OpenStack > Case Studies > Shanghai's Oriental Cable Network Transforms Infrastructure with OpenStack Private Cloud

Shanghai's Oriental Cable Network Transforms Infrastructure with OpenStack Private Cloud

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Asia

Country

China

Product

OpenStack
Cisco AS

Tech Stack

OpenStack Liberty
CentOS 7
Neutron
Galera
HAProxy
RabbitMQ

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Digital Expertise
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Private Cloud
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Connectivity Platforms

Applicable Industries

Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
System Integration

About The Customer

Oriental Cable Network (OCN) is the largest cable TV operator in China, serving over 8 million households in Shanghai. The company generates $196 million in annual revenue and maintains a dominant position in the pay-TV market. OCN is known for creating an innovative, interactive TV experience. As a major player in the media and entertainment industry, OCN faces competition from IPTV service providers, prompting the need for infrastructure transformation. The company is focused on delivering high-value, feature-rich media and entertainment services, requiring a scalable and flexible platform to support its operations. OCN's commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction drives its efforts to stay ahead in the competitive market.

The Challenge

Facing competition from IPTV service providers, Oriental Cable Network (OCN) needed to transform its infrastructure into an agile, flexible, and scalable platform. The goal was to host dozens of operation and interactive systems for delivering new, high-value, feature-rich media and entertainment services. The transformation required openness, scalability, and continuity, leading OCN to evaluate open-source approaches. The need for a modularized, scalable, and automated hosting platform without proprietary APIs was critical. OCN's infrastructure transformation was driven by the necessity to keep pace with rapidly growing business demands and to make a fundamental change in viewing infrastructure both technically and operationally.

The Solution

OCN chose OpenStack to build a modularized, scalable, and automated hosting platform without proprietary APIs. The infrastructure was designed through an in-depth selection process, validated by proof-of-concepts, pre-production tests, and production tests. OpenStack components such as Keystone, Nova, Neutron, Glance, and Horizon were selected, along with shared services powered by technologies like Galera, HAProxy, and RabbitMQ. The setup includes three controllers and 12 compute nodes running CentOS 7 with OpenStack Liberty and Neutron with a distributed virtual router for production traffic. The workloads are based on a custom-built CentOS 6.5 image with specialized applications and tools for TV production. Over 30 virtual machines are currently in use, with expectations to exceed 100 in the future. Cisco AS played a significant role in helping OCN build up the platform's capability and the team's expertise during the transition.

Operational Impact

OCN successfully transitioned to a scalable cloud platform with rich management and automation features.
The infrastructure transformation allowed OCN to keep pace with rapidly growing business demands.
The use of OpenStack enabled OCN to build a modularized, scalable, and automated hosting platform.
The collaboration with Cisco AS enhanced the platform's capability and the team's expertise.
The infrastructure supports the delivery of new, high-value, feature-rich media and entertainment services.

Quantitative Benefit