New Network Upgrade Seen as “Fundamental” to New Data-Intensive Medical Applications
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 13, 2010 — Juniper Networks (NASDAQ:JNPR, news, filings) today announced that The University of Auckland in New Zealand is upgrading its Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences campus data network with Juniper Networks® EX Series Ethernet Switches. Delivered together with IBM, the upgraded network leverages 10 Gigabit per second (Gbps) throughput to enable the faculty’s 5,000 users to easily share research and other data.
The Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences data network upgrade coincides with a major renovation of the faculty’s main campus. The faculty’s data network serves the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Population Health and Medical Sciences, and also serves four off-campus clinical schools. The network also supports a wide range of undergraduate, post-graduate, clinical and applied research programs.
The university, which has one of New Zealand’s largest private data networks, selected switches from across the EX Series family to enable 10 Gbps capacity and deliver improved scalability. The upgrade also paves the way for integrated security management and compliance with government data confidentiality requirements. The EX3200, EX4200 and the chassis-based EX8208 lines of switches were chosen after a rigorous two-month on-site evaluation that tested their performance and their integration with the school’s existing network infrastructure.
By using the EX4200’s Virtual Chassis fabric technology, the medical school has made it easier for researchers to share large datasets. Virtual Chassis fabric technology enables up to 10 interconnected EX4200 switches to operate as a single, logical device, simplifying maintenance and management while lowering total cost of ownership. The university’s network architects plan to shortly enable the same Virtual Chassis functionality on their EX8208 platforms once it becomes available in late 2010.
“The imperative behind this upgrade was to meet current and projected growth in traffic generated, in large part, by research teams relying more and more on data-intensive applications in virtual machine environments,” said John Askew, IT architect for the University of Auckland. “Our data networks have traditionally been largely single-vendor environments, but we’ve always set the bar high in terms of performance, security compliance and total cost of ownership. We’re delighted that Juniper Networks has exceeded those standards.”
“This highly successful deployment alongside IBM reflects a growing preference for choice and long-term value in the enterprise market,” said Andy Ingram, vice president of product marketing and business development of the Fabric and Switching Technologies business group at Juniper Networks. “The combination of EX Series switching performance and the efficiencies of the Junos operating system produce total cost-of-ownership benefits that are increasingly being recognized in the most demanding networks.”
Junos® is a reliable, high-performance network operating system for routing, switching, and security. It reduces the time necessary to deploy new services and decreases network operation costs by up to 41 percent. Junos offers secure programming interfaces and the Junos SDK for developing applications that can unlock more value from the network.
Greg Farmer, IBM New Zealand’s Global Technology Services Executive, said the data network project continued a long-standing relationship between IBM and the university. “Developments in advanced medical and academic networking make this upgrade fundamental to the growth of both sectors,” said Farmer. “We’re delighted to work with Juniper Networks to provide a multi-vendor solution that pushes out the boundaries for the university.”
Juniper Networks EX Series Ethernet Switches are designed to meet the needs of today’s converged branch office, campus and data center networks. They draw on the same application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), carrier-class system architecture and Junos software that power the world’s largest service provider networks.
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About Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is in the business of network innovation. From devices to data centers, from consumers to cloud providers, Juniper Networks delivers the software, silicon and systems that transform the experience and economics of networking. The company serves customers and partners worldwide, generating revenues exceeding $3 billion over the last year. Additional information can be found at www.juniper.net.
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