1. Executive Summary
Introduction
Exponential-e was founded in 2002 to challenge the
prevailing Telecoms service providers in three specific
areas:
• Network Service Excellence
• Customer Service Excellence
• Applied Innovation
More information can be found at:
http://www.exponential-e.com/about-us/what-we-do/
Since 2006, our R&D and ongoing network innovation
culminated in our approach to network infrastructure
and deployments which we termed ‘Smart Wires’, to
differentiate our approach from competitors that could
only deploy rigid network architectures with no flexibility
or versatility to accommodate the emerging ‘cloud’
technologies as ICT platforms.
Smart Wires for the
Smart Cloud era . . .
Smart Wires so lends itself to the Cloud that in April 2008,
we held a conference at The Emirates Stadium entitled:
‘The Complementarity of Next Generation Networks and
Virtualisation Projects’. We actually demonstrated the
versatility of our Smart Wires approach with VMware’s
vSphere long before the phrase ‘Cloud’ was coined.
Today, our Smart Wires approach has matured to the point
where we have hundreds of customers leveraging our
highly resilient network for a multitude of business-critical
services demanding a non-stop compute platform. From
Cloud-based SaaS, algorithmic/high frequency trading, high
definition TV over IP to in-play gambling, and geospatial
location systems, Exponential-e’s Smart Wires offers the
versatility demanded of today’s businesses living in a
dynamic, fast moving global economy.
There is a requirement for leaders in the design and
development of WAN solutions and ICT services to guide
its customers through the “noise” of cloud debate. This is
crucially important to maximise the value of assets, create
buy-in for customers and achieve value for money.
Extensive research has shown that security, performance
and service level guarantees (SLGs) are usually listed as
the main concerns by organisations considering external
cloud services.
Their main focus of attention will be risk avoidance: Is their
data safe? Will the new cloud-based service improve on the
performance of its current internal infrastructure?
Reduced performance and SLA-based credits spell potential
disaster for organisations. If they are to be convinced they
must gain a clear visibility into the proposed solution. They
must be allowed to manage it simultaneously with systems
operating outside the cloud – or those that switch between
the internal and external cloud, such as Smart Wires.
WHITE PAPER
Applied Innovation

2. Detailed Solution
Smart thinking
Smart Wires exist at the core of an extended highly
virtualised environment in which the traditional LAN-
WAN-cloud perimeter is merged as a single entity. This
pioneering technology will cope with all workloads and
manage the interface between private virtualised and
public cloud environments. Most importantly, Exponential-e’s
Smart Wires embraces change simply and cost-effectively
in today’s challenging and dynamic economic environment.
Network redesigns and new server deployments can be
changed with keystrokes and with little disruption whilst
safeguarding corporate systems and data.
Exponential-e’s Smart Wires evolved from our VPLS
architecture to offer:
• Market leading performance & operational latencies
• End-to-end SLAs and SLGs (Unified Infrastructure)
• Data security
• Visibility
• Trust and Confidence
• Cost savings and environmental efficiencies
In the context of virtualisation, Smart Wires offer the much
desired end-to-end transparency that ensures the best
performance standards are maintained.
If virtualisation is the technique for managing systems and
resources regardless of their location, then layer 2 Smart
Wires oriented architecture is ideal as it allows it to happen
across the WAN.
The result is: An enterprise-class cloud offering seamless
agility and scalability intertwined with the security,
interoperability and control that enterprises demand.
This bespoke solution outshines the use of the alternative
approach with “dumb wires”, which effectively just
transport IP packets from A to B, and are the favoured
mode of traditional carriers offering leased line connectivity
across legacy networks. But these will not empower your
cloud or virtualisation project.
Scalable, flexible Smart Wires offers the versatility to your
network and IT infrastructure allowing you to design and
create secure physical and logical operational domains,
whilst converging multiple services on a single platform
to deliver the low latency, excellent availability and high-
throughput required for departmental acceptability.
With Ethernet supporting the cloud management layer,
virtualised desktops, servers and storage resources can be
moved as “logical blocks” around an organisation.
Smart Wires extends the LAN environment into the wide
area using Ethernet as a ubiquitous service interface
on which to support converged services. The local area
network becomes an extended private cloud and flexible
compute resource for the whole organisation. Virtual
servers can be dragged and dropped across the cloud
without end-users knowing they have moved.
When ICT can no longer be touched because it is delivered
from the data centre, latency becomes key. The sub-
millisecond round-trip times which result from a single hop,
bridged interface offered by Smart Wires, make all the
difference. Virtualised compute power gets to the desktop
in a fraction of a second; imperceptible to the end-user.

3. De-risking the public cloud
4 = high
3
2
1 = low
20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
CHART 2 – Cloud Computing Barriers to Adoption
(Source – Ovum 2010 Enterprise IT Architecture Survey: 150 Large Enterprise in US, Asia and Europe)
10%0%
Data Governance
and Privacy
Security
Use of Public Internet
Infrastructure
Loss of Control
Service Level
Agreement
Lack of Standards
Whilst organisations of all sizes rely on private clouds
to support steady-state predictable workloads, many
are exploring public cloud services to provide capacity
on demand, especially as these services become more
mature. Amazon.com, Salesforce.com, and many more,
offer elastic, pay-as-you-go compute resources with
significant advantages for cost reduction and simplicity.
Whilst the drivers for using such services are clear, senior
management will take a dim view of any decision to procure
them if having saved money, performance is poor.
Contractually it is clear that the risk element exists with
the customer. Weak service levels, limited financial redress
and lack of operational transparency are the common flaws
and, worryingly, for services relying on best-effort Internet,
network congestion is often identified as a “get-out” clause
for any liability.
The network provider must embrace the main concerns for
adopting cloud services as this is where the opportunity
exists. Statistics from studies by Ovum and Hosting.com
(below and above right) reveal clearly that security and
associated concerns such as privacy, governance, access
and compliance are of paramount importance. The second
issue centres on service levels – and the use of public
Internet for connectivity – and loss of control.
CHART 2 – Obstacles to Cloud Computing
(Source: http://www.hosting.com/resources/ebooks/2011-cloud-computing-trends-report)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
68%
54.9%
44.8%
37.4%
26.8%
26.4%
34.5%
Security/Shared
Environments
Inability to Integrate with
Existing Infrastructure
Performance
Poor Management Tool
Consumption Based Pricing
Regulatory Concerns
Control/Vendor Lock-in
The well-documented downtime problems experienced
by Amazon.com in April 2011 serve as ample evidence
that performance, security and availability guarantees are
intrinsically important to the running of business critical
services. This is backed up by findings from the IDC Private
Cloud Management Survey (below) which reveals that
service-level guarantees are a key decision factor when
choosing between public and private cloud.
CHART 4 – Public vs. Private Cloud Decision Influencers
(Source: IDC Private Cloud Management Survey, September 2010)
0 10
44
40
36
32
27
27
25
24
23
21
Specific Needs of Application
Service-Level Guarantees
Security/Access/ Data Ownership
Total Cost of Hardware
Total Cost of Software Licenses
Privacy
Match IT Spending to Usage
Total IT Staff Cost
Deployment Time
Compliance
Percentage of Respondents
20 30 40 50
Obstacles to Cloud Computing
(Source: http://www.hosting.com/resources/ebooks/2011-cloud-computing-trends-report)
Cloud Computing Barriers to Adoption
(Source: Ovum 2010 Enterprise IT Architecture Survey: 150 Large Enterprise in US, Asia and Europe)
Public vs. Private Cloud Decision Influencers
(Source: IDC Private Cloud Management Survey, September 2010)

4. For more information please contact us:
Call: 0845 470 4001
Email: enquiries@exponential-e.com
Visit: www.exponential-e.com
The Smart Wired Cloud
By extending the private cloud to the public cloud using
Smart Wires it is possible to separate the customer
environment from the public cloud in a controlled way, as
detailed in the diagram below. 
Smart Wires unite the public and private cloud so that
a computing environment can be selected on demand.
Workloads can be switched to the environment most
capable of offering the appropriate service level, security
policy and price point required for the task in hand.
Centralised firewalls keep the “pipes clean” by tracking the
Smart future horizons
Major new opportunities for streamlining operations and
more efficient computing are possible when organisations
decide to switch to next-generation Smart Wires
networking. The new dawn in IT is about extending the
virtualised setting across the enterprise as a private cloud
and the secure integration of publicly-provided services
into the mix. Where the network provider can make a real
difference is by offering a service level guarantee that
includes visualization – a real insight into how a service
works.
status of network connections and distinguishing legitimate
packets from other traffic not matching a known state.
Deep packet inspection mitigates application-level attacks
from compromising the network with web-filtering, anti-
spam and anti-virus services keeping threats at bay.
Smart Wires protect customers from the vagaries and best
effort contracts on offer from the public cloud providers.
Businesses get to access a mix-and-match menu of
different services provided as part of an extended private
cloud and deployed with a high-pedigree service wrap.
IT leaders must also be aware that the network must not
be the forgotten piece in the rush towards virtualisation,
as many show signs of struggling with the network
requirements needed to engage with the maximum benefits
of virtualisation and the options available by delivering
services via the cloud.
Network design must be an important decision for
organisations; otherwise the benefits they hope to gain
from virtualisation are likely to be undermined.
Applied Innovation