CDSL that handles demat accounts in shares and securities has grown six times in just three years: from 1 lakh to 6 lakh. Its network covers 100 cities and offers always-on connectivity to around 500 centers nationwide. CDSL connects to 172 Depository Participants (DPs) nationwide through its network, which spans 355 branches. Every branch has access to its online database. To ensure efficient operations, CDSL had to strengthen its network elements like connectivity applications, and hardware. Since leased lines were not easily available in remote cities when CDSL started in 1998, the company used VSAT links. All users in the same pool are allotted a fixed bandwidth for in-route traffic.

The VSAT IDU (Indoor Unit) used to work in a "bridge" mode with a single large subnet which allowed only six workstations. Subsequently, the IDU was programmed to function in a "routing" mode. This allowed more workstations to be connected on a subnet. Also, a Channelized E1 leased line was implemented with fiber at the CDSL termination end. CDSL also uses 64 Kbps leased lines between cities to link its DPs. The links between the CDSL main site and the Disaster Recovery (DR) site were also upgraded to 4 Mbps. The whole exercise now enables CDSL to have a seamlessly functional DR site, which incidentally is hosted at the Reliance DAKC data center.

CDSL runs on an Oracle-based centralized architecture that uses a Straight-Through Processing (STP) system, which ensures instant recording of any sale/purchase action by the investor and helps the company achieve a T+2 settlement mode.

Key Highlights • Centralized Storage • Centralized architecture for instant transaction recording • Intelligent diagnostics like automatic disk faultfinding system Future Plans • Information-lifecycle management • Business-continuity planning solutions

With the kind of rapid growth, CDSL's decided to implement centralized storage. The primary setup consists of two EMC NAS devices for storage, Oracle for application server and Tuxedo as the middleware. The DR center also has a similar setup. The NAS features multiple RAID levels and intelligent diagnostics like automatic disk faultfinding system. Future plans include implementing an information-lifecycle management and business-continuity planning solutions. On the server front, CDSL upgraded its V-series of HP servers to two HP rp7410 servers.

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