What we do

Through our global presence and partner ecosystem, we provide strategic IT consulting services to align IT services with customers' business goals.

Enhancing Customer Experience: Load Balancing Solution for a Financial Institution in Nepal

In today's digital era, financial institutions face the challenge of handling heavy customer transactions efficiently and securely. This case study focuses on a Financial Institution in Nepal that sought assistance in optimizing their Inter Bank Fund Transfer (IBFT) transactions through web and mobile apps. The existing solution, FortiGate 500 series virtual server feature, was unable to effectively distribute the load, leading to performance issues. To overcome this challenge, the institution implemented a load balancing solution using FortiADC, resulting in improved customer experience and enhanced backend server performance.

Challenges

The Financial Institution faced difficulties in managing the heavy transaction load generated by customers through their web and mobile applications. The existing virtual server feature of FortiGate 500 series was unable to distribute the load effectively across the backend servers. This led to performance bottlenecks, overloading, and a subpar customer experience.

Solutions

FortiADC Load Balancing Deployment : To address the load distribution challenge, the Financial Institution deployed FortiADC behind a Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) cluster. This solution incorporated various Layer 4 and Layer 7 load balancing algorithms to balance the heavy transaction load generated by customers. The deployment ensured that Layer 4, API, and Layer 7 web traffic, content checks, and other workloads such as web servers, databases, and application servers were equally managed.

Enhanced Security Measures : In addition to load balancing, the Financial Institution implemented several security measures to protect against common cyber threats. The load balancing solution included profiles for OWASP Top 10 attacks, Layer 7 Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and Brute Force attacks. These profiles helped identify and mitigate potential security risks, ensuring the safety of customer data and transactions.

Deep Inspection and SSL Termination : To further optimize backend server resources, the Financial Institution configured a few Deep Inspection and SSL termination points. Deep Inspection allowed for thorough analysis of incoming traffic, identifying any malicious or suspicious activities. SSL termination improved performance by offloading the resource-intensive task of decrypting SSL traffic from the backend servers to the load balancer.

Results

The implementation of the FortiADC load balancing solution brought several benefits to the Financial Institution:

Improved Customer Experience: By effectively distributing the heavy transaction load, the Financial Institution ensured a seamless and responsive user experience for their customers. The elimination of performance bottlenecks and overloading led to faster transaction processing times.

Enhanced Backend Server Performance: The load balancing solution prevented overloading and bottlenecks during peak traffic periods. By evenly distributing the workload across backend servers, the institution maximized resource utilization and improved overall server performance.

Strengthened Security: The inclusion of security profiles for OWASP Top 10 attacks, Layer 7 DoS attacks, and Brute Force attacks provided an additional layer of protection against potential threats. Deep Inspection and SSL termination further enhanced security measures, ensuring the safety and integrity of customer data.

The Financial Institution in Nepal successfully addressed the challenge of load distribution for their IBFT transactions through the implementation of a FortiADC load balancing solution. By leveraging various load balancing algorithms and incorporating security measures, the institution improved customer experience, enhanced backend server performance, and strengthened security. This case study showcases the importance of load balancing in optimizing financial transactions and highlights the benefits it brings to both customers and financial institutions.