l CASE STUDY l
Dell Leverages nGenius Solution to
Gain Enhanced Network Visibility
Overview
Region
HQ - North America, supporting a global
infrastructure footprint
Business Challenge
• 24x7 visibility across global network to
support customer-centric operations
• Utilize a robust network monitoring
solution to provide detailed information
about network traffic
• Facilitate effective network planning
• Accelerate resolution of network service
issues
NetScout Systems Solution
• nGenius® solution to monitor global
network traffic for data centers, MPLS
WAN, and Internet access
• InfiniStream appliances for intelligent
deep-packet capture and analysis
®
Business Value
• Run IT Better: Accelerated
troubleshooting and resolution of
problems by approximately 90 percent;
improved visibility into traffic across the
Dell global network; enhanced ability
to capture critical data points during
troubleshooting
• Grow IT Smarter: Enabled accurate
forecasting of network capacity and
usage; saved the expense of upgrading
costly wide area network (WAN) circuits by
identifying and eliminating nonproduction
traffic
• Improved visibility into traffic across the
Dell global network
ENTERPRISE
Customer Profile
Founded in 1984 and based in Round Rock, Texas, Dell® is a multinational information
technology company that develops, sells and supports computers and computer-related
products and services. A well-established Fortune 500 technology company, Dell has more than
83,000 employees worldwide.
Business Challenge
Managing the Dell global IT network is an immense task. The network IT group monitors all the
network traffic flowing through more than 10,000 switches, routers, load balancers, and firewalls
across numerous worldwide data centers. Dell’s service delivery environment supports the
delivery of critical services for the company’s 83,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of
global customers. The group needs to assure that traffic is flowing smoothly, and when it isn’t,
the group plays an essential role in solving any problems that develop - problems that could
negatively affect worker productivity, manufacturing processes, and customer satisfaction.
For several years, the Dell team used network analysis appliances along with a combination of
freeware software utilities to monitor the network. But those tools provided only rudimentary
network information. “Our primary software tool could only show historical trends of network
traffic volumes,” says Kyle Robertson, senior network engineer at Dell. “To solve problems
effectively, we needed more information on the type and volume of network traffic and the
identity of the users on the network. We needed to see who was using what application, how
much bandwidth they were using, and what response times they were experiencing.”
l CASE STUDY l Dell Leverages nGenius Solution to Gain Enhanced Network Visibility
Without that detailed information,
troubleshooting was complex and
cumbersome. “If users submitted trouble
tickets about slow application performance,
for example, we had to determine whether
the problem was a software issue, a
hardware issue, or a network issue before
we could even begin to troubleshoot,” says
Robertson. “In some cases, it could take us
a week to resolve those issues. That delay
could cause a project to slip or a product
shipment to be delayed.”
The IT group also needed a better way to
conduct network capacity planning. “You
simply cannot do effective capacity planning
unless you know who is using the network
and how they are using it,” says Robertson.
“Both over-preparing and under-preparing
can be costly to the business.”
NetScout Systems Solution
The Dell IT group evaluated several
solutions for monitoring network traffic
before selecting the nGenius solution from
NetScout. The solution provided highly
scalable and detailed network information
for application and network monitoring,
capacity planning, troubleshooting, fault
prevention, and service-level management.
The nGenius analysis modules analyze packet
flow information collected by InfiniStream
appliances to provide a clear view of realtime and historical network and application
performance.
“We tried a competing solution, but we
had a terrible time trying to deploy it in
our infrastructure,” says Robertson. “When
we evaluated the NetScout solution, the
advantages were clear almost immediately.
We launched it easily, and in the middle of
our evaluation, we used it to solve a global
application problem that might have taken us
five days to resolve otherwise. We solved the
problem within just 48 hours of receiving the
trouble ticket.”
With help from NetScout, the Dell IT group
deployed the solution across its global
network. “The NetScout team helped us
define applications, configure devices, and
develop methods for conducting analyses
and creating reports,” says Robertson. “Now
we have an on-site engineer to answer
questions and provide internal training.
The NetScout team has been an invaluable
resource.”
ENTERPRISE
To cover the entire network, Dell installed
more than 150 nGenius appliances in
remote locations and in Class 1 data centers
in each geographic region. “We don’t have
local IT network staff available in all of our
global locations, so it can be very difficult to
monitor the network in remote offices,” says
Robertson. “With the nGenius appliances
deployed, we can run a packet trace at a
moment’s notice and get a quick and detailed
assessment of network problems. The end
result is a reduction in network downtime,
increased performance, and improved
sustainability.”
In some cases, that insight has accelerated
troubleshooting by several hours. “At
one point, there was a problem with the
network links between two of our Asia Pacific
region data centers,” says Robertson. “The
local personnel spent about four hours
troubleshooting but couldn’t identify the
problem. They contacted our group, and
within 15 minutes, we were able to discover
a single process that was consuming most
of the bandwidth and saturating the links
between the two data centers. With access to
detailed information, we were able to resolve
the issue rapidly. In this case, we spent 90
percent less time working on the problem
than the local team - and we had a much
more successful result.”
“As the business continues to grow and our
network traffic increases, we need precise
information for successful capacity planning,”
says Kyle Robertson, Senior Network
Engineer. “With the nGenius solution, we
have a much better idea of how our business
groups and customers are using the network.
Consequently, we can develop efficient and
effective plans to support the business going
forward.”
Every user booting up a computer that
morning simultaneously started downloading
this large component, severely affecting
the network link between the two sites. By
identifying the application with the nGenius
solution and contacting the application
owners, we stopped the propagation and
immediately restored full serviceability to all
users and applications relying on that link.”
“With the nGenius solution, we can access
much more detailed network information,
much faster than ever before,” says
Robertson. “For example, we can see
application response times right away. We
no longer have to wait for the application
team to report data back to us. We can also
determine whether communication has been
interrupted between devices. With greater
access to information, we can significantly
reduce the time and effort required to solve
problems.”
“Unlike the previous data capture methods,
we now can take multiple captures and
view results from the same platform,” says
Robertson. “As a result, we have better
opportunities to capture critical data points
during troubleshooting.”
Business Value
By adopting the nGenius solution, the
Dell network IT group has been able to
enhance network management while also
saving money by improving performance
and reducing the downtime that can
impair business productivity. By facilitating
effective capacity planning, the nGenius
solution can also help Dell avoid costly
upgrades. “NetScout has helped us identify
and eliminate non-production traffic,” says
Robertson. “As a result, we have been able to
avoid the cost of upgrading our WAN circuits.”
On another occasion, the nGenius solution
also helped identify an unexpected behavior
from an application update that brought
network traffic to a crawl. “We had a situation
in Brazil where numerous employees began
to suffer from poor performance on a variety
of business applications. That problem
quickly extended to the United States
through our network links. With the nGenius
solution, we solved the problem in less than
an hour,” says Robertson. “We discovered
that the publication of a needed component
for a communications application was being
serviced from the United States to Brazil.
2
l CASE STUDY l Dell Leverages nGenius Solution to Gain Enhanced Network Visibility
Attributes
Benefits
Cost Savings
Reduction of network downtime, more effective capacity planning, better utilization of
infrastructure and improved IT staff productivity
Proven
Field proven as a key optimization technology for application and network monitoring,
capacity planning, troubleshooting, fault prevention and service-level management in highperformance enterprise networks
Scalability
A single InfiniStream appliance is designed to scale to support additional service traffic loads
as needed
Reach
Real-time global network monitoring and optimization
Table 1: Solution Highlights.
Attributes
Benefits
Solution Deployed
nGenius solution with InfiniStream appliances, Sniffer Intelligence and Sniffer Analysis
Users
More than 83,000 employees
Hardware
More than 10,000 switches, routers, load balancers, and firewalls
Infrastructure
Multiple globally distributed data centers, MPLS WAN and Internet access
Table 2: Network Snapshot.
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Phone: 978-614-4000
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Phone: +886 2 2717 1999
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London E14 5DY, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 207 712 1672
NetScout offers sales, support, and services in over 32 countries.
For more information, please visit
www.netscout.com or contact NetScout
at 800-309-4804 or +1 978-614-4000
Copyright © 2015 NetScout Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. NetScout, nGenius, InfiniStream and Sniffer are registered trademarks, nGeniusONE and Adaptive Service Intelligence
are trademarks and MasterCare is a service mark of NetScout Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other brands and product names,
and registered and unregistered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners. NetScout reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to make changes at any time in its
technical information, specifications, and service and support programs.
ECS_018-15 04/2015