Case Studies > Tweakers.net Continues Popularity Reign with Help from A10 Application Delivery Controllers

Tweakers.net Continues Popularity Reign with Help from A10 Application Delivery Controllers

Customer Company Size

SME

Region

Europe

Country

Netherlands

Product

A10 ADC
A10 Networks Virtual Chassis System (aVCS)

Tech Stack

Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB)
Policy Based Server Load Balancing (PBSLB)
Layer 7 Fast-HTTP

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Customer Satisfaction
Productivity Improvements
Digital Expertise

Technology Category

Functional Applications - Remote Monitoring & Control Systems
Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software

Applicable Industries

Software
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance
Remote Asset Management

Services

System Integration
Software Design & Engineering Services

About The Customer

Tweakers.net is the largest and most popular technology and electronics website in the Dutch language region, and one of the Top 25 most visited sites in the Netherlands. As part of the large publisher De Persgroep, the Tweakers.net community can reach 3.5 million unique visitors per month, including 100 million web page views. The Tweakers.net team consists of around 65 employees to serve its audience of highly qualified IT professionals. In both 2009 and 2011, Tweakers.net was awarded Website of the Year, Best News Site, Best Community, and Best Comparison Site in a Dutch region contest organized by MetrixLab and Emerce.

The Challenge

Tweakers’ network consists of two geographically redundant sites, each housing a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) stack and connected to a different ISP. To increase performance, availability, and scalability for its high traffic network, Tweakers looked for server load balancers with the highest quality, including specific functionality to implement redundancy between the two locations. As part of its research, Tweakers considered the new generation 64-bit Application Delivery Controllers from A10 Networks through a recommendation from A10’s Certified Partner Quanza Engineering, load balancers from Brocade, and the potential for Open Source and other software solutions to run atop native Linux. Tweakers selected the A10 ADC due to the breadth of features and advanced carrier-grade hardware they offered for reliability versus the other solutions. For example, the A10 ADC includes 12 x 1 Gb ports, solid state drives (SSDs), SSL acceleration ASICs, 11 Gbps throughput, 300,000 Layer 4 connections per second, dual redundant power supplies, and all features included without license fees. Tweakers especially liked the port flexibility and density offered by A10 ADC models.

The Solution

A10 ADCs are used in Tweakers’ network in conjunction with a routing and switching environment based on Cisco equipment. A10 ADCs ensure that HTTP requests are equally divided between servers and sites, allowing easy horizontal scaling of the infrastructure and optimal performance under all circumstances including peak traffic conditions, for example, during the busier holiday online shopping season. Specific advanced A10 ADC features that Tweakers employed include: Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB): Tweakers load balances traffic across both of its sites using GSLB. Once traffic arrives on the site, A10 ADC leverages Layer 7 Fast-HTTP to load balance sessions across its server farm for high availability and performance. Policy Based Server Load Balancing (PBSLB): Redirects malicious IPs to a specific page for increased security. A10 Networks Virtual Chassis System (aVCS): Clusters all A10 ADC units through a single management IP to simplify configuration management across A10 devices and increase performance and scalability. Health Checks: Increases high availability by continually monitoring the servers and rerouting traffic as soon as a problem is detected.

Operational Impact

Since deploying the A10 ADC, Tweakers has continued to grow and gain recognition as the most popular technology and electronics site in the Dutch region.
The website allows an average of 250,000 unique visitors who generate 3.5 million page views a day with a very noticeable positive end user experience since installing the A10 ADC.
Patrick Kuiper, Manager of Technology at Tweakers, proclaims: 'With A10 Networks’ technology, we have implemented the perfect solution for our Global Server Load Balancing (GSLB) needs. With this solution in place we have the scalability for further growth against a good price as well as quality.'
For rapidly growing companies such as Tweakers, a reliable and scalable solution is exactly what maturing companies require. This approach of providing dependability to its end users enhances user experience and satisfaction, providing customers with an overall quality customer experience.
The A10 ADC is the answer to the needs of growing companies that also seek a complete answer to their rising needs.

Quantitative Benefit