Worldstream Partners with Arista, Develops Custom-Engineered Elastic Network (SDN) on Top of Its Global Network Backbone

Worldstream's new technology platform will be built on top of the company's existing global network backbone with ample amount of bandwidth available. The software-defined network will be called Worldstream Elastic Network and is expected to be officially launched in the first quarter of 2020.

The new software-defined global network now being developed by Worldstream’s engineering teams builds on the EVPN (Ethernet Virtual Private Network) VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) technology delivered by Arista Networks. Arista EVPN VXLAN is a key-enabler for Worldstream’s new to develop and proprietary network technology. The unique design of this in-house engineered Worldstream Elastic Network (WEN) is intended to bring the company’s global client base ultimate flexibility and tons of added functionality with regard to their hybrid IT infrastructure deployments and data center resource allocation.

The in-house engineered software-defined architecture will add an elastic network platform on top of WordStream’s existing global network backbone. Crucial elements in the design, according to Worldstream, will include the custom development of the SDN controller - which will act as ‘the brain’ of the software-defined network, as well as the interconnectivity with Worldstream’s high-volume global backbone. When completed, it will allow organizations globally to extend the robust bandwidth and latency benefits of this high-volume network.

Once ready, the Worldstream Elastic Network will provide organizations worldwide with a high level of control over comprehensive data center, network and cybersecurity features locally at the edges of the Worldstream network backbone. It will offer them complete flexibility over how they architect and securely scale their interconnected, hybrid IT solutions. Worldstream’s R&D department, that was recently more than doubled in size, expects the custom design of the new network to be ready before year-end, Q1 2020 at the latest.

On-Demand Business Models, Cloud Onramps

The Worldstream Elastic Network will come with a comprehensive suite of SDN-enabled new features and interconnection options. It will provide the flexibility to vary connectivity deployments at the local edges of the network real-time based on actual demand. For Worldstream’s service provider customer base this will allow the establishment of new on-demand go-to-market business models including pay-per-use (cloud) hosting service delivery. The software-defined network platform will be cloud-enabled and equipped with the ability to connect to multiple top cloud providers through public cloud onramps.

The new network design is expected to meet ultimate hybrid IT architecture requirements of organizations, enabling enterprises and SMBs alike to seamlessly and fully flexibly interconnect and combine all types of computing and networking resources including bare metal hardware, VMs, cloud instances and cybersecurity solutions, on-premise or externally located. These interconnected resources then allow for workloads to be moved and relocated instantly. The decentralized network design with loads of planned functionality ‘at the edge’ will also cater to the needs of use cases such as IoT (Internet of Things) and enterprise data compliance management.

Multi Data Center Setups

“Arista’s EVPN VXLAN technology will be a key enabling technology for allowing plug-and-play multi data center setups and twin data center concepts as well,” said Tim Vollebregt, Network Director at Worldstream and mastermind behind the Worldstream Elastic Network. “This will enable our clients to easily create data center presence at all facilities contained in the Worldstream network backbone, whether Worldstream’s company-owned data centers in the Netherlands are concerned or any of the other data centers worldwide where our server and network equipment reside. This will significantly reduce capital expenses for our customers when coping with ultimate redundancy requirements such as within healthcare, finance, government, and enterprise markets.”

“To sum up, leveraging Arista’s EVPN VXLAN technology will make our entire network infrastructure more agile and more responsive to evolving business needs. It will create increased efficiencies for our growing volume of so-called East-West traffic and help us extend existing and upcoming IaaS hosting functionality to the boundaries of our high-volume global network backbone,” added Mr. Vollebregt. “It will allow customers to dynamically provision all kinds of computing resources locally at the edge of the network, including bare metal hardware, hypervisors, VMs, firewalls, and much more.”

This announcement follows the news of Worldstream expanding its R&D department from 3 to 10 employees in just a few months time. Its R&D team will be responsible for the unique design of this Worldstream Elastic Network. This team was also responsible for custom-developing the company’s DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) scrubbing center, Worldstream DDoS Shield and is now working on developing and deploying new cluster-based DDoS mitigation techniques in parallel. Supported by more than 3 million euros in investments, the Worldstream R&D team has been responsible for developing Worldstream’s core network backbone as well, an expansive global network with ample bandwidth available – attracting high-bandwidth users including CSPs and broadcasters from all over the world.