Vox goes carrier-grade with NEC XON and A10

Paul Willemse, Technical Sales Consultant at NEC XON 

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Vox, like many internet service providers (ISPs) and network service providers, recently faced the challenge of the worldwide shortage of IPv4 addresses. In that context, Christopher Burrell, the company’s Head of Network, says Vox needed a long-term solution that would support extended IPv4 address allocations and future IPv6 allocations for its customer base. “Some internet service providers (ISPs) and network service providers face new customer onboarding challenges due to the depletion of IP version 4 (IPv4) addresses worldwide,” he says.

​Paul Willemse, Technical Sales Consultant at NEC XON, explains that with all the roughly 4.2 billion IPv4 addresses already assigned, service providers must assign one IP address to multiple users and use IPv6 addresses for new customers. They must also translate IPv6 addresses into a format that older IPv4 servers can understand to maintain compatibility.

Carrier-grade network (CGN) address translation is the solution to this problem, which translates IPv6 addresses for IPv4 servers and allows ISPs to share one IP address among several subscribers.

Vox’s solution
After thorough research and testing with various CGN vendors, Vox ultimately chose A10 due to its comprehensive features and cost-effectiveness – including local support through NEC XON. The added benefits for Vox customers include the ability to handle high-volume traffic without sacrificing speed and performance. The solution also provides necessary denial-of-service attack protection to maintain stable connections to the customer base in the event of an attack.
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Willemse highlights that security and robustness are crucial attributes for a carrier-grade service provider to offer. NEC XON works specifically with A10 Networks because its CGN solution was built to be secure and robust from the ground up. On Gartner’s website, the A10 CGN solution has received rave reviews, with 75% of people giving it the maximum 5 stars, and 63% of them are from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Alex Enache, the Regional Sales Manager Central East Europe & Africa at A10 Networks, confirms that their IPv4 preservation with CGN and IPv6 migration technologies are reliable solutions that help organisations and service providers increase subscribers, expand their IoT networks, and ensure connectivity.
A10 Networks’ Thunder CGN solution is a high-performance and highly transparent address and protocol translation product that helps service providers extend their IPv4 network connectivity while transitioning to IPv6. The product is built on the A10 Networks Advanced Core Operating System (ACOS) architecture, which provides high performance and scalability, improves service availability, IPv4 preservation, IPv6 transition, and security. Enache states that NEC XON, one of the top systems integrators in sub-Sahara Africa, has technical capabilities that build on top of their solution’s capabilities. NEC XON is a subsidiary of NEC. Its regional footprint, technical expertise, service delivery capability, and historical carrier-grade market penetration serve customers well.