Efficient provisioning servers: step 1 to reliable internet access
Your customers expect reliable internet access at all times. So, you provide them with the right network equipment and cabling. Case closed? Well, not entirely. Before the first byte can be transmitted, you need the get the foundations right. That implies getting the best possible provisioning servers up and running – and that may sound simpler than it actually is.
First things first: what is a provisioning server?
A provisioning server sends configuration data and assigns a correct and available IP address to devices during the setup or bootup process. Essentially, it helps the devices establish the optimal network configuration, for them to work reliably and performant. If necessary, an intermediary can take care of any additional adjustments.
… and why do you need it?
DHCP servers, however, could attribute the wrong address or an address that is already in use by another device. In those cases, network performance will degrade and connectivity might get lost altogether. Mistakes in the high-availability configuration might lead to network problems too: if one server fails and the standby server does not automatically start or if you can’t succeed in getting the primary server back to work, connectivity will drop.
How do you ensure ultimate server reliability?
To get your provisioning server on point, testing is crucial. That’s not easy, as you have to:
- Simulate thousands to millions of hosts
- Simulate different behaviors and scenarios, such as:
- extending leases
- rebooting hosts
- entire networks failing and coming back online, triggering a flood of requests
- checking redundancy
Given these challenges, testing and optimizing your provisioning servers requires a fairly high investment cost.
Excentis can help
At Excentis, we propose a cost-efficient, step-by-step approach to test the quality of the provisioning servers. In close collaboration with both the operator and the vendor, we test and measure mainly two areas:
- Customer impact
– Response times during different phases in the provisioning process
– The number of retries and time-outs - The impact on the system during the test
– CPU, memory, etc.
This gives us the insights to pinpoint software issues and suggest actions to optimize the configuration – so you can ensure the best end-user experience.
Your benefits?
From comparing different provisioning servers, validating the scalability and robustness of the configuration to monitoring software updates and upgrades: we have you covered.
Here’s how you benefit from our services:
- High-quality, reliable testing: Thanks to our extensive and in-depth knowledge, insights, laboratory and field experience, we can ensure a smooth, reliable testing process.
- Low-cost solution: We have the facilities and the state-of-the-art equipment needed to run the tests for your setup. And we use a cost-effective methodology. No need for you to invest in any such hardware.
- The guarantee of the best possible setup – to ensure the best end-user experience: We’ve been successfully performing these tests and optimizations for many years in a wide range of scenarios and configurations. Whatever your challenge, we will help you find the right solution.
DHCP servers could attribute the wrong address or an address that is already in use by another device. In those cases, network performance will degrade and connectivity might get lost altogether.
Ready to test and optimize your provisioning servers?
We’re happy to help! Get in touch.
