Avaya goes to Extreme to monitor FIFA network

Avaya, provider of a converged communication network for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, has chosen Extreme Networks to provide advanced network monitoring and performance management.

The Extreme Networks Premier Services Program, a collection of management and visibility tools that address multivendor network environments, is helping Avaya to manage and monitor the FIFA World Cup network across 70 locations, supporting as many as 45,000 network connections that span 12 separate stadia and dedicated media centers. Avaya uses PSP to proactively manage the persistent demand placed upon the network, stemming from 15,000 volunteers, 15,000 media and broadcast staff as well as millions of viewers and spectators worldwide who will be fed real-time statistical information.

“To track the performance of the network and respond to changes quickly and appropriately, we needed a solution that could not only calculate the uptime for switches, but also monitor installation and performance of the stadiums as they come online,” says Bryan Jefferson, senior technical director for the Avaya FIFA World Cup Project. “We needed a strong partner solution and Extreme Networks provides us with the effective tools, analysis and information to monitor overall data network usage and to forecast potential application problems before they occur.”

The Extreme Networks Premier Services Program (PSP) allows proactive network management with modular service portfolios consisting of Network Monitoring, Network and System Optimization Analysis, and Network Traffic and Application Analysis. It also uses a dashboard application to allow real-time access to network performance, availability and to determine which applications drive consumption of network resources.

Also important is the use of statistical sampling based on sFlow and NetFlow technology. Information related to network performance can be rolled intocustomized reports (on-demand and scheduled), alerts, alarms, logs for detailed operational monitoring of network traffic by application with subnets and divisions using sFlow and NetFlow processes.