ci connect | Issue 4
Multi-linking technology – improves security
As the role of the Internet in business grows, the reliability of connection and service availability becomes increasingly important. To avoid downtime complex solutions like firewalls, redundant gateways, switchers and routers have been implemented. Now we are looking for an easier solution.
To protect business critical systems, which typically need to be available 24/7, many organisations have realised the benefit of running multiple Internet connections in parallel. The most secure configuration is to run a traditional wired system backed by a high speed wireless connection although another approach is to run two underground connections from independent suppliers. While this type of resiliency might have been available for some time, implementation and administration has been expensive since complex routing protocols and additional hardware are required.
Community Internet (CI) can offer a complete solution to this kind of issue. Additional connectivity is supplied to your business either through the air or underground and is backed by advanced load balancing technology, which removes the Internet as a single point of failure risk.
By using this system it is possible to ensure the network connection is always available. If one link fails network traffic is automatically failed over to the remaining links. However, this is not the only benefit. The performance of your network can also be improved as inbound and out bound traffic is load balanced across any number of Internet connections. Every connection is the fastest available, combined throughput exceeds that of a single connection with fluctuating service levels. If this approach is combined with clustered firewall gateways, load balancing between nodes provides further reliability to the network architecture. Connections lost owing to node failures can be recovered transparently, with no apparent loss of service.
Supporting VPNs
VPN solutions enable your entire workforce to exchange information, access email, or download files from your corporate network wherever they are. Built around existing Internet infrastructures, a VPN is incredibly cost-effective and means everyone in your organisation can interact quickly and securely. However, many view VPN connectivity as unreliable and too risky for business critical communications. This multi-linking technology can deliver additional fault tolerance and transparent fail over, making VPN connections as reliable and secure as leased lines. The higher bandwidth and lower latency helps support new technologies such as Voice over IP and video conferencing.
This multi-linking technology provides a simple and cost effective way to deploy multiple internet connections and ensure uninterrupted Internet connectivity. The technology enables multiple networks to be seamlessly integrated to create fault tolerant, highly available connectivity without having to drastically change the existing network infrastructure.