The Ultimate Resilience Test: Upgrading Our Infrastructure in Frankfurt

This year, we’ve been on a mission to expand our global filtering network. But we’re not just about new horizons; we’re also beefing up our long-standing strongholds. Case in point: our July upgrade of the Frankfurt am Main filtering point.

Let’s just say it’ll be etched in our memories for years to come. Picture this: a month and a half of round-the-clock work, fueled by enough coffee to fill the Main River. But that’s just the appetizer.  Let’s dive into how we tackled the challenges and why it was all worth it.

Frankfurt is one of the key points in our global filtering network. StormWall’s scrubbing centers are also located in Hong Kong, Dubai, Sofia, Washington, Almaty and Singapore.

Germany’s filtering point is critical to our business. This powerhouse helps us fend off thousands of DDoS attacks across Europe, many of which are increasingly breaking the 1 Tbps barrier. With attack power and frequency on an annual upswing, strengthening our positions in this region it was essential. That’s why we sent our best technical specialists to Frankfurt to upgrade the equipment.

Our Data Center Saga

Our infrastructure in Frankfurt is housed in two major data centers: Equinix FR5 and e-Shelter FR1. For several weeks, these data centers became our second home. More precisely, we spent these weeks on the engine room floor, surrounded by new servers, racks and optical modules. We occasionally took breaks to stroll to the client areas, where, thankfully, there was decent coffee.

From day one, it became clear that the migration to the new equipment would take longer than expected. The main reason? We weren’t content with simply connecting additional capacities. We were determined to meet every requirement that could potentially boost our solutions’ performance and resilience down the line.

When planning our work, we took into account not only the size of the new servers and the dimensions of the racks. We studied the features of different fasteners, door perforation options and other nuances. We purchased in advance not only the main equipment, but also everything that will simplify its maintenance in the future — from numerous communication organizers to cable markers.

However, our pursuit of perfection didn’t work in our favor — we redesigned equipment placement schemes “on the fly” several times. That’s why we had to order many additional components. Predictably, delivery took several weeks longer than anticipated.

But we put that unexpected downtime to good use, fine-tuning our new gear and running more test launches than you can shake a stick at.

We were committed to ensuring everything worked flawlessly, so we spent several sleepless nights at the data centers. In fact, the final assembly of the equipment went under the moonlight. As a result, our clients sailed through the infrastructure update without a hiccup — many didn’t even realize anything had changed.

The Grand Finale: Facts and Figures

The main result of our sleepless nights in Frankfurt? StormWall’s total channel capacity soared from 3.5 to 4.5 Tbps.

But that’s not all. Our solutions now support the 400G Ethernet standard, allowing clients and providers to use ports with higher data transfer speeds.

Moreover, the additional capacity in Germany has boosted our global traffic filtering capabilities — we now detect and mitigate threats and DDoS attacks faster than ever before.

In short, our month and a half in Frankfurt was time well spent. Sure, we didn’t get to explore historical sites or feed the geese along the Main River, but if anyone asks about our trip to Germany, we’ll proudly say “Sehr gut!”.