The magazine for network and data centre professionals July/August 2023 EUROPE NETWORKS DATA CENTRE STORAGE COOLING THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGACY MODERNISATION Multi-cloud: the new reality for data centres Delivering environmental value with SIs Analogue network switch-offs; the dawn of a new telecoms era IN THIS ISSUE:CONTENTS 02 06 AMD unveils its first 400G Network performance IPSec device at OFC 2023 07 Managing connectivity critical factor in ensuring global success 07 Broadband Forum ONU authentication standard 08 Cloud Industry Forum partners with Disruptive Live 09 Iceland has the fastest and best internet in Europe 10 Cybersecurity solutions most popular UK IT investments 11 Data centre modernisation project for Loughborough University 12 UK-wide edge computing for all 12 Netskope Intelligent SSE integrates with Amazon Security Lake 13 Insufficient grid power a key concern 13 Stolt-Nielsen deploys fully integrated Orange SASE solution Surrey Technology Centre Surrey Research Park 40 Occam Road Guildford, GU2 7YG www.networkseuropemagazine.com Published by: Abacus Communications Limited Publisher: Greg Ward Editor: Hazel Davis The views expressed in the articles and technical papers are those of the authors and are not endorsed by the publishers. 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Please submit to editor@networkseuropemagazine.com including high resolution (300dpi+ CMYK) images. 061409 NEWS IN BRIEF 42 Maximising guest satisfaction with reliable mobile coverageCONTENTS 03 14 Multi-cloud: the new reality for data centres Massimo Bandinelli, enterprise marketing manager at Aruba, talks flexibility and convergence 18 The future of data centres – embracing the power of prefabricated modular design Prefabs offer speed, scalability and efficiency, says Alex Brew, regional direc- tor, Northern Europe at Vertiv 22 The impact of the energy crisis on enterprise networks Mattias Fridström, VP and chief evangelist at Arelion, on energy efficiency and cost 26 How to provide effective cyber resilience training when cyber threats move fast Max Vetter, VP of cyber at Immersive Labs, talks people-centric training 30 Why legacy modernisation is essential to reduce energy costs Andy Connor, EMEA channel director, Subzero Engineering on the legacy data centre roadmap 34 Planning and installing with remote power categories for PoE R&M on remote power compliance and avoiding resistance unbalance 38 Delivering environmental value – the SI opportunity Eric Menard from Astrocast on why innovative systems integrators have a key role to play in delivering climate change solutions 42 Maximising guest satisfaction with reliable mobile coverage Seamless mobile coverage and ultrafast internet access is essential in the hotel and hospitality industries, says Stuart Waine of Spry Fox Networks 46 Analogue network switch offs; the dawn of a new era in telecoms connectivity Colin Abrey from Nextivity, on the impact analogue networks will have on non-voice applications 50 Paying attention to data centre storage cooling As demand for data storage continues to escalate, so will the solutions needed says Neil Edmunds, product innovation manager, Iceotope 193830 FEATURESRegister free today project-challenge.com | The UK’s leading independent show for project, programme, process and resource. Etihad Stadium, Manchester 12 October 2023 202305 FOREWORD Welcome to the latest edition of Networks Europe, and one in which we’re all planning to move to Iceland, thanks to latest research, outlined in our news pages, that pinpoints the country as having the best internet connectivity in Europe. The UK lags far behind, and my editorial 'shed' in rural West Yorkshire, even further. We know that businesses’ expansion plans are often hindered by technology-related challenges and this is outlined elsewhere in our pages. We hear from Arelion about the knock-on impact of energy prices on network operations. The impact is visible but, as Mattias Fridström, VP and chief evangelist, points out, it’s not all doom and gloom. Investments in power efficiency are shortening the upgrade cycle for network infrastructure and, elsewhere, we hear from Astrocast about some of the innovative climate-smart programmes happening around the world, with the caveat that investment in systems integrators is essential for this to work. Thank you for reading this issue and, as ever, we’d love to hear your ideas for features, news and interviews. Hazel Davis EditorNEWS IN BRIEF 06 AMD has announced its first 400G Inline Internet Protocol Security (IPSec) processing capabilities featuring the AMD Versal Premium series, with integrated high-speed crypto engines and hardened network interface IP blocks, working with an AMD EPYC processor- powered server. Until now, IPSec solutions have been limited to 10G-200G network transport speeds despite modern ethernet ports being capable of 400G speeds and moving to 800G. Designed to meet the high- speed port requirements of modern network infrastructure, the device delivers a significant performance advantage over current industry solutions for inline IPSec while maintaining industry-leading encryption standards. The Versal Premium series’ scalable 100G-400G IPSec design, and hardened 400G channelise high-speed crypto engines in an adaptable platform, closes this gap and bolster the performance of secure routers and next-generation firewalls used in enterprise and service provider networks. The 400G security solution will allow businesses to operate their high-speed networks without making compromises on security, throughput or latency. The Versal Premium architectural design implements all the standard IPSec features, such as tunnel establishment, security policy, database lookup, and protocol processing, as well as encryption-decryption with replay protection implemented at 400G speeds. Integration of IPSec control and data plane with up to 32K tunnel setup using industry-standard strongSwan APIs running on the AMD platform using EPYC processors and Versal Premium series devices. “Business leaders recognise security as critically important, but the reality has been that security features on network nodes haven’t kept pace with innovation and network infrastructure speed evolution,” said Gilles Garcia, senior director, AECG Data Center and Comms Group, AMD. “AMD’s new technology platform solution will unleash security capabilities to match the speed required within networks.” AMD unveils its first 400G Network Performance IPSec Device at OFC 2023 Share your news! Send your press releases or announcements to: editor@networkseuropemagazine.comNEWS IN BRIEF 07 Managing connectivity critical factor in ensuring global success, says new research Research from Expereo has found that businesses’ ambitions to work globally are hindered by technology-related challenges. The research found that nearly half of CIOs (46%) said that their organisation is planning to deliver global growth in the next 12 months by expanding into new markets and that 47% of respondents identified establishing and managing global connectivity as the most critical factor in ensuring success when it comes to that global expansion. However, more than a third (37%) said that effectively establishing connectivity in new regions is one of the major challenges in their role and, in fact, their organisation. The research canvassed 650 CIOs in global organisations with a more than £500 million turnover. “Global connectivity is critical to business growth but evidently many organisations are still unnecessarily struggling,” said Ben Elms, Expereo’s chief revenue officer, “Our refreshed brand identity and go-to-market strategy reflects how we see our partnership with our customers, suppliers and partners - a bridge to move our business to the future and in turn, help to accelerate our customers’ businesses to the future. We’ve helped global businesses adapt to dynamic market conditions and changing technology trends for over 19 years. In today’s world our knowledge and experience is more important than ever as companies look to de-risk their digital transformation.” He added, “ We hope that our own journey of fast global growth and transformation shows that we understand the challenges enterprises face, and reinforces our position as a trusted partner; one who not only has a comprehensive solution set and continues to innovate, but whose global footprint, proven track record and total customer-centric approach makes us an obvious choice for any global enterprise seeking a flexible, agile, secure and high- performing internet connectivity solution.” A new Broadband Forum project focused on Optical Network Unit (ONU) authentication will play a crucial role in making sure virtualised networks can enable OPEX savings and introduce new products and services faster to market. ONU authentication identifies ONUs that are typically installed inside the home and converts optical signals to electrical signals. Historically, this process was carried out solely by the operator’s equipment, also known as Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) that connect with ONUs. But as more network functions become disaggregated from physical equipment, it can also be carried out by functions on the network management plane. “If the authentication process - and the part of the network that is responsible for it - is not defined, it can result in inconsistent or even faulty network behaviour,” said Ken Ko, Broadband Forum MD. “TR-489 will benefit all Broadband Forum Work Areas concerned with ONU authentication and management selection and continue to help the industry transition to open, virtualised networks.” ONU authentication also determines whether the ONU is managed by an ONU Management Control Interface (OMCI) function embedded in the OLT (eOMCI) or virtualised in the Management Plane (vOMCI). But if both the OLT and Management Plane engage management with the same ONU, it can have unpredictable results. TR-489 ‘Authentication of an ONU and selection of eOMCI or vOMCI’ provides a clear framework to accelerate deployments and will benefit system integrators, network operators and equipment manufacturers. “ONU authentication is a key component to enable the benefits of virtualising functions from the physical architecture,” said Robert Peschi, senior product architect at Nokia and editor of Broadband Forum’s TR-489. “The project ensures seamless interoperable and multi-vendor networks, regardless of whether parts of the network are virtualised or not.” TR-489 defines the global architecture and requirements and identifies the interfaces (including YANG modules) necessary to perform ONU authentication including the selection of whether the OMCI function is performed by the OLT or by a management entity in the operator’s network. Whichever is selected controls, configures and monitors the ONU to identify potential faults, collect and analyse performance data, and encrypt data. A variety of credentials and procedures can be used to authenticate an ONU, including matching serial number, registration ID or LOID. “ONU authentication is a key component to enable the benefits of virtualising functions from the physical architecture” “Global connectivity is critical to business growth but evidently many organisations are still unnecessarily struggling” Broadband Forum ONU NEWS IN BRIEF 08 Threat landscape report identifies Europe as the DDoS battlefield As with previous years, DDoS attacks appear to reflect major geopolitical challenges and social tensions, and have become an increasingly significant part in the hybrid warfare arsenal. As the Ukrainian authorities sought a safe harbour for digital state registries and databases, Arelion saw the distribution of attacks move away from active conflict areas into global cloud centres - both as a result of damage to local network infrastructure, but also as local databases and applications were strategically migrated into the cloud. Conversely, in the rest of the world, Arelion observed lower Asia-US DDoS activity and fewer DDoS attacks to and from South America in 2022. In 2022, peak attack traffic in Mega Packets Per Second (Mpps) was up 19% from 2021. This trend reflects overall internet traffic growth but is also due to a continuing shift towards fewer, but more spectacular attacks. While there has been an increase in the number of large attacks (both in terms of bits and packets), the report reveals the vast majority of attacks are still small and mostly driven by free tier stress tests or DDoS-as-a-Service attacks instigated by amateur cybercriminals. Mattias Fridström, chief evangelist at Arelion said, “These findings reinforce the need for a basic level of customer protection to mitigate the abundant smaller attacks, together with a solid insurance policy for the larger ones.” The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has announced a new media partnership with Disruptive Live. This collaboration marks a significant step change in the delivery of high-quality and dynamic content to cloud industry professionals in the UK and globally. Highlights of the partnership include the launch of ‘Cloud Industry Forum presents TWF!’, a weekly, live-streamed news and interview show. The five-minute show will provide up-to-the-minute news on cloud computing, followed by a 10-minute interview featuring prominent industry thought- leaders. A state-of-the-art mixed-reality virtual set has been designed to provide an immersive and visually engaging experience for live-streamed programmes and individual events, members and attendees can expect enhanced coverage of CIF events and gain access to exclusive expert interviews and valuable insights. Viewers will also be able to experience interactive discussions and collaborative sessions covering the latest topics and innovations. CIF and its members will also gain access to CompareTheCloud and Disruptive Live's extensive social media channels, amplifying their reach to a wider audience and generating increased visibility. David Terrar, CEO, CIF said, “This strategic media partnership is another demonstrable step on our journey towards revolutionising what we deliver to our members and the broader cloud industry. It sets the stage for innovation, collaboration and knowledge sharing and we are excited about the opportunities it brings. We collectively look forward to setting new standards for media content creation and engagement, harnessing the impressive thought leaders within our membership.” Cloud Industry Forum partners with Disruptive LiveNEWS IN BRIEF 09 Research from VPS Server analysed mean internet speeds, the percentage of households with access to the internet, the cost for 1Gb of mobile data and the average price for broadband internet. These metrics judge value as well as internet quality. 1 – Iceland Iceland has a well-developed internet infrastructure and is known for its high internet penetration rate, 98% of households have access to the internet. The country has made significant investments in broadband connectivity, and most Icelanders have access to high-speed internet, which has mean speeds of 216Mbps. Average internet prices are quite high at £60; however, the quality of the internet and infrastructure may justify this. 2 – Spain Spain has a robust internet infrastructure, with widespread access to high-speed broadband connections, 96% of households have access to the internet with mean speeds of 115Mbps. Spain is known for its vibrant online community and has a thriving e-commerce sector. Internet here is much cheaper, with 1Gb of mobile data averaging £0.47 and broadband costing £24. 3 – Romania Romania has made significant progress in developing its internet infrastructure. Still, only 89% of households have internet access, but they have mean speeds of 112Mbps and are only paying around £5.90 for broadband and £0.35 per 1Gb of mobile data. 4 – France France has extensive coverage of high-speed broadband connections throughout the country. 92% of households have internet access, and the mean speeds reach around 120Mbps. Although more expensive than in Romania, prices are still reasonable, with broadband costing an average of £27. However, mobile data is even cheaper, with 1Gb costing around £0.18 on average. 5 – Luxembourg Luxembourg has excellent internet, with 97% of households having access to the internet with mean speeds of 131Mbps. The country has a favourable regulatory environment for digital businesses; thus, it is in the country's interest to keep its Internet infrastructure strong and stable. However, it has the eighth highest average internet price of £44.21. 6 – Netherlands The Netherlands has one of the highest internet penetration rates globally, with most of the population being active internet users (98%). Mean speeds in the Netherlands are 113Mbps, much above the European average of 71Mbps. Prices for broadband average at £37, which is just above the average in Europe (£26.19); however, when you're getting high- quality internet, that cost can often be justified. 7 – Liechtenstein Liechtenstein has a relatively small population, but it has developed its internet to provide mean speeds that are some of the best in Europe, with 166Mbps. The internet spreads to 95% of households and costs, on average, £47, which is quite a bit above the average of the rest of the continent. Mobile data is also much more expensive at £3 per 1Gb of data. 8 – United Kingdom The internet is widely used in the UK for communication, social networking, e-commerce and entertainment. The country has a robust digital economy and has been at the forefront of technological advancements. However, compared to much of the EU, the UK has very average mean speeds of 72Mbps (EU average is 71Mbps). 97% of UK households have access to the internet, and the average cost is £26, which aligns with the EU average cost. 9 – Malta Malta has made significant strides in improving its internet infrastructure in recent years and now boasts mean speeds of 107Mbps costing around £21 for broadband. However, mobile data is still expensive costing £2.32 per 1Gb. Malta has been proactive in embracing digital technologies and has implemented initiatives to support the growth of the digital economy, economic development, and an interconnected society. 10 – Poland Much like other Eastern Europe countries, Poland has very good internet prices, with average broadband costing £13 and 1Gb of mobile data costing 0.32p. Although the price may reflect the quality, the mean speeds in Poland are around 55Mbps, which is slightly lower than the average speeds in Europe. “The continuous investment and maintenance of internet infrastructure in Europe symbolises a commitment to progress and connectivity,” said a spokesperson from VPS Server, “By nurturing and expanding this, Europe paves the way for innovation, economic growth and an interconnected society.” Iceland has the fastest and best internet in Europe, says VPS Server researchNext >