Home =E2=80=A2 Features = =E2=80=A2 Geo-Replication: A Case Study

Geo-Replication: A Case Study

Ian McInnes takes a look at=20 geo-replication technologies and their applications for the=20 future.

Date: 22 Aug 2008

Email=20 Article

In March 2005, the MoD awarded the Windows-based DII (F) = contract to=20 the Atlas Consortium (Atlas) led by EADS. Originally budgeted at = around=20 =C2=A35bn, the entire cost of the project is now thought to be = =C2=A37bn. DII (F)=20 will replace some 300 separate systems with a single IT = infrastructure for=20 the UK's armed services in hundreds of locations to support = defence=20 activity in almost every way, including the delivery of = intelligence from=20 sensors.

"In March 2005, the MoD awarded the=20 Windows-based DII (F) contract to the Atlas Consortium (Atlas) led = by=20 EADS."

The need for a common IT platform across the UK armed=20 services

In November 2007, media reported that the DII (F) project had = run into=20 difficulties and had only delivered 25% of the systems due by July = 2007=20 and further suggested that there would be cost overruns.

Spokespeople for the MoD told the media that regarding problems = at=20 Abbey Wood, MoD's defence procurement HQ, that MoD staff and Atlas = have=20 'progressively resolved the problems and improved capability'.

The aim of DII (F)

DII (F) is intended to enable better communication between = 340,000=20 military personnel and civil service staff, and will connect and = support=20 150,000 desktop PCs, laptops and other devices. The use of a = single=20 information network will be designed to enable UK defence = efficiency=20 measures as laid out in the defence change programme including, = network=20 enabled capability (NEC).

The MoD says that DII (F) will achieve its objectives by = extending into=20 the operational area and interfacing with headquarters, = battlefield=20 support and the front line, thus enhancing operational support and = the=20 MoD's interoperability between the MoD and its coalition = partners.

Solutions sought for DII (F)

Sharing share point data to in excess of 200 sites is costly = and needs=20 a large number of satellite or other transmission time bandwidth=20 methods.

"In November 2007, media reported that = the DII=20 (F) project had run into difficulties."

Often the volumes of data are large and the legacy network = connections=20 do not always make for quality transmissions.

A flexible, simple and cost-effective solution using Microsoft=20 platforms including, MS SharePoint was sought by Atlas and the = MoD,=20 resulting in Infonic plc (Infonic) being awarded a =C2=A38.3m = contract in=20 November 2007 for the supply of software licences and maintenance = for DII=20 F; under the terms of the contract, Infonic is providing its=20 geo-replication software to be utilised by the MoD within DII = (F).

Why Infonic?

Infonic stated that its tender competed with a bid from others = and with=20 the CSC-led Radii group, comprising CSC, BT (British Telecom) and = Thales.=20 However, Infonic believes that the company was not awarded the = contract=20 solely on price, although value for money was important to Atlas. = Infonic=20 pointed to several reasons for winning the contract:

The unique capability of the company's geo-replicator, which = uses=20 patented Epsilon Compression technology to compress large = volumes of=20 data over low-bandwidth environments=20
The integration with SharePoint=20
Atlas and Infonic have an excellent working relationship=20
DII (F) presented unique challenges of scale for which = traditional=20 server based licensing software models would be too = constricting.=20 Infonic actually adopted a new licensing model for Atlas to = enable the=20 required flexibility to support the deployment of the software = to meet=20 the MoD's needs=20
The willingness to understand the requirements of the = project and to=20 adapt its commercial model to meet the needs of DII (F); = Infonic's new=20 model is based on the physical locations rather than the number = of boxes=20
As Infonic is based in the UK, its engineers would be = available=20
The company already had a successful track record working = with the=20 US Department of Defence (DoD); US Army South, the US Marine = Corps and=20 the US Navy have all chosen to use geo-replication technologies. =

About geo-replicator

Infonic says that geo-replicator represents a new generation of = replication software that uses patented technologies to address = speed=20 challenges and thus eliminate long response times over wide area = networks=20 (WANs), guaranteeing application availability even when there is = no=20 network available.

Infonic's software uses Epsilon Compression and web = virtualisation and=20 this technology provides high bandwidth replication of large = volumes of=20 data of any type of content while ensuring that equivalent = sequences will=20 not be transmitted on the network more than once; Epsilon = Compression has=20 been shown to out perform delta level differencing. Infonic says = that, for=20 example, a 10mb presentation can be compressed to a ratio of 98%, = thus=20 allowing a slow network to make transfers over 50 times = faster.

"DII (F) is intended to enable better=20 communication between 340,000 military personnel and civil service = staff."

Geo-replicator and DII (F)

Geo-replicator supports the project's aim by providing = information to=20 all users no matter where they are and no matter what bandwidth = they are=20 using. Infonic also says that the software replicates and = compresses the=20 data by such a degree that transmission is once again viable and = enables=20 the UK's armed forces to deliver data to places where is was not = possible=20 to do so before.

Initially, geo-replicator was intended to enable the use of MS=20 SharePoint in the, 'deployed', parts of the MoD. However, Infonic = says=20 that this scope has now been widened to the MoD's, 'fixed = environment',=20 and therefore across the whole of the DII (F) project.

Geo-replicator benefits

Infonic says that geo-replicator meets the demands of its = clients in=20 terms of:

Performance: replacing WAN response times with local area = network=20 (LAN) response times=20
Cost reduction: to minimise WAN traffic and allow web = applications=20 and file content to be replicated during off-peak hours=20
Transparency: through all solutions to provide the same = interface to=20 remote and mobile users=20
Compatibility: to support all file types, commonly used web=20 technologies, network and security infrastructures=20
Security: the replication support is integrated with = existing=20 security infrastructure and extends to support remote and = offline users=20
Scalability: the scalable architecture can manage tens of = thousands=20 of users and terabytes (TB) of replicated content=20
Network availability: the platform is able to provide access = within=20 networks that have potential for disconnection

Progress

Infonic's contract stipulates that approximately =C2=A34.1m = worth of=20 software must be delivered within the first 90 days of the = contract.=20 Infonic stated that this objective has been achieved; the company = will=20 also provide contracted maintenance and services thought to be = worth a=20 further =C2=A34.2m over the next seven years.

Ex= pand=20 Image
Server to server replication.

Ex= pand=20 Image
Server to laptop replication.

Post=20 to:=20

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