and north-south wire traffic.
Impact #2	nGeniusONE allows multiple voice, application, and networks teams to login to a single service dashboard offering real-time views into university services and user experience.
Impact #3	The university’s Voice over IP (VoIP) performance is vastly improved when compared to that provided under the legacy NPM tool, with nGeniusONE’s unified communications & collaboration monitoring integrated alongside network and application analytics.

Impact #1

The IT team is advancing their data center transformation initiatives, having closed virtual, cloud, and voice technology visibility gaps by using NETSCOUT solutions to monitor east-west and north-south wire traffic.

Impact #2

nGeniusONE allows multiple voice, application, and networks teams to login to a single service dashboard offering real-time views into university services and user experience.

Impact #3

The university’s Voice over IP (VoIP) performance is vastly improved when compared to that provided under the legacy NPM tool, with nGeniusONE’s unified communications & collaboration monitoring integrated alongside network and application analytics.

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Overview

U.S. University Adds Smart Visibility Solutions for Data Center Transformation

Operational Impact