Benelux Internet Hosting Company Adopts Cisco Data Centre Network Architecture to Improve Services and Deliver Them Faster

COMBELL Group to Expand Data Centre Capacity and Increase Reliability and Security with Cisco Foundation Technologies

DIEGEM/GENT, Belgium.- COMBELL Group NV, one of the top three Internet hosting companies in Benelux with some 60,000 domain names, is using a Cisco Data Centre Network Architecture to improve service reliability and bring new products to market faster. COMBELL expects to provide its customers with even more reliable and cost-effective services because it will be able to make more efficient of existing resources and increase security of server and data access.

COMBELL is deploying Cisco foundation technologies to build a second, co-located data centre in Brussels, Belgium, to manage the company’s 500 servers. The Cisco technology will help enable COMBELL to virtualise server resources more efficiently by having the network communicate between multiple servers and share computing services and applications among them.

In addition, the security features of Cisco data centre technology will help to increase reliability for customers by taking COMBELL closer to developing a Cisco Self-Defending Network strategy. Cisco security products will help COMBELL to integrate security policies across the network, centralise security management and help enable the network to adapt to new threats as they arise. As a result, COMBELL expects to provide customers with even more reliable data and Internet services and be able to adjust to changing customer needs quickly.

As well as helping COMBELL increase the number of customers using its Internet hosting and managed services products, Cisco’s technology is also expected to provide a scaleable platform for introducing additional services, such as hosted Internet Protocol (IP) telephony, more quickly to customers.

Frederik Poelman, technical director at COMBELL, said, “COMBELL’s business has been growing at around 40 percent a year, and to support that growth we needed a company like Cisco. The big advantage of Cisco products is we could start with a small investment, still have a very high-quality network, and then scale the technology as our business developed. We have used Cisco since COMBELL started in 1999 and we’ve never had any faults. It is this kind of reliability that helps ensure we can a deliver high-quality service to our customer and continue to do so as we increase our customer base and introduce new services.”

The solution at COMBELL will add a Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Switch to the company’s existing portfolio of Cisco products, which includes a Catalyst 6500, Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series Switches and Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches. COMBELL will also deploy Cisco Security Manager and Cisco PIX Firewall Software security products to help enable the company to develop its Cisco Self-Defending Network strategy. The Cisco Data Center Network Architecture at COMBELL is being implemented by TFE Electronics BVBA, a Cisco Registered Partner.

Poelman said, “Another advantage of working with Cisco is the community around the organisation, which provides very useful information, knowledge and experience to enhance our network environment. That community includes partners like TFE Electronics, which is providing invaluable support and advice as we build our data centre infrastructure.”

“Using Cisco products to develop a Cisco Data Centre Network Architecture is all about enabling businesses like COMBELL to use their computing resources in the most efficient and cost-effective way, but without compromising performance, reliability or security,” said Pol Vanbiervliet, General Manager, Cisco Belgium and Luxembourg. “It also means that businesses can be far more agile to changing customer and market demands and introduce new products and services quickly to maintain a competitive advantage.”