Key points

• Minimized latency and improved application performance by replacing AWS Cloud WAN with Zenlayer Virtual Edge
• Achieved stable, low-latency routing through Zenlayer’s global private backbone via Zenlayer Cloud Router
• Simplified operations with a cost-effective, single-vendor hybrid cloud solution

 

About the customer

Industry: Manufacturing
Needs: Latency reduction, performance improvement, cross-border connectivity, hybrid cloud support, vendor consolidation
Zenlayer services used: Virtual Edge, Cloud Router

The customer is a leading global manufacturer of gaskets and seals headquartered in Houston, with a strong international presence across Europe, Middle East, Singapore, and China, where they maintain an office in Shanghai. Trusted worldwide for more than 100 years, their products have supported a diverse range of critical industrial sectors spanning agriculture, solar, chemical, nuclear, gas, aerospace, and pharmaceutics.

Backed by more than a century of experience, the manufacturer continues to modernize their global operations. To improve collaboration across globally distributed locations, they needed a more efficient and cost-effective way to connect their regional offices in Dallas and London with their Shanghai office that would eliminate the latency and performance issues that had been hindering communication and productivity.

 

The challenge: reducing latency while maintaining cost efficiency

The longstanding industrial supplier initially wanted to balance costs by connecting Shanghai to Singapore, then relying on AWS Cloud WAN as the middle mile to relay traffic between Dallas, London, and Shanghai. However, this setup quickly lead to performance dips.

Employees experienced significant latency issues between their global locations that lead to poor application performance and slow office-to-office communication. AWS Cloud WAN was unable to deliver the expected performance between their distributed locations. Instead of improving collaboration efficiency, this architecture became a bottleneck that frustrated users across their global offices.

To move forward, the customer needed a cost-effective, high-performance networking solution to cut latency and reliably support their hybrid cloud environment.

 

Ensuring secure, global connectivity with Zenlayer Virtual Edge

To resolve the manufacturer’s ongoing connectivity and performance roadblocks, we deployed Virtual Edge via IPsec at the customer’s offices in London, Dallas, and Shanghai, creating secure entry points at each location that link directly into Zenlayer’s private global backbone.

With Virtual Edge, the customer was able to replace their patchwork reliance on AWS Cloud WAN and gained direct, encrypted connections designed to support their hybrid cloud environment. This new design also eliminated unnecessary routing through Singapore, simplifying their network and improving their operational speed and reliability worldwide.

 

Interconnecting global sites via Zenlayer Cloud Router

Leveraging our local Points-of-Presence (PoPs), we interconnected all three Virtual Edge locations via Cloud Router, our layer 3 mesh networking service powered by Zenlayer’s global private backbone, giving the manufacturer high-performance, low-latency routing between London, Dallas, and Shanghai.

This architecture resolved the latency issues that had previously slowed business-critical applications and communications between global offices. With our backbone serving as the middle mile, the customer now has a stable, predictable network that improves cross-region collaboration and removes the frustration of dropped sessions and sluggish application performance.

 

Simplifying management through a single provider

In an effort to maximize cost efficiency, the customer previously tried stringing together disparate services with AWS Cloud WAN, which resulted in performance bottlenecks and operational headaches.

Consolidating their connectivity needs with Zenlayer helped the manufacturer save valuable time and gave them peace of mind through a single point of contact. Our expertise in cross-border connectivity, particularly in emerging markets like China, meant that they no longer had to juggle a multitude of vendors or troubleshoot across fragmented contracts.

Partnering with us, they unlocked a cost-effective, end-to-end solution tailored to their evolving business needs, delivered with the responsiveness and global expertise they needed.

 

Looking ahead

With traffic routed through our reliable, ultra-low latency private backbone, the manufacturer is now equipped to support seamless collaboration and hybrid cloud operations across their global footprint. Going forward, we’ll continue to support their expansion by ensuring that their infrastructure remains fast, reliable, and ready to meet tomorrow’s demands.

 

Streamline enterprise networking with a one-stop shop

We leveraged Zenlayer Virtual Edge, Zenlayer Cloud Router, and end-to-end solutioning and support to give the manufacturer a secure, high-performance network that eliminated latency issues and streamlined global collaboration.

If you’re looking to expand your business’s global footprint, streamline operations, or accelerate apps or services to improve user experience, talk to a Zenlayer solution expert today!

For instant provisioning, check out zenConsole — our self-service platform that lets you deploy around the world in minutes.