Case Study: Cisco achieves 10 Gbps DDoS mitigation and faster attack response with NETSCOUT Peakflow SP TMS

Transition from Cisco Guard to the Peakflow Solution Provides Easier 10 Gbps DDoS Attack Mitigation

A central European network service provider serving universities, ministries and research organizations faced a major DDoS challenge after Cisco announced end-of-sale for its Cisco Guard mitigation modules. The NSP operated a 10 Gbps core backbone but Cisco Guard only supported 1.2 Gbps mitigation and required staff to manage separate detection and mitigation interfaces, limiting protection and slowing response.

The NSP migrated to Arbor’s Peakflow SP with the Peakflow SP Threat Management System (TMS 3100), implementing out-of-band off-ramping and a separate routing instance for scrubbing. The single Peakflow interface simplified operations, enabling mitigation in 10–15 seconds and full 10 Gbps protection (handling attacks up to 2.4 Gbps in practice), with straightforward scalability plans toward 40 Gbps.

Cisco

Martin

Network and Security Engineer