GEC NEWS WIREProject to support university growth, student services and serve as a software-defined networking learning resource
Qatar University (QU) today bolstered its ability to grow and innovate by launching one of the Middle East’s most advanced disaster recovery (DR) data centers.
Using technology from F5 Networks and Cisco, QU is now one of the first education institutions in the region to run a software-defined (SDN) DR data center that is centralized, rapidly configurable and scalable. The project will also serve a learning resource for SDN research and ICT student development.
“In particular, the project highlights how our IT development strategy is continually evolving to provide QU staff and students with the best possible state-of-the art and risk-free network services.” said Trevor Moore, CIO, Qatar University.
The project uses Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and F5 Networks technology to manage both low-level network services and higher level application services from one central management interface – the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC).
“We are delighted to strategically collaborate with Cisco on this trailblazing project at Qatar University, which is all about automation, simplification and really showing what next generation data centers are capable of,” said Garth Braithwaite, Regional Director – Middle East and Turkey, F5 Networks. Mohammad Hammoudi, General Manager, Cisco Qatar, said “The combination of Cisco ACI and F5 Networks technology is genuinely transformative for the data center, enabling rapid provisioning, orchestration and scaling of critical network and application delivery services – all while maintaining or improving performance, security and reliability.”
