Arista Networks > Case Studies > Exa Networks Selects Arista for Network Upgrade to Enhance UK School Connectivity

Exa Networks Selects Arista for Network Upgrade to Enhance UK School Connectivity

Customer Company Size

Mid-size Company

Region

Europe

Country

United Kingdom

Product

Arista 7280R Series Switches
Arista EOS®
CloudVision

Tech Stack

Arista 7280R Series Switches
Arista EOS®
CloudVision

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Energy Saving
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - Ethernet
Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software

Applicable Industries

Education
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Infrastructure Inspection

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

About The Customer

Exa Networks is a UK-based Internet Service Provider (ISP) that has been operating since 2003. The company is dedicated to providing high-quality internet connectivity services to schools and businesses across the UK. Exa Networks has established itself as a pioneer in delivering internet services at competitive prices, coupled with award-winning levels of customer service. The company has a strong presence in the education sector, serving over 10% of the UK's primary and secondary schools. Exa Networks has been recognized for its excellence in service, being a finalist or winner at the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) awards for nine consecutive years. The company is known for its technical and management expertise, adhering to ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 standards. Exa Networks offers a range of products, including entry-level ADSL and leased lines, as well as its DarkLight service, which provides future-proofed connections with symmetrical speeds and a 99.9% availability Service Level Agreement.

The Challenge

Exa Networks faced a significant challenge due to the growing demand for bandwidth driven by increased use of video and internet resources in schools. Their existing infrastructure, based on MPLS technology, was becoming insufficient to meet the needs of their expanding customer base, which includes over 10% of UK primary and secondary schools. The company was also constrained by limited space at its main data centers in London, which were reaching capacity. Relocating these data centers would have incurred significant capital expenditure and increased energy consumption costs. Additionally, the core Juniper switches in their network, which had served them well for five years, were not capable of scaling up to the 100Gbps capacities that future demand would likely require. Exa Networks needed a solution that could provide raw throughput, scalability, and reliability, all while maintaining a cost-effective approach.

The Solution

To address the challenges it faced, Exa Networks decided to upgrade its network infrastructure by selecting Arista's solutions. The company evaluated several potential solutions and ultimately chose Arista 7280R Series Switches due to their high-density design and performance capabilities. These switches offer a 1RU design with 48 10G ports and 6 100G uplinks, providing the flexibility needed for seamless migrations. The deployment of Arista switches was carried out across five key data center sites in a high-availability active pair configuration. This process was expedited by Arista's CloudVision®, which enabled zero-touch provisioning, configuration management, and network-wide change management. The implementation was executed in a multi-phased approach, ensuring zero downtime for Exa Networks' customers. The new Arista-based network has met performance expectations, and CloudVision's analytics engines have simplified and centralized configuration management. The upgrade has allowed Exa Networks to scale its network capacity to 10 times its current levels while reducing rack space and energy consumption.

Operational Impact

Exa Networks has successfully increased its core network bandwidth with flexible provisioning and scalability.
The new network infrastructure provides a higher density solution with lower power consumption, avoiding the need for a site move.
The Arista-based network offers lower latency, higher reliability, and room to scale to a 100Gbps capable network design.
CloudVision's suite of analytics engines allows Exa Networks to simplify and centralize configuration management.
The implementation ensured zero downtime for Exa Networks' customers, maintaining service continuity.

Quantitative Benefit