Marlink Deploys 6WIND vRouters for Global Satellite Network

Oct. 7, 2020

6WIND announced that Marlink deployed 6WIND Turbo Router™ software as vRouters (virtual routers) to connect and route traffic across its global satellite network for their maritime and enterprise markets. The live deployment includes 6WIND's vRouters deployed in High Availability configurations across multiple Point of Presence (POP) locations. 

High Performance vRouter Software Enables Network Virtualization

Marlink selected server and software router infrastructure to roll out a large scale data center virtualization solution. Its white box architecture includes HPE ProLiant servers with Intel® Xeon® CPUs and VMware ESXi hypervisors for virtual machines (VMs). For security, Marlink's servers handle more than 100k Access Control Lists (ACLs) that can be configured by their customers to allow traffic based on IP addresses and ports. These requirements pushed Marlink's servers to their limits, requiring additional hardware, or a more scalable software solution.

6WIND solved Marlink's performance challenge by dramatically increasing the routing performance with the same number of ACLs configured, all in software. Instead of adding additional hardware, Marlink deployed 6WIND's scalable vRouters in VMs on its existing servers while keeping its infrastructure and management in place. 6WIND's Turbo Router software scales from 1G to over 100G on Intel Xeon-based servers, giving Marlink the flexibility to manage and expand its POP locations according to traffic requirements using virtualization instead of expensive hardware.

"With 6WIND vRouter solution we can increase the performance and scalability of our Smart Network solutions, with limited impact on existing applications and infrastructure, and continuing to maintain transparency towards Marlink customers," commented Alain Bertrand, Chief Technology Officer, Marlink, "6WIND and vRouter are a good example of how Marlink is leveraging a large network of technology partners that deliver innovative advanced solutions that enable Marlink to go above and beyond for their customers"

"Marlink is a leader in providing Smart Network Solutions through large scale virtualized infrastructure," said Julien Dahan, CEO at 6WIND. "We are proud that 6WIND's vRouters software solutions helps Marlink to deliver mission-critical satellite connectivity through virtualization around the world."

6WIND's vRouter solutions include Turbo Router, Turbo IPsec and Turbo CG-NAT software package with license options according to capacity, tunnels and speed connection requirements.