How we solved the challenges regarding network performance in the Asia Pacific region

Executive summary

Gcore is a Luxembourg based global IT solutions provider offering managed hosting, CDN and cloud services. They have built an unprecedented IT infrastructure for an industry leading game developer, Wargaming, and as a result, have also become the Guinness World Record holder for “Most Players Online Simultaneously on one MOG Server — 1,114,000 online players”. To ensure they can continue to scale mission-critical infrastructure in a cost effective manner while meeting the stringent performance demands of massive real-time data traffic, Gcore rely on Megaport’s elastic interconnection services to future-proof this key company asset.

The challenge

According to Niko Partners, Southeast Asia (SEA) games revenue will grow to more than $3 billion by 2020. Increase in net new gamers, existing gamers playing more games, and higher resolution streaming are just a few key drivers behind the booming traffic. As such data flow rapidly grows, Gcore needs to address multiple challenges at the same time.

Network performance

Consistent service delivery with the highest throughput and lowest possible latency for Wargaming’s flagship Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) game “World of Tanks” directly translates into great user experience. Providing high-quality online gaming experience is challenging due to the best-effort nature of the Internet. Thus the need for robust and resilient interconnection, which keeps Round Trip Time (RTT) and packet loss to the minimum possible, is essential more than ever to support a growing base of richer game versions and diverse users in the APAC region.

Cost efficiency

Depending on the time of day and year, traffic can fluctuate drastically. Daily peak time is typically between 19:00 and 22:00 local time when most players come online, with an even higher peak during major holidays like Christmas and summer break.

With traditional means of bandwidth sourcing, Gcore has to anticipate, pre-provision and commit to larger amounts of bandwidth in order to meet peak end-user demand. This inevitably drives the overall connectivity cost up and is of particular concern where international bandwidth costs in Southeast Asia run high.

Flexibility

Traditional providers typically require much longer provisioning time and more manual procedures to complete a service request. Lead time varies greatly and from just getting the account set up to submitting an order to getting an LOA could take several weeks. Capacity choices are also limited to a defined set of bandwidth tiers, making it impossible for real-time bandwidth scaling, either up or down, where and when Gcore needs it.

The solution

Megaport helped Gcore solve the challenges regarding network performance, cost efficiency and flexibility by enabling them to consume right-sized, scalable connectivity in an on-demand and cost- effective manner between key Point Of Presences (POPs) in the Asia Pacific region.

Through a combination of peering on Megaport’s Internet Exchange (IX) in 3 locations, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, and Sydney, and data center connectivity between Hong Kong and Singapore, Gcore is now able to carry their high volume data traffic through direct and better routes to meet the high performance demands of their end customers. In network performance terms, this equals minimizing RTT to far less than 150ms and minimizing packet loss.

Megaport’s on-demand and unique “choose any speed, for as long as you need” bandwidth model has also provided Gcore the freedom and control to consume exactly what they need at any given time. This has greatly simplified their planning and increased their agility. The resulting savings can also be easily visualized through the Megaport pricing calculator.

For example, a 1-week cost comparison with a daily peak of 3 hours results in 82% savings!

— Constant 1G with a traditional provider: 500 USD/week

— Right-sized connectivity with Megaport: 88 USD/week

Finally, the simplicity of the Megaport solution, one port with multiple services, has provided additional cost and operational benefits to Gcore on top of those gained by right-sizing capacity and paying only for what’s actually used. As such, Gcore is considering to add direct cloud connectivity through Megaport in the near future.

Results, ROI, and future plans

Improve network resiliency: Gcore has existing peering relations in the region. By expanding and connecting to the same and additional peers on Megaport’s IX, they are able to perform load sharing and increase the available bandwidth to improve overall network performance.

Minimize latency: The Hong Kong—Singapore elastic connectivity directly helps to eliminate traffic detours otherwise necessary between these two key markets. Gcore is therefore looking to Megaport to elastically link-up other key markets in the region as well.

Right-Scaled Connectivity: Unique to Megaport, Gcore can now “Point, Click, Connect” in the Megaport Portal and instantly scale capacity in tandem with actual bandwidth requirements, without the cumbersome need to forecast and pre-provision idle capacity.

Direct cloud connectivity: As Megaport offers direct connectivity into all leading cloud service providers and it’s easy to add additional services on top, Gcore is also exploring to adding direct cloud connectivity in the near future.

About Megaport

Megaport is the world’s leading Network as a Service (NaaS) provider. Using Software Defined Networking (SDN), the company’s global platform provides the most secure, seamless, and on-demand way for enterprises, networks, and services to interconnect. The company’s extensive footprint in Australia, Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe, provides a neutral platform that provides for over 700 customers, and spans 170 data centers across 41 cities.