Datacenter Oostkamp
optimises costs for its
growing business
Case Study
Objective
Achieve the reliability and cost
eiciencies demanded by the growing
number of customers who rely on
Datacenter Oostkamp’s commodity colocation services
Approach
Met with three leading networking
vendors; af ter extensive evaluation,
confirmed that the mature HP
Networking solution could deliver the
reliability, cost eiciencies and simplified
network management required for DCO²
IT Matters
• Reduced the time required for
managing the network by 90 per cent,
saving time and money, and enabling
resources to be redeployed on highervalue tasks
• Simplified network configuration,
reducing network configuration errors
by 90 per cent and network problems
to zero
Business Matters
• Reduced operational costs, allowing
competitive pricing for the growing
number of customers of commodity
services
• Ensured delivery of robust and reliable
customer services, increasing customer
satisfaction, protecting revenue
• Enabled the 100 per cent year-onyear business growth to be achieved
organically, safeguarding profits
HPE FlexFabric solution delivers a resilient,
cost eicient next generation data centre
Datacenter Oostkamp
needed a networking
solution for its new data
centre. Robust, highperformance HPE 12508
and HPE 5820 switches,
and HPE SR8805 routers
provided a reliable, cost
eicient network that
was simple to manage.
The solution has led to
a doubling of annual
revenues, and happier
customers.
State-of-the-art data centre
Data centres are in the midst of a period
of significant change. Once providers of
speciality services for large enterprises,
within the next decade they will transform
into providers of commodity services for
SMEs. This transformation, while bringing
unprecedented growth, is forcing data
centres to drive down production costs.
“In the coming years the services that data
centres oer will move from a speciality
product to a commodity product,” explains
Janjoris van der Lei, CEO, Datacenter
Oostkamp. “Data centres are growing and
are moving down into the SME market.
Case study
Oostkamp
“The network in DCO² is running well – the support team haven’t received
any network-related tickets since we went live six months ago. We are very
happy that we took the decision to purchase this strong HP Networking
solution; we are a very happy customer.”
— Janjoris van der Lei, CEO, Datacenter Oostkamp
Industry
Computer services
Page 2
We expect to see a reduction in square
metres for larger companies – within ten
years they will make up only ten per cent of
data centre usage; the other 90 per cent will
be SMEs. Because of this, data centres are
focusing on cost-cutting.”
Datacenter Oostkamp’s new state-of-the-art
data centre, DCO², replaced its outmoded
traditional data centre. DCO² was designed
and located with cost eiciencies in mind.
Unlike conventional data centres, which
are situated in large cities, DCO² lies in
the Belgian countryside, but close to the
crossroads of the networks running between
London and Frankfurt, and between Paris
and Amsterdam.
“The environment is pollution-free so we
can use free outside air for cooling, reducing
cooling costs to a maximum of two per cent
of our energy budget,” van der Lei reveals.
“The out of town location also ensures that
building and maintenance costs are lower.”
Today Datacenter Oostkamp oers
customers co-location services and
Hardware-as-a-Service; in the future it is
looking to oer Infrastructure-as-a-Service.
With co-location services it is impossible to
predict how customers will use the facilities
provided by the data centre, or what growth
customers will have. This means forecasting
is almost impossible for Datacenter
Oostkamp.
“When we designed DCO² we had no
indication of how it would actually be used,
making forecasting networking demands
impossible,” conveys van der Lei. “Today we
have customers who use the network for
storage or cloud environments and demand
high capacity, and we have customers who
use the network for VoIP and demand
quality of service. Customers are demanding
a great deal from the network: they are
demanding that the network be free of jitter,
fallout and packet loss because, for example,
this would prevent their game server
environment working properly.”
Providing the flexibility
and scalability
customers demand
A Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
Networking solution that includes two HPE
12508 series switches and two HPE 8800
series routers allows Datacenter Oostkamp
to achieve the flexibility and scalability
that is vital for delivery of a high level of
customer service in an unpredictable and
demanding environment.
“The network is the backbone of the
data centre and the HPE switches and
routers allow us to provide a robust and
cost eicient network that can handle the
complex and ever-changing demands of our
customers,” notes van der Lei. “We used to
Case study
Oostkamp
Industry
Computer services
Page 3
have a lot of small switches in a multi-tier
environment. Now we have large switches
from HPE where two switches that are
clustered as if they are one – increasing
flexibility, simplifying management and
increasing capacity.”
Simplification cuts
configuration errors by
90 per cent, reducing
issues to zero
Datacenter Oostkamp has cut the number
of configuration errors by 90 per cent,
significantly reducing the risk of network
issues arising.
This significant reduction in errors has
been made possible by the HPE Intelligent
Resilient Framework (IRF) that is natively
built into the HPE 12508 switching platforms
– a technology that allows networks to be
flattened, making them easier to set up
and manage, and reducing the likelihood
of configuration errors. IRF also saves costs
and simplifies network management; IT
no longer needs to laboriously connect to,
configure and manage switches individually.
“To meet the increasingly complex demands
of our customers we needed to simplify the
management of the network,” van der Lei
recalls. “We did this by reducing the number
of layers; it was IRF that allowed us to do
this.
“Reducing the amount of management
required is very important because it has
reduced the likelihood of mistakes by about
90 per cent. Fewer mistakes are also an
important cost-cutting factor, reducing the
costs associated with people running around
and checking everything.”
Network management
time cut by 90 per cent
Network management simplification has
reduced the amount of time required for
managing and configuring the network by
90 per cent. With more time on their hands,
van der Lei’s team now also get involved in
other tasks, including product development
– vital to the future success of DCO².
“The way IRF is implemented by HPE
means there are fewer configurations to
set up – about 90 per cent less,” discloses
van der Lei. “The two switching platforms
can be used as if they were one single large
switch, reducing the number of network
components that need to be configured.
Additionally we don’t have to worry about
failovers, about making multiple connections
to one switch or about interoperability
between switches.
“Not only can we continue to manage our
network with the same small team, but our
team has the time available to get involved
in other tasks. You need a lot of time to
develop new products and our team is
getting more involved in this area, ensuring
that our future services will not compromise
the network stability.”
Case study
Oostkamp
Industry
Computer services
Page 4
A tried and tested
networking solution
HPE came relatively late to the procurement
process. Datacenter Oostkamp had
already held discussions with Cisco and
Force10 when it was introduced to the HPE
Networking portfolio.
From holding open, envisioning discussions
with HPE Networking consultants, and
diving deep into the product documentation,
van der Lei could clearly see how he could
build the network that Datacenter Oostkamp
wanted for DCO² using HPE Networking
products.
“We chose HPE primarily because we
were impressed with the functionality and
capability of the HPE Networking portfolio,”
reveals van der Lei. “But there are several
factors that influenced our decision: one
is the maturity of these tried and tested
products; another is the high quality of the
documentation. HPE was the only vendor
able to provide these things.”
Van der Lei’s experience told him that
HPE’s mature products, with their native
implementation of IRF, would be the most
robust solution and less likely to require
upgrades. “With Cisco, the capabilities we
wanted were going to be made available
in the next version of the product, but
experience told us that we would need to
wait until about the fourth version of this
feature before it was enterprise-ready.
Another advantage of the HPE solution is
that IRF was natively implemented from the
day they were conceived some time ago,”
notes van der Lei. “Other vendors are now
catching up, but don’t have the experience.”
Tracking down the history of HPE’s switches
and routers on the internet showed them to
be capable, mature and reliable. Datacenter
Oostkamp was assured that HPE was the
right networking partner for its new data
centre.
Understanding the
specific needs of DCO²
Datacenter Oostkamp chose an HPE
Networking solution not only because of the
maturity and capabilities of HPE’s products,
but because of HPE’s wide portfolio of
products and willingness to listen. “HPE has
a wide portfolio of products and something
to fit all needs,” says van der Lei. “HPE
worked closely with us to understand our
individual requirements, listening and asking
questions about what we were trying to
achieve. We were confident that HPE would
provide the right solution for DCO².”
Case study
Oostkamp
Industry
Computer services
Customer at a glance
Hardware
• HPE 12508 Switch Series
• HPE 5820 Switch Series
• HPE SR8805 Router
• HPE BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure
Software
• HPE Intelligent Management Center
HPE services
• HPE Education Services
“Not only can we continue to manage our network with the
same small team, but our team has the time available to
get involved in other tasks. You need a lot of time to
develop new products and our team is getting more
involved in this area, ensuring that our future services will
not compromise the network stability.”
– Janjoris van der Lei, CEO, Datacenter Oostkamp
Maturity and good
documentation
ensures success
Van der Lei’s focus turned to
implementation with one vital constraint in
mind: no downtime. The implementation
of and migration to the new data centre
network would have to take place while
the network was fully operational; any
network disruption would hurt Datacenter
Oostkamp’s business and reputation.
Having found HPE Networking products
mature, reliable and simple to set up and
configure, and the documentation to be
of an exceptionally high quality, van der
Lei was confident that his team could
successfully implement the new network
themselves. Prior to implementation HPE
provided five days of training to get the
team acquainted with the products and the
tasks that they would need to undertake.
After training and before implementation,
van der Lei’s team spent six months
simulating any possible type of breakdown
in a proof-of-concept environment. The
implementation itself took just six months,
with a further six months for migration from
the old data centre.
A network for life
Datacenter Oostkamp also purchased
four HPE 5820 series switches, an HPE
BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure and HPE
Intelligent Management Center (IMC)
software for DCO². The switching platforms
have been implemented in remote data
centres.
“If we have a connection to another data
centre where we rent a space, we implement
the HPE 5820 switches in that data centre,”
van der Lei explains. The blade enclosures
are heavily utilised by customers who have a
cloud environment.
“We are happy with the way the network is
running; we have the network under control.
We will use this way of working to manage
the network for the lifetime of the data
centre,” concludes van der Lei.
Learn more at
hpe.com/go/flexfabric
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© Copyright 2013, 2015 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without
notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such
products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical
or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
4AA4-6139EEW, November 2015, Rev. 1
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