ACADEMIA

Start-ups need a state-of-the-art workspace to attract investors and the right talent to get their business off the ground. In San Francisco many start-ups turn to RocketSpace, a technology accelerator that provides start-ups with a variety of facilities and IT services, including fast, reliable access to a high-performance and ultra-reliable network.

RocketSpace provides inclusive shared office space for technology and new media companies, with a focus on post incubator, seed-funded companies. With more than a hundred companies using RocketSpace's offerings at any given time -- including active guests such as Spotify -- RocketSpace requires a secure, multi-tenant network to help run its businesses successfully.

RocketSpace is now using Brocade as its network of choice to help its customers be as successful as possible, as quickly as possible, by providing the best environment for the development of applications, communications and connectivity. Brocade provides reliable, high-performance, and cost-effective networking solutions to a variety of industries.

When RocketSpace opened its doors to the public, it had inherited an ad hoc network supported by various platforms that were not optimized for a vast variety of its needs. The expanding client list pushed the network beyond its limits, requiring an immediate upgrade.

To support the company's multi-faceted customer requirements, RocketSpace has deployed 10 Brocade(R) Power over Ethernet (PoE) stackable switches, which provide a tremendous level of flexibility, performance and scalability. The company has also installed Brocade NetIron CES Switches to support resilient edge routing. Today, the network delivers 200 Mbps of redundant aggregate bandwidth.

"Emerging and start-up companies rely on us and our network every day. Our mission is to provide the resources they need for continued success. It was clear after careful evaluation that Brocade had the right combination of features, price/performance value and reliability to help us reach our goal," said Mike Bowie, director IT, RocketSpace.

Value of a Tweet Never one to underestimate the power of technology, Bowie took to social media to contact Brocade. In mid 2011, Bowie tweeted "@BRCDcomm would really like to speak to someone about partnering with Brocade." Brocade immediately responded to the tweet and shortly thereafter Brocade became the solution of choice at RocketSpace with a fully installed network via Brocade channel partner, BEAR Data Solutions, also based in San Francisco.

The Launch Plan The RocketSpace network requires flexibility and user choice. Instead of deploying a firewall to block certain traffic as most enterprises do, RocketSpace needed to make Skype and other applications safely and easily accessible to numerous mobile devices.

According to Forrester Research, mobile devices will become the majority of devices used for work, surpassing PCs. As more workers rely on smart phones, especially in emerging economies, the mobile device share of the total universe of computing devices used for work will continue to grow. Workers who need significant content creation or complex software will continue to use multiple PCs, but a majority of the overall device population for work will be tablets and smartphones.

"We leverage our network for high-performance connectivity, but we also offer our customers customized solutions, depending on their IP address and bandwidth requirements. It's more complex and dynamic than a 'plug-and-play' scenario," said Bowie. "Our user base is technology-savvy and expects the latest and greatest. Many are working in advanced protocol development, mobile apps, VoIP, security testing and other areas so we have to provide an open, platform-agnostic solution for them. We also have to make sure we can manage the surge of new personal and business mobile devices that are brought in each day. It's typical for most people to bring in two, maybe three Internet-enabled devices and expect the same network experience."

The Brocade network infrastructure has helped RocketSpace get off the ground and launch other businesses to the next stage of their development. The ease of management and the user-friendly command line interface (CLI) in the Brocade NetIron and Brocade FCX switches allow RocketSpace to easily add new users, define private VLANs if necessary and change access rights.

"For us, saying that the network has to be reliable is an understatement. We need everything to work, without question, for our customers so they can keep working and thrive at what they need to do," said Bowie.

Like its clients, RocketSpace is poised for growth. The company plans to add new offices in the San Francisco area to serve entrepreneurs who demand flexibility and the power of technology to get off to the right start.