“The Network Operations Centre is set up to cope with the huge diversity in the Timico customer base. Our largest network has around 1500 ADSL connections but many thousands of customers have only one,” said Trefor Davies, Timico Group CTO. “We also manage an estate of leased lines which are typically integrated with ADSLs in MPLS based Private Wide Area Networks.”
Timico operates a resilient MPLS ring connecting its four Docklands Datacentres together with connectivity to POPs in Newbury and Ipswich.
Because the technology environment is constantly changing, the network operations team based at the Network Operations Centre provides the ongoing network design service for the Timico core network and also for those customers requiring assistance with projects.
“Our network changes every day as new customers with new needs come online. No two customers’ networks are the same,” continues Davies.
Timico also extends the Network Monitoring facilities used at the Network Operations Centre to its customers. Monitoring individual nodes on a public network has been standard practice for a long time. However when it comes to a private network then traditionally this has been done from a device (monitoring server) within the network and there can be a problem if that network is purely private with no external access as it can then be difficult for a network operator to provide support.
Timico’s solution is to use a virtual server for private networks requiring ongoing monitoring. A virtual server sits logically inside a customer’s private network but is accessible via a secure command line from the Network Operation Centre. This is a much more cost effective solution than providing a standalone network monitoring server for each private network. It is also easier to provide resilience to the service by providing two separate virtual machines on two geographically separated bits of hardware.