Austrade to replace its data centre core network

Austrade, Australia’s peak trade and investment development body, is set to replace its Cisco-based core network infrastructure at two physical data centres from late 2026.

The commission's current core network infrastructure includes a pair of Nexus 7000-series switches in each data centre, and supporting fabric switches and hardware modules.

The Nexus switches are up for replacement, as are "auxiliary internal data centre firewalls" - currently Cisco ASA 5525s - which are to be replaced with FortiGate firewalls made by Fortinet.

The agency already runs some FortiGate firewalls as part of an SD-WAN that it uses to facilitate connectivity to an Azure environment and to branch offices.

In the same project, Austrade is also scoping an upgrade of its Smartoptics DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) passive multiplexers, which - together with dark fibre sourced from the Intra-government Communications Network (ICON) - are used for connectivity between the two sites.

An Austrade spokesperson told iTnews that the project is still at an early stage, with the immediate goal to "understand the available networking infrastructure solutions in the marketplace, guide resource planning, and identify the best possible solution that provides value to the Commonwealth."

At least for the core network switches, "no vendor has been selected at this stage,” the spokesperson said.  

Austrade is hoping to buy equipment "no later" than March 2026, with the intention of implementing it in either the third or fourth quarter of the calendar year.

Public federal procurement records show that Austrade has bought Cisco equipment, software and maintenance services for decades, dating back as far as 2007.