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CSR Report 2010

Special Feature: Bridge

Shifting internal ICT infrastructures to cloud computing, which leads to reductions in environmental impact

We are reducing our environmental impact by utilizing virtualization technologies to shift our internal ICT infrastructures (which support us in providing services to our customers) to private cloud computing. We are planning to expand this effort globally in the future.

Taking advantage of our accumulated know-how to integrate internal ICT infrastructures
and shift to private cloud computing.

Objectives of ICT infrastructure integration

Objectives of ICT infrastructure integration

NTT Communications has built internal ICT infrastructures and is utilizing them to perform the various operations required in providing OCN and VPN services, such as receiving customers' subscription applications, activating services, and maintenance.
In the past we built such internal ICT infrastructures for each system, including servers, storage, networks, and data centers, scattered in many locations, and resulting in very high operating costs. Therefore, in order to cut costs, reduce environmental impact, and enhance our business continuity plan (BCP), we decided to integrate our ICT infrastructures and shift to private cloud computing.
By taking full advantage of our expertise we had accumulated in providing our services to customers, we moved and integrated approximately 50 systems from five data centers to a new data center without incident in fiscal 2009. This was a move that reduced our system operating costs by 30% to 40%. Furthermore, having achieved an internal cloud computing service that utilizes virtualization technology, we can now complete operation such as a system expansion in just a few days instead of the two to three months it once took. In this way, we are building a framework that can respond to process improvements and new service support requests from operating departments more quickly, enabling us to provide services to our customers at a much faster rate.

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Initiatives for reducing environmental impact

Outline of ICT infrastructure integration

Outline of ICT infrastructure integration

Click to enlargeOutline of ICT infrastructure integration Another window opens.

When implementing our internal ICT infrastructure integration policy, we reassessed our data centers, servers, storage media, monitoring operations, networks, and security from various viewpoints, and actively took steps to reduce power usage and lessen the environmental impact. In our data centers, we adopted an air-conditioning configuration that improves efficiency by separating the cool air taken in by servers from the hot air they discharge. We reduced the power consumption of servers by lowering their number through virtualization and integration, and by converting to DC power supplies. We streamlined networks by reassessing our design policy and integrating circuits and network devices, which were formerly built individually for each system. Furthermore, we virtualized and integrated security functions such as firewalls, which were previously provided separately for each network, into a unified threat management (UTM) system, thereby significantly reducing both the number of devices needed and total power consumption. We also integrated the validation environments, which had been scattered at individual system development sites.

Benefits of our initiatives and future vision

Results of ICT infrastructure integration

Results of ICT infrastructure integration

The actual benefits resulting from our server virtualization and integration initiative are significant. We cut the number of servers from 94 in fiscal 2009 to only eight in July 2010: a 90% reduction. As a result, we expect to decrease power consumption by approximately 40%, as well as achieve a 55% reduction by the end of fiscal 2010 through further efficiency improvement measures. In addition, by increasing redundancy through cloud computing virtualization technology, we improved our business continuity plan (BCP), enhancing our system for the purpose of fulfilling our social responsibility as a corporation.
In the future, we plan to expand this internal ICT infrastructure integration policy to our overseas locations, implementing environmental protection measures as we expand our business globally. We also intend to plan and implement a grand design for companywide ICT infrastructure integration while maintaining coordination with the cloud computing services we provide to our customers.

Voice:Staff Comments

Yoshinori Ando Director Network Grand Design Office Network Business Division

Promoting further ICT infrastructure integration in order to reduce environmental impact

Yoshinori Ando
Director
Network Grand Design Office
Network Business Division

As part of our ICT infrastructure integration policy, we plan to implement various measures that will increase the effects of integration, such as increasing the number of servers housed as virtual servers, the virtualization and integration of storage, expansion and integration of firewalls onto UTM, virtualization and integration of IPS/IDS, and development of a network simplification policy with a view toward companywide optimization. Through these measures, we will continue to strive to reduce our power consumption and CO2 emissions, thereby fulfilling our responsibility as a global communications carrier.

Masafumi Naka IT Operation Service Department Network Business Division

We have both improved system quality and reduced environmental impact

Masafumi Naka
IT Operation Service Department
Network Business Division

The main purposes of the recent server integration were to reduce costs and improve the quality of NTT Communications' internal operation system. At the same time, I feel a great joy and sense of satisfaction due to the fact that these efforts are also leading to the creation of data centers and systems that are environmentally friendly. Utilizing our expertise in integrating ICT infrastructures and building private cloud computing systems, we plan to continue with ICT infrastructure integration, including server integration, to fulfill our social responsibility by reducing our environmental impact.

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