RTK-Service together with Rostelecom moved the data Rostelecom to a new data center in Moscow

2023: Relocation of the central trunk node to the M-9 site

The IT company RTK-Service, together with Rostelecom, carried out work on the transfer of the central main communication center (Nagatinskaya data center) of the operator from the previously rented premises to the site of the M-9 data center. Rostelecom announced this on November 14, 2023.

The data center included 185 pieces of equipment, including equipment for broadband access, TV and the main optical network, and a server. Television and data network systems installed at the node served all Rostelecom subscribers in Moscow. The premises of the data center have been rented by Rostelecom since 2008.

In April, there was a need for a short time, 5 months in advance, to move all equipment and switch services. It was decided to migrate to the site of the M9 data center (a large point of inter-operator exchange of Internet traffic in Russia). And this was to be done without downtime in the work of equipment and interruptions in the service of subscribers.

Moving a communication node is a process that requires exceptional care. It is impossible to make such a project at once - it is unacceptable to disable all subscribers of the node for a long time, of which, as a rule, tens and hundreds of thousands or even millions, as in this project. The organization of a seamless move required RTK-Service specialists to have a well-oiled process and detailed planning of work with an accuracy of hours. The migration was completed without interruptions in the provision of communication services for customer subscribers.

The operability of communication services was not disrupted, this allowed us to maintain the stable functioning of the entire infrastructure of networks and capacities in Moscow tied to this node. The work on migration was carried out at a high professional level and within a strict deadline. Such projects are rare for the market and imply a high level of responsibility and guarantee the uninterrupted functioning of networks, equipment, services and services in the process of carrying out the entire range of work, which was ensured by the well-coordinated joint work of RTK-Service and Rostelecom specialists, - said Ildar Arifullin, Director of the Technical Infrastructure Planning Department of PJSC Rostelecom.

To preserve the performance of the data center, specialists from RTK-Service and PJSC Rostelecom organized a phased move. One of the steps was the transfer of DWDM and IP equipment, which was then installed at the M9 site. When connecting it, fiber-optic communication lines built within the framework of the fiber-optic communication line project were involved.

A temporary core of the data center was formed, to which the load was transferred. Further, at night, specific optical channels were disassembled, boards were transported to a new place and these channels were organized with termination on the M9. After the completion of the work, Rostelecom carried the load by morning. Thus, the RTK-Service team, together with the operator's specialists, transported the elements of the communication center at night for 4 months, after which the central router was transferred at night - during the relocation, the load was redistributed to the backup. After the transfer, the entire load from the temporary router was switched back to the main one. Cooperation and constant operational interaction of RTK-Service and Rostelecom divisions made it possible to achieve the set goal and implement the project on time.

{{quote 'We did all the work from 11 pm to 6 am. At another time, the load on the network becomes much higher, and the communication node would not cope with it without the removed elements. Therefore, the key issue was detailed planning of work for each time interval and well-coordinated teamwork, including with Rostelecom specialists. At the most difficult stage, we had to assemble a similar node element on the basis of our laboratory, which allowed us to test scripts that speed up the process of transferring communication channels. For example, at one point we needed to recreate and configure 27 optical communication channels in one night. According to the generally accepted process, this would take about 12 hours, and we could not afford such a simple network. To do this, our specialists used a temporary unit assembled on the basis of the customer's backup equipment. Here we were able to check the process acceleration algorithms, scripts, and continue to implement them in practice. Thanks to this approach, we managed to complete the project on time, - said Alexey Demyanenko, leading engineer of the RTK-Service transport network management system. }}