Case Studies > Australian Conglomerate Deploys vThunder ADC to Increase Availability and Security of Microsoft Exchange

Australian Conglomerate Deploys vThunder ADC to Increase Availability and Security of Microsoft Exchange

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Pacific

Country

Australia

Product

vThunder ADC
Microsoft Exchange
VMware

Tech Stack

Virtual Appliances
Server Load Balancing
SSL

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Customer Satisfaction
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management
Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Visualization

Applicable Industries

Retail

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Facility Management

Services

System Integration
Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

About The Customer

Wesfarmers is one of Australia’s largest companies with operations that include supermarkets, department stores, home improvement and office supplies, coal production and export, chemicals, energy and fertilizers, and industrial and safety products. Revenue for 2014 was $A60.18 billion and staff numbered 200,000 plus. The group’s best-known brands are in retail, including household names such as Coles Supermarkets, Target, Kmart, Officeworks, and Bunnings Warehouse, the leading retailer of home improvement and outdoor living products in Australia and New Zealand. Coles Supermarkets alone has 765 stores nationwide, serviced by 100,000 plus staff. Wesfarmers Limited, the group’s holding company, has a staff of around 250.

The Challenge

Based in Perth, Western Australia, Wesfarmers Limited needed to replace a Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006. The reverse proxy device, which enabled access to internal websites and an Exchange server, was nearing its end of life and support. The company required a virtual device compatible with their VMware virtualized environment to ensure approximately 250 head office staff could rely on web access and receive mobile emails without issue. Wesfarmers undertook a careful evaluation process, checking offerings from multiple vendors including F5, Bluecoat, Riverbed Stingray, and Websense. After review, the company chose an A10 Networks vThunder virtual appliance for its cost-effectiveness, scalability, and range of functionality.

The Solution

Wesfarmers selected the vThunder ADC line to provide expansion capabilities, fitting easily into its existing VMware virtualized infrastructure without requiring new hardware. The vThunder ADC offers rapid deployment, consolidated infrastructure, and high performance with no feature limitations. Each vThunder ADC virtual appliance includes all available ADC or Carrier Grade Networking (CGN) features, with versions licensed by bandwidth up to 8 Gbps on commodity hardware, or aggregate throughput up to 100 Gbps on A10 Networks Thunder HVA hybrid virtual appliances. Additional advantages include dynamic service chaining, granular policy enforcement, support for high-density multi-tenancy architecture, and dynamic provisioning and operation. The vThunder ADC reduces capital expenditure and operational costs by allowing more efficient use of resources.

Operational Impact

Ease of implementation and reliability, with the vThunder ADC reverse proxy function delivering set-and-forget standards of performance during the first six months of operation.
The vThunder ADC sits in front of the Exchange server, providing an external layer of security and ensuring high levels of server availability.
The vThunder ADC secure socket layer (SSL) helps assure email traffic security, performance, and offload capabilities.
The vThunder ADC virtual appliance was implemented in each of Wesfarmers’ data centers in Perth and Melbourne, with both Exchange servers and A10 vThunder ADCs running in a VMware virtualized environment.
The implementation was quick and problem-free, with the device performing as expected and providing additional functionality for future scalability.

Quantitative Benefit

Wesfarmers is currently using only 5-10% of the vThunder ADC capability, providing huge scalability.
The vThunder ADC offers bandwidth up to 8 Gbps on commodity hardware, or aggregate throughput up to 100 Gbps on A10 Networks Thunder HVA hybrid virtual appliances.