SmartPipes offers companies a new networking option that takes advantage of Internet Protocol (IP) technologies to create low-cost global corporate networks. SmartPipes software-based services infrastructure automatically translates business policies—the set of decisions that determine how the business runs—into the appropriate format for each of the networking devices in the corporate network, enabling policy management across disparate devices and software. In networking parlance, they create "smart pipes." SmartPipes has built its service from the ground up on the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 infrastructure, and in particular on the Windows 2000 Active DirectoryTM service.
Customer Profile
IP (Internet Protocol) services provider SmartPipes offers a secure, scalable, and extensible platform that enables businesses of all sizes to build corporate intranets and extranets. The platform also allows businesses to leverage advanced IP-based services such as VPNs, voice-over IP, and unified messaging. Using SmartPipes Global IP Services, companies can self-provision their business policies directly onto the network infrastructure. SmartPipes, formed in 1999, expects its IP Services to be available in the summer of 2000.
The SmartPipes system lives up to its name: Through an intuitive graphical user interface, businesses can enter their own corporate policies into the system—for example, who at the company can access the Internet, which company locations require secure communications, what priority should be given to various forms of network traffic, and what kinds of data traffic is allowed between specific offices. The SmartPipes system automatically translates these business rules into data communications or networking policies and configurations.
Windows 2000 Integral to SmartPipes IP Services Offering
"Windows 2000 is critical to our operations, to the point that Active Directory is woven into the fabric of our software-based Global IP Services infrastructure," says Bill Emerick, senior vice president of engineering for SmartPipes. "When the service reaches full deployment by the end of this summer, the Windows 2000 based service infrastructure will be fully deployed on over 2,500 distributed servers."
SmartPipes believes that Microsoft can score a big platform win, with servers running Windows 2000 positioned at customer sites as communications gateways, not just enterprise servers, and Windows 2000 Professional as the primary access operating system.
Active Directory, a feature of Windows 2000 Server, provides the extensible, hierarchical information store that contains the customer-specific, business-based rules needed to implement policy-based Global IP Services. As part of the SmartPipes Global IP Services infrastructure, Active Directory will allow corporations to manage their intranet and extranet networks in the same way they organize their business: by function, geography, business partners, or other appropriate grouping. As a participant in the Windows 2000 Joint Development Partnership (JDP) program, SmartPipes influenced the development of Active Directory, helping to expand its scope from the enterprise level to that of a global service provider platform.
SmartPipes also takes advantage of the integrated security model of Active Directory and Windows 2000, its support for robust encryption, and the extensibility of the operating system.
Mobility and Smooth Integration
In addition to its key role in delivering SmartPipes Global IP Services to customers, Windows 2000 also supports the SmartPipes internal operations. The company’s IT managers find that the operating system greatly simplifies challenges such as ensuring seamless integration with various hardware vendors and configurations.
Furthermore, Windows 2000 Professional is ideally suited for remote access and laptop users among the company’s highly mobile workforce. "Windows 2000 Professional is a great operating system and communications package for laptops and mobile users, right out of the box," says Kevin A. Russo, director of engineering.
"Windows 2000 is reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) for our organization, both externally as the base platform for our Global IP Services offerings to customers, and internally for all our own IT operations," says Russo.
Software and Services
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional and Advanced Server with Cluster Services, Load Balancing, ADSI, and Internet Information Services 5.0
Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5
Microsoft Office 2000
Microsoft Remote Access Server
Microsoft SQL ServerTM 7.0
Microsoft Visio® 2000
Microsoft Visual Studio®
