Stellungnahme der KPNQwest bzgl. des Ausbaukonzeptes
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What is KPNQwest doing to cope with the rapid growth of Strato customers?
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Current situation
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KPNQwest Germany (Xlink) has experiences performance problems during a phase of
rapid customer growth for their major hosting customer; Strato AG. Executive
Management of KPNQwest assigned a special project team that will ensure a rapid
performance increase for the Strato AG and their customers.
Network connectivity
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The hosting facilities in KPNQwest Germany is directly connected to the
EURORings and local peerings. This ensures the best possible connectivity to the
Internet. This part has not caused scalability problems regards to Strato.
Server farm
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KPNQwest has experienced performance problems with the current set-up of the
server farm. The following actions are taken to improve performance:
* Added resources to the project team. (Project Management, internal specialists
and vendor expertise)
* Enabling expiry time on web servers to reduce traffic on static content
* Implementing Resource Manager to distribute process load between operations
* Building new architecture with internal experts and experts from world known
hardware and content providers
* Preparing for migration to new KPNQwest Architecture
Installing Proxy Cache for faster delivery of content
The above mentioned actions are short term actions to improve performance. In
parallel the new KPNQwest architecture will be put in place to ensure
performance, scalability and reliability for future growth of KPNQwest's IP
hosting services
KPNQwest Networking and hosting services
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KPNQwest's service provides direct global Internet connectivity on Europe's
largest IP backbone network. And because we understand the critical importance
of business applications, we guarantee the highest availability and lowest
possible latency (traffic delay through the network) in the market place today,
a guarantee underpinned by our use of leading-edge switching technology and
excellent global peering.
KPNQwest's IP Transit is available at speeds from 2Mbps up to multiples of 155
Mbps. Our service features the fastest response times, world-class performance
and guaranteed best-in-class availability. And because our IP network is
wholly-owned and self-managed, data security is ensured.
Anyone working in the world of the internet will be well aware of the difficulty
of planning network capacity levels. New technologies allow KPNQwest customers
to run bursts of data well above normal planned levels for short time periods,
without degradation of service to their customers. When customers want to
upgrade their network capacity, or exploit the network's bursting facilities,
they expect us to make it happen quickly and effectively. Our excellent service
and customer support enables equally quick and effective responses to queries.
Building, owning and running a state-of-the-art IP network results in very
definite advantages to KPNQwest's customers:
- Ultra capacity at Terabit levels (a Terabit is a thousand billion bits),
designed for future high-speed broadband applications without limits.
- Congestion-free transport, resulting in packet/cell loss approaching zero
Re-routing of traffic in less than a second in the unlikely event of major
cable damage, due to the self-healing properties of Synchronous Digital
- Hierarchy (SDH)
- Service Level Guarantees
- Around the clock Customer Care, 24 hours/7 days per week, every week.
All KPNQwest's IP services are offered over the KPNQwest EuroRings™ network,
Europe's largest IP backbone. With links via THE ac1, Gemini and TAT14
transatlantic cables to Qwest's 30,000 km US network, it is the largest fibre
optic IP backbone in the world. It is specially designed built for current and
future IP broadband services such as Internet2, with its gigaPoPs and massive
parallel computing power.
One of the most important network parameters is speed. Not just the raw data
speed within the laser beams, but the effective throughput of the network.
Through the IP backbone minimal latency and therefore maximum throughput is
guaranteed. For domestic IP traffic we offer an average of 85 msec (.085
seconds) round trip time (RTT). For transatlantic IP traffic we offer an average
lower than 95 msec RTT. On-line reporting, available through a secure web
interface, provides updates on access link loading.
Internet Protocol (IP) networks work by sending discrete packets of data between
processors across the network. One critical measurement of performance is the
percentage of packets which for various reasons are lost or become corrupted
during transmission. Two main methods of communication are used, riding on the
top of the IP stream. UDP transmission (User Datagram Protocol, a very fast and
direct way of broadcasting data) results in better than one packet lost per
thousand. TCP transmission (higher grade service, where packets are
re-transmitted if lost or damaged) results in less than 0.1% packet
re-transmission.
Cybercentres
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KPNQwest cybercentres extend the reach of businesses and reduce the complexity
of commercial internet operations. KPNQwest's pan-European system of
interconnected cybercentres manages customer application infrastructures
throughout Europe, allowing them to focus on core business. And because the
cybercentres are directly connected to the EuroRingsTM network, they deliver
world class performance and reliability.
KPNQwest provides all of the prerequisites required for application and web
hosting. The flexible cybercentre portfolio works for all types of business,
ranging from small enterprises to large multinational corporations.
Today, KPNQwest has regional hosting centres in 12 European locations; soon,
latest-technology mega-cybercentres will open in key European cities, including
London, Milan, Munich, Paris, Prague, and Stockholm. These mega-cybercentres,
which are currently under construction connect directly into KPNQwest's fibre
infrastructure. Each mega-cybercentre is approximately 10,000 square meters in
size.
The KPNQwest Cybercentres provides a full range of features, from simple
co-location capabilities to complex application hosting.
The KPNQwest equipment co-location service is the most basic offer and it is the
foundation for all other cybercentre services. Customers using the co-location
service lease floor space in one or more cybercentres. This service typically
includes a raised computer floor and power supply. Extra resources can be
included on request, for example, additional air-conditioning could be
installed.
The Telehousing service provides the next level of support. Telehousing
customers receive cabinet space in a climate-controlled room, fitted with a
raised floor for cable routing and an un-interruptible power supply. In
addition, basic communication facilities such as distribution frames and
telephone lines are provided. Digital Distribution Frames (DDF) and Optical
Distribution Frames (ODF) allow customers to connect directly to the KPNQwest
network, and also to other local providers should they wish. On-site service
engineers also provide first line maintenance if required, such as card
changing, resetting equipment, alarm condition monitoring checks and setting
loops for remote testing.
KPNQwest also provides clients with the latest Internet or IT servers as well as
supporting services. These services include installation of operating systems,
back-up maintenance, performance monitoring of servers and equipment upgrades.
Building on these basic services, some businesses are provided with a managed
web site as part of a complete Internet environment. Internet services such as
corporate E-mail, intranet, search engines, on-line catalogues and streaming
video and audio are hosted by KPNQwest. This includes building and managing the
web servers, provide the Internet domain names as well as security precautions
such as firewalls. All these key activities can be provided from the centralised
Network Operating Centre.
German (Xlink) Hosting Facility and Strato application
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The Xlink hosting centre in Germany, hosting the Strato services, is part of the
KPNQwest cybercenter infrastructure, and thus enjoys the superior connectivity
provided by the KPNQwest backbone, as well as having the usual KPNQwest
fail-safe and redundant data center facilities. Power is provided by redundant
battery systems and diesel generators, assuring continuous operation.
High-volume air conditioning and cooling facilities are also redundant and
fail-safe, ensuring that an ideal environment is maintained for the computing
systems.
The processing systems that support the Strato application are based on two
redundant, top-end Sun multiprocessor systems (E6500), that share a
clusterable/mirrorable file system. These main servers are front-ended and
supported by a number of high-performance Sun E4500 servers running distributed
application services. By using the double redundancy of distributing application
processing and file service to separate, independently redundant multiprocessor
machines, reliability and fail-safe operation can be assured, along with
sufficient processing power to be scalable to accommodate the very high-volume
needs of the application. The opportunities for load balancing and performance
tuning provided by tools such as Sun Resource Manager and the load balancer
system employed by KPNQwest ensure that capacity can be grown as the number of
users continue to grow.
Backup strategies based on multi-level duplication (primary and secondary
storage) allows for recovery even in case of catastrophic system failures that
the safety systems (such as the automated fire extinguisher system and
environmental control systems) might not be able to avert.
Hosting environment specifications
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* Cabinet space *
Space is offered in lockable cabinets with standard 19'' suspension, for housing
the server equipment. The outside dimensions of this 19 inch cabinet is 60 cm in
width, 80 cm in depth, and 220 cm in height. For large systems no cabinet space
is required (e.g. Sun Enterprise Server E6500 and Sun Storage A3500).
* Raised floor *
The raised floor has a load bearing capacity of 475 kg/m2 with a maximum point
load of 3.75 kg/cm2. This floor will enable cabling to be brought via cable
ducts to the equipment.
* Power supply *
The data centre used for STRATO is supplied with the following power features:
- Redundant power supply of 220-240 Volts AC; two outlets per rack;
- Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) with a minimum of 15 minutes battery
backup;
- Diesel generator backup
* Climate control *
Climate control is according to norm ETS class 3.1 'Telecommunication Centres'.
This norm describes the following environmental conditions:
- Climatic conditions, air temperature and humidity,
- Biological conditions,
- Chemical active substances,
- Mechanical conditions
- Normative references of this ETS are IEC publication 721.3-3: Stationary use
at weather protected locations.
- The average temperature will be 21° C +/- 10%, the average humidity will be
50%+/- 10 %.
* Smoke, fire and water protection *
Automatic smoke, fire and water detection in line with the locally applicable
standard fire code is installed at all sites. Also an automated fire
extinguishing system based on the security gas FT200 is installed.
* Access and security *
The access to the Telehousing room is secured with highly secure doors and an
electronic access protection system. Only employees and representatives
mentioned in an agreed list are allowed on the site. A security check will be
executed. Visitors must prove their identity. The visitor will always be
accompanied by KPNQwest personnel (or representatives of KPNQwest).
Interconnection to KPNQWEST network
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Within the Telehousing room interconnection is provided to KPNQwest services.
KPNQwest provides interconnection cabling up to the customer cabinet in
correspondence with provided bandwidth service.
Server Hardware and Storage
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* Server Systems *
The server environment for STRATO bases on Sun Microsystems servers using the
Solaris operating system. The quantity of resources scales with the number of
customer packages and the development of resource usage by existing customers.
Distribution of load and services on the different servers is planned and
performed by KPNQwest depending on the requirement of the individual services
and the usage development. Beside few exception services are put on separate
servers e.g. web, mail, and ftp service.
Depending on the services, KPNQwest uses different types of Sun Enterprise
servers:
- E420R or similar for smaller single services
- E4500 or E6500 for web services
- E4500 or or E6500 for storage access
* Resouce Management *
In order to guarantee high average performance for all customers, KPNQwest uses
Sun Solaris Resource Manager. The resource management allows KPNQwest to define
resource availability and priorities for different services and users on a
system.
* Load Balancers *
KPNQwest uses load balancing mechanisms to guarantee high availabili
