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Cloud wholesaler replaces networking hardware with Brocade rentals

Cloud Plus embraces opex, with ASI Solutions overseeing deployment

Cloud Plus is transitioning to Brocade hardware for its datacentre and multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) to cater for an ongoing increase in network traffic.

The private Cloud wholesaler has rented VDX and ICX switches from Brocade for an undisclosed value on the vendor’s open-ended Network Subscription acquisition model; Cloud Plus will pay for the Ethernet fabric ports connected to active nodes on a pay-as-you-go basis, with the option to scale up or down as required.

Brocade partner and managed services provider (MSP), ASI Solutions, has been training the Cloud Plus engineering team and assisting with network planning to ensure smooth deployment of the new switches and routing platforms.

Cloud Plus chief executive (CEO), Jules Rumsey, said Network Subscription allows the company to maximise productive use from limited financial resources instead of locking capital in “currently unproductive assets.”

“Network traffic continues to grow exponentially while the cost of storing and switching data falls,” he said. “As a service provider, we need highly scalable infrastructure to support this trend. We also have to ensure that we have sufficient capacity to cater for significant bursts of growth without compromising performance. The infrastructure investment required to achieve that can tie up a lot of capital.”

The switches are sitting in Cloud Plus’ recently-launched Sydney datacentre, and have been paired with Supermicro multitude integrated compute devices, and storage from EMC and Supermicro.

Cloud Plus required the replacement due to network traffic growth on the back of falling costs for network bandwidth within telecommunications, and the successful execution of large deals that deliver data transfer at a lower price by its partners.

The combination of the price trend and Cloud Plus’ business model – it provides infrastructure and Cloud-based services through 50 solutions partners – has also contributed to a 147 per cent revenue growth in fiscal 2014, a figure the company expects to exceed in 2015.