Online supermarket Ocado has installed a new network infrastructure to improve website performance and customer service levels.
The firm is using EX Series Ethernet Switches, M Series Multiservice Edge Routers and ISG Series Integrated Security Gateways with IPS from Juniper Networks. The platform from Juniper will provide a link between Ocado’s data centre and the web.
As well as improvements in performance, reliability and scalability and a reduction in total cost of ownership, the new platform should also improve security for the retailer.
Juniper will be deploying ISG1000s, security gateways with intrusion prevention and firewall capabilities. It is hoped this will protect Ocado against threats from worms, Trojans, spyware and malware.
“Our customers expect fast, reliable and secure service from our website when placing online orders, so the network infrastructure is critical to our business model,” said Andy Howard, network manager at Ocado.
“We were looking for an innovative, robust hosting environment, and Juniper’s high-performance network infrastructure with open and scalable solutions has helped us achieve that objective,” Howard said. “The decision to bring the Internet hosting function in-house was made easier by Juniper Networks JUNOS Software, a single network operating system integrating routing, switching and security services, which streamlines our operational overhead significantly.”
Ocado was launched in 2002, offering goods from UK supermarket Waitrose. The site currently serves about 13.5 million homes.
