Fuji optimizes performance and reliability for AWS workloads with Aruba EdgeConnect SD‑WAN

Fuji relies on a wide range of applications, all of which traditionally ran in the company’s central data center. However, as Fuji moved to AWS infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to run its business operation workloads, the reliability and availability of cloud connectivity became a concern.

Kohei Yamashita, senior leader in the ICT Section of the Information Systems Department within Fuji, explains, “Because our branch locations and sales offices were using a hub-and-spoke topology centered on the headquarters, there was concern about business impact of a circuit failure and cloud service availability.”

Modernizing the WAN for Fuji’s Cloud Journey

With the move to AWS, and adoption of a growing number of SaaS applications such as Salesforce and Microsoft Office 365, Fuji needed to modernize its traditional wide-area network (WAN) architecture comprised of wide-area Ethernet and MPLS connectivity. The primary drivers for the new WAN were to ensure stable, performant and scalable connectivity to AWS, while lowering costs and reducing dependence on MPLS and Ethernet service providers.

Mr. Yamashita and his team focused on SD-WAN as the ideal path to modernize Fuji’s WAN, and established a clear set of requirements for selecting an SD-WAN vendor. These included the ability to use broadband instead of expensive MPLS, even for VoIP, as well as capabilities to minimize latency for users accessing files and applications in AWS, and local breakout to SaaS.

Aruba EdgeConnect Meets Fuji’s Key Requirements

Fuji worked closely in cooperation with local Aruba partner, Macnica Networks. Mr. Yamashita says he and his team quickly learned the detailed offerings and technical capabilities of various SD-WAN solutions, including the Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN platform. “Macnica was able to rapidly and accurately address our questions and advanced technical queries.”

Following this analysis, Fuji selected the Aruba EdgeConnect platform with optional Aruba Boost WAN optimization software pack. Why? “The option to license WAN acceleration through the EdgeConnect SD-WAN appliance was one of the reasons we selected Aruba,” Mr. Yamashita notes. “Also important were the capabilities to use broadband reliably, optimize application routing to the cloud, and enable local breakout.”

SD-WAN plus WAN optimization proves a winning combination

Relying on Macnica to provide use cases and information for designing and building the SD-WAN, Fuji deployed the EdgeConnect platform at ten locations across Japan, as well as a virtual EdgeConnect appliance connected to the AWS transit gateway for accessing multiple virtual private clouds (VPCs) in AWS.

Fuji decommissioned MPLS and now terminates EdgeConnect at most locations with dual bonded broadband, scaling down Ethernet to just the company’s main location in Aichi. Each location is also enabled with local breakout to Microsoft 365 and Salesforce. The ICT team uses the Aruba Orchestrator management console to centrally manage routing and for administration of the SD-WAN.

In addition, Boost WAN optimization is selectively applied to CIFS and HTTP/HTTPS traffic to reduce the impact of latency when transferring files from AWS and other web servers. Boost has been especially effective in reducing data on the network by as much as 85 percent through compression and deduplication. Moreover, in validating Boost prior to deployment, the ICT team confirmed that Boost improved throughput of large files 2X–3X.

Delivers Greater Network Efficiency and Control

Fuji has successfully transferred key workloads to the cloud, leveraging the cost advantages and efficiencies of broadband over SD-WAN for assured access. In particular, advanced SD-WAN features in EdgeConnect, such as path conditioning, quality of service and dynamic path control, ensure application performance and quality of experience for end users working with applications running in AWS.

In addition, network uptime has improved substantially since moving to the EdgeConnect-driven SD-WAN. In the past, relying strictly on the centralized internet gateway, Fuji experienced several circuit failures that prevented end users across multiple divisions from accessing Microsoft 365. With bonded broadband links, sub-millisecond failover, and local breakout directly to the internet provided by EdgeConnect, the company no longer has such disruptions.

Moreover, the ICT team achieved another primary objective: lowering costs and reducing dependence on service providers. By massively reducing the expense of wide-area Ethernet and MPLS, as well as optimizing bandwidth utilization across the SD-WAN, Fuji expects to reduce costs as much as 80 percent compared to its previous network architecture.

Brings network management and control in-house

Having intelligent, centralized SD-WAN administration through Orchestrator allows the ICT team to make changes and troubleshoot network issues directly, without the need for outside third parties as before.

“With Orchestrator, we have more flexibility and can change settings by ourselves,” Mr. Yamashita says. “We did not have any method to monitor WAN status before. Now we check the Orchestrator dashboard every day for breakout communication volume, Boost levels for each application, and to quickly identify any network problems.”

With the efficiencies and agility gained by transforming its WAN and adopting cloud, Mr. Yamashita concludes that the business impact on Fuji has been quite positive. “By changing the topology, now we can flexibly respond to sudden network configuration changes and drive each line of business without disruption. This helps increase speed of product development and enhance the quality of our product and service offerings.”