Network Communications News (NCN) May 2016 | Page 38
COLUMN
know how
The sands of downtime
Paul Bonner at HardwareServices discusses the concept of the sandbox environment and how it can
be used to assist the delivery of a smooth network deployment with minimal business downtime.
I
t goes without saying that network
downtime is an absolute ‘must
avoid’ scenario. This is not a new
problem but it’s one that’s grown
in magnitude as reliance on the
network has intensified.
Nowadays, network access is
demanded 24/7, it has become part of
our daily life and our tolerance of failure
is small. Sitting on a train, we scroll
through our Facebook feed, waiting for
the bus we browse our favourite website.
Even in a restaurant, if our companion
leaves the table we invariably respond
by checking our phones for new
messages.
If the service we expect fails, we
simply move to another supplier who
can meet our needs at that time. The
consequence of poor network availability
is almost instant loss of business.
Even within a work scenario,
employees expect remote access out
of working hours. Some work flexi
time, others just like to get ahead on
their emails on a Sunday night. In fact,
employees are often at their most
productive after the working day ends.
Global offices also mean that network
access spans time zones.
Gone are the days when we can
carry out important upgrades or new
equipment roll outs over a weekend, safe
in the knowledge that the effect of any
unexpected problems will be minimal.
Neither can we ignore the need for
these new deployments. New technologies
are a key driver of success, without them
we will simply cease to be competitive.
Anything scheduled needs to be as short
as possible so our new strategy must be
to ensure the unexpected problems and
downtime simply won’t arise.
The way to achieve this is through
the use of a sandbox environment.
A sandbox is a completely isolated
environment in which technologies,
configurations and integrations can be
tested, changed and finalised with no
impact on the live network whatsoever.
In short, the sandbox provides an
environment in which all unexpected
problems can be identified and
resolved, paving the way for a smooth
and non-disruptive deployment with
minimal downtime.
If testing a new technology, an
organisation may set up a sandbox
environment in house, configuring
the new equipment as required and
testing extensively.
If planning an integration or a full
migration, the organisation may need
to look to a partner with the facilities to
provision a larger sandbox environment
and the capability to simulate existing
equipment. In this scenario, external
equipment is set up to mimic an
organisation’s internal environment.
From here, integrations, IP addresses,
VLANs and configurations can all be
assessed. Traffic simulators and load
generators can also be used to test
routes and capacity limitations.
For example, if new switches
are deployed, how does the traffic
flow through the network? If IP
addresses are incorrectly configured
or duplicated then a major outage
may occur. Equally, if the network
can no longer reach all of the servers
or a server becomes overloaded,
vital functionality such as a credit
card payment system may be cut off.
In the case of an e-commerce site,
customers may be able to add items
to their cart but not pay for them – an
error that could result in a significant
loss of business.
Through the use of a sandbox
environment, all of these potential
scenarios can be tested and resolved
with no fear of consequence. The result
is a deployment that runs according to
plan with little or no service disruption
or downtime.
The first step in deploying a
sandbox environment is to identify
what needs to be achieved. What
equipment is require