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Building Scalable and Fault Tolerant Exchange Deployments at Columbia University
Technology Category
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security
- Networks & Connectivity - Routers & Bridges
Applicable Industries
- Education
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Services
- Cybersecurity Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Columbia University’s Advanced Computing Research Support (ARCS) faced significant challenges with increasing amounts of spam negatively impacting productivity and the speed of their Microsoft Exchange server. The Exchange Server was directly on the Internet with no anti-spam solution in place, leading to a mounting problem of spam emails. This situation necessitated a robust solution to manage and mitigate the spam issue, ensuring efficient email delivery and maintaining the performance of the Exchange server.
About The Customer
Columbia University, founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of King George II of England, is the oldest higher education institution in New York and the fifth oldest in the United States. Over the years, it has expanded to include multiple branches and organizations, forming a prestigious academic community. Paul Glick, the Technical Engineer for the Advanced Computing Research Support (ARCS) group, supports several organizations within Columbia University, including the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) and the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (C2B2). The ARCS group has an estimated 300 users across five local email domains, with a set of equipment and support separate from the rest of the university’s campus.
The Solution
To address the spam issue, Paul Glick decided to implement the Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall solution. He purchased two Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall 400s for high availability, which significantly reduced the spam load on the Exchange server, making email delivery more efficient. The Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewall solution blocked about 90% of the group’s overall mail, labeling it as spam and saving considerable bandwidth. Impressed with the results, Glick further enhanced the system's reliability by deploying two Barracuda 440 Load Balancers. These load balancers were integrated with the Barracuda Spam & Virus Firewalls to ensure redundancy and high availability. The load balancers allowed for seamless failover in case of an appliance failure or firmware upgrades, ensuring continuous email service without interruptions.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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