Binghamton U Implements Application Delivery Controllers
Binghamton University, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, has implemented new application delivery controllers to
provide high availability and improved performance of its student
information systems and other infrastructure.
The university
operates its student information system across three front-end servers.
IT staff tried a couple of different load balancers, including a
commercial solution and an open-source one, to distribute network
traffic across the servers but they both encountered a number of
functional problems, according to a news release. They decided it would
be necessary to implement a state-of-the-art, supported system to
balance loads on their current and future network services.
The team evaluated products from several vendors in collaboration with iSecure,
an IT security solutions provider. Most of the products they tested
were either too expensive or lacked key features. They finally settled
on APV series application delivery controllers from Array Networks, which provided the right balance of features and price, and deployed it in September 2015.
Since
the deployment, "the university has experienced minimal downtime for
application access, and the IT team is able to perform maintenance on
the application servers as needed without affecting performance,"
stated a news release from Array Networks and iSecure. If one of the
university's servers goes down, it doesn't affect service, and the IT
team can "add more front-end servers as needed to support growing
demand."
About the Author
Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at leilameyer@gmail.com.