H3C and Telefónica: Pioneering Virtualization Transformation in Telecom

“H3C’s technology redefined our operational resilience. The platform’s deterministic performance and migration expertise reinforce expectations for telecom-grade cloud infrastructure. ”

Telefónica, a global telecom leader operating in 40+ countries, partnered with H3C to deploy a future-proof virtualization architecture, transforming legacy infrastructure into an agile innovation engine.

By deploying H3C ​CAS (virtualization platform) and ​cross-site Stretched Cluster Solution, the project successfully migrated ​over 600 mission-critical virtual machines​ with zero service disruption. This transformation delivered exceptional results: achieving 50% increase in utilization through optimized resource allocation, reducing migration cycles by 60% via automated task orchestration, and implementing an active-active disaster recovery architecture that guarantees zero data loss (RPO=0). This ​transformative​ achievement sets a new industry benchmark for cloud transformation in the telecommunications sector, demonstrating how innovative virtualization technologies can drive operational excellence at scale.

From Replacement to Leadership: Full-Stack Innovation​

Addressing Telefónica's strategic growth imperatives, H3C engineered an end-to-end solution spanning disaster resilience & high availability, unified management, and seamless migration, embodying full-stack innovation anchored in business-driven requirements.

​As a self-developed virtualization platform by H3C, H3C CAS delivers comprehensive compatibility and exceptional performance advantages. It demonstrates ​seamless integration​ with existing servers, storage, and backup systems. By optimizing large-scale shared file system performance, H3C CAS achieves ​64-node single-cluster scalability​, enabling enterprise-grade resource expansion.

To address critical "functional parity" requirements, H3C CAS underwent ​two rounds of 1:1 environment validation, refining over ​70 core functions. This rigorous process ensures its performance fully matches the benchmarks of existing virtualization solutions while providing enhanced operational efficiency.

The implementation of a cross-site disaster recovery architecture marked a transformative breakthrough in this initiative. Addressing three chronic pain points of traditional single-site solutions—low resource utilization, ​complex failover processes, and ​high data-loss risks—the project deployed a Stretched Cluster Solution. This architecture unified ​64 nodes across two data centers​ into a single cluster, achieving true ​active-active disaster resilience​.

This architecture enables automatic failover to the standby site during primary site outages, achieving disaster recovery objectives of RPO=0 (zero data loss) and minute-level RTO (service interruption measured in minutes). Validated data shows significantly higher resource utilization compared to traditional SRM-based disaster recovery solutions, eliminating the inefficiency of idle resources in backup centers.

Confronted with migrating over ​600 virtual machines across seven operating systems, H3C's proprietary migration tool demonstrated robust batch-processing capabilities—supporting ​concurrent migration of 30 VMs per host​ and leveraging ​SAN-Direct storage integration. Through visual task management and intelligent compatibility handling, the solution significantly accelerated migration efficiency.

Crucially, the entire process achieved ​zero service disruption. Both mission-critical production systems and employee virtual desktops maintained uninterrupted operations. Every phase—from pre-migration compatibility checks to post-migration performance tuning—underwent ​rigorous sandbox testing​ and extreme-failure simulations. Backed by ​24/7 support, the project attained a ​100% migration success rate.

Business Continuity Assurance: Service for Multinational Project Implementation

For transnational projects, executing technical solutions often proves more challenging than the solutions themselves. H3C established a ​Multinational "Iron Triangle" Taskforce​ spanning geographical and linguistic boundaries—comprising ​technical experts from H3C headquarters, ​local delivery teams in Madrid, and ​Spanish-speaking service partner engineers. This structure formed an ​end-to-end closed-loop collaboration model, ensuring full lifecycle project escort from requirements analysis and solution design to testing validation and operational deployment.

For mission-critical operations, the team implemented an ​​"Always-On 24/7 Response" mechanism, leveraging cross-time-zone collaboration to ensure immediate technical issue resolution. During pivotal phases such as ​large-scale VM migration​ and ​OS upgrades, H3C engineers were stationed on-site in Madrid, working shoulder-to-shoulder with the client team to mitigate potential risks through ​proactive risk anticipation and rapid resolution.

For cost optimization, H3C CAS addresses “unpredictable long-term expenses” and redundant investments through its perpetual licensing model coupled with hardware reuse. This dual approach achieves a 40% reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), saving tens of millions annually. The “upgrade-via-reuse” model pioneers a new paradigm for global IT cost management.

​As H3C's inaugural large-scale infrastructure modernization initiative in Europe, this collaboration establishes a benchmark for next-generation virtualization transformation in regulated industries. H3C recognizes that true technological breakthroughs must address immediate challenges while anticipating future demands; genuine service value transcends geographical boundaries through deep scenario immersion. By converging innovation with real-world needs and seamlessly integrating local expertise with global vision, H3C empowers global industries across sectors with increasingly autonomous and efficient cloud-native infrastructure.

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