Rack

Hosting apps and data in the network backbone#

Organisations can have varied needs in terms of application and data hosting. While many opt for a combination of on-premise and cloud hosting, which can each be facilitated, another option is to host those apps and data in the network backbone.

This option is rarely available in traditional MPLS networks, but with customised backbones running in datacentres designed for hosting, colo and bandwidth, it is readily available.

Full racks available#

Whether just 1 or 2U of colocation is required or full or part racks, these can be directly interconnected or hosted directly next to the NFR instrastructure of the network, with physical cable interconnects.

Using the INF to achieve interdatacentre connectivity#

When hosting data and applications, the same resilience questions arise as with other networking elements.

The INF can be used to facilitate datacentre to datacentre connectivity (whether layer 2 or layer 3 etc) in order to achieve what is necessary from this application infrastructure to make it resilient.

This is often entirely different to the needs of users at branch sites or at HQs and can be specifically tailored differently as a result.

Hosting security stacks#

Hosting all of part of an organisation's security stack is also possible in the same way as above.

Resilient clusters can be created without the need for MPLS, but creating Layer 2 connectivity for data syncing and heartbeat cables between devices in the cluster, even though they reside in different datacentres.