Case Study
In brief
ClusterPower
200-megawatt technology campus
Technology
CSP services, including infrastructure as a service, application optimisation, and cloud gaming
Bucharest, Romania
Starting from a greenfield data centre infrastructure, this Romanian CSP required a trusted and scalable security model to protect customer data. For added security, ClusterPower wanted to use network segmentation to prevent attackers moving through the network.
Palo Alto Networks ML-Powered Next-Generation Firewalls, with Cloud-Delivered Security Services, including Threat Prevention, Advanced URL Filtering, and GlobalProtect
CHALLENGE
ClusterPower is spearheading digital transformation in Romania and neighbouring countries. Founded in 2019, this leading CSP offers customers a scalable high-performance computing infrastructure in the heart of Europe.
ClusterPower has two predominant lines of business. First, wholesale co-location capacity for large enterprises or third-party data centre providers looking for additional capacity. Second, a scalable cloud infrastructure for any type of organisational cloud need.
“Customers trust ClusterPower with their most valuable asset – data – so the infrastructure must be 100% safe,” says Vladimir Ester, Chief Technology Officer, ClusterPower. “We need to see and secure everything in our data centre, using a proactive, intelligent strategy to keep networks safe.”
The organisation’s 200-megawatt, 25,000 square metre technology campus began as a ‘greenfield’ project. At the outset of development, one of the primary decisions for Ester and his team was to choose a data security partner. But which one?
Ester explains: “I’ve been an infrastructure guy all my career, dealing with hundreds of vendors. Palo Alto Networks has always stood out as a forward-thinking global leader in infrastructure security. Their tightly integrated security portfolio was the ideal choice to safeguard our new infrastructure. The rich feature set and proven capability are real differentiators during negotiations with prospective customers.”
REQUIREMENTS
Ester and his team wanted a network security partner, not a ‘sell and go’ vendor. They required:
SOLUTION
Following a rigorous evaluation of leading network security providers, ClusterPower has recently deployed two Palo Alto Networks ML-Powered Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) clusters. The platform uses ML to deliver inline signatureless attack prevention for file-based attacks while simultaneously preventing unknown threats. It also natively classifies all traffic – applications, threats, and content – connecting that traffic to the user regardless of location or device type.
“As a cloud services provider, we offer customers two security options. First, firewall capacity in a public tenant, which protects customer applications and machines in the same way ClusterPower protects its own environment. The second is a segregated firewall solution,” says Vladimir.
This network segregation enables ClusterPower to create separate security policies by application, user, and content for each customer network. “Network segmentation limits the attack surface to specific groups of users. This in turn reduces the threat from vulnerabilities and ensures ClusterPower meets the guaranteed SLAs we offer to customers,” says Vladimir.
A connected suite of Cloud-Delivered Security Services (CDSS) completes the picture, providing layer upon layer of additional defence. The Advanced URL Filtering subscription, for example, can analyse live web traffic in real time and provide instant protection against the latest web-based threats like phishing. According to Vladimir, it generates a more accurate analysis of URLs than would be possible with traditional web database filtering techniques.
He says: “In time, we will offer customers a parental control application, so traffic can be filtered on children’s devices. With Advanced URL Filtering we’ll be able to block unwanted websites, applying customised protection to online data searching.”
Likewise, GlobalProtect is offered as an optional CSP service. Customers have the flexibility to extend consistent security from the ML-Powered NGFW to their remote users, wherever they are based and through any device.
BENEFITS
This innovative Palo Alto Networks network security system safeguards ClusterPower data, providing the performance, availability, and scalability to help the organisation grow and extend the reach of digital transformation in Romania and beyond. The benefits include:
He concludes: “One of the great advantages of partnering with Palo Alto Networks is that ‘security by design’ is embedded into all of our services. We benefit from an intelligent, proactive security infrastructure – one that we can confidently deliver to our customers.”