Eclectic Bar Group
Eclectic had a private IP-based Wide Area Network in place which was built using ADSL broadband..
Eclectic Bar Group
Connectivity at each site was provided using a variety of ADSL circuits which were backhauled to Head Office over a 2Mbps BT central pipe. Eclectic were effectively operating as their own ISP.
Internet access for all branch sites and Head Office was provided with a 2Mbps leased line at Head Office, although there was no resiliency for this connection.
The Challenge
Internet security was provided at the Head Office by an ISA server which was managed in house by Eclectic’s IT Manager. A separate device was used to terminate IP Sec VPN tunnels from each site.
Eclectic’s main concern with their incumbent network design was the lack of resiliency on the BT central pipe. If this were to fail then Eclectic would lose connectivity between sites and Head Office preventing delivery of electronic point of sale (EPOS) data, e-mail retrieval, and shared applications. They would also lose Internet traffic for all sites and inter-site traffic.
The costs of managing their ADSL connectivity themselves throughout the UK, with the absence of an ISP, had also become a huge burden. The costs of managing their ADSL connectivity themselves throughout the UK, with the absence of an ISP, had also become a huge burden.
The solution
The key requirements for Eclectic were a reliable, scalable and secure network. We recommended that Eclectic Clubs & Bars upgrade their current IPSec infrastructure to a dedicated IP Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) solution.
Eclectic connected their Head Office to the IP VPN using a robust leased line providing guaranteed throughput and backed by a Service Level Agreement. The primary leased line has an ADSL Backup circuit providing transparent circuit resiliency.
In the unlikely event of hardware failure or loss of both circuits at Head Office, inter-site traffic and site access to the Internet remains unaffected.
Once each site was connected and able to securely share data in confidence, the next step was to provide Internet access into the IP VPN.
The Benefits
Implementation and timely delivery of the IP VPN solution vastly improved the security and resiliency of the network. Staff at all sites now had secure, reliable and fast access to systems and the Internet.
The IP VPN ensures communications between sites is secure and delivered a substantial reduction in total cost of ownership. This also meant there was no longer total reliance on Head Office infrastructure which delivered a significant increase in performance at a number of sites.
Eclectic could now benefit from corporate grade, secure Internet access for all of their sites which enabled them to decommission their VPN hardware at Head Office.
Eclectic have plans to grow their chain to 20 bars in the future. The IP VPN is well suited to these growth plans, and it is now much easier to add new sites as no complex firewalling and VPN tunnelling is required at each new site.
