UK Internet bank Egg has standardised on Nortel Network's Alteon Web switches throughout its UK operations.
Cable & Wireless BTN, one of Alteon’s partners, has installed ACEdirector 3 and Alteon 180e content-intelligent Web switches at Egg's UK server centres in Dudley and Derby in an implementation aimed at providing high performance local and global server load balancing. Originally established as a disaster recovery centre to support the main server site in Dudley, Derby’s operation now works on an equal footing. The centres communicate via a DSSP (Distributed Site State Protocol) link enabling each to redirect traffic to the other site when pre-determined thresholds are reached.
Darren McKenzie, IT director at Egg says the bank learned a lot from its launch, when it struggled to cope with higher than anticipated demand. "From the early days of our launch we understood we needed to build systems capable of supporting high numbers of concurrent user transactions," he says. "As a result, we need true Web switching technology that lets us get the most out of critical elements of our infrastructure, mixing availability, delivery and overall performance."