Challenge
A worldwide powerhouse in equipment and services for power generation and rail transport, ALSTOM has a strong presence in the UK with over 40 sites across the country. The company operates a managed LAN on key sites, linking to an extensive managed WAN using a single MPLS cloud, and runs complex applications on the network.
Several products monitored the ALSTOM UK network, but with various application problems occurring a more comprehensive and reliable solution was required. The company sought a solution to provide continuous monitoring and troubleshooting of bandwidth and network usage, as well as perform usage and behavior analysis.
Solution
IT Centre UK Network Manager Chris Reynolds is in charge of network management and security across the ALSTOM UK sites. Reynolds compared several network management tools, including Observer from Network Instruments. Observer’s remote monitoring capabilities immediately drew Reynolds’ attention.
Built on unique, distributed network analysis architecture, the Observer product family combines a comprehensive management console with high-performance probes for integrated monitoring and management of the entire network.
“Observer is in a league of its own,” said Reynolds. “Its combined distributed architecture, remote analysis capabilities, powerful features and functionality provide for a more comprehensive tool than any other product--all for a very sensible cost.”
With numerous sites across the country, local and remote segment visibility is vital to ensuring performance. The Observer console includes a local probe for local analysis and connects to remote probes for real-time remote monitoring. By installing hardware and software probes at major sites, Reynolds has gained this crucial visibility.
“With Observer Suite and the Multi-Probe appliances installed at different locations, I can look at the network in real-time and offer diagnostics using the same tool, for faster problem resolution at our key sites.”
Trending and Expert Analysis
From his local console, Reynolds can set up local or remote probes to collect and store data for long-term trending and analysis, or view and analyze Internet traffic over time with |
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Observer’s Internet Trending capabilities. Reynolds is therefore able to assess network usage and define traffic patterns.
“While I’m doing other tasks, I know Observer is collecting network traffic and generating statistics, allowing me to review overall network health over time,” said Reynolds.
Observer’s Expert Analysis flags issues so Reynolds can easily identify what needs to be done to solve the problem. “Before, it could take two days to go and install an analyzer at the right location when an issue struck,” said Reynolds.
“With Observer, I can perform full diagnostics immediately because I already have a probe in place collecting data. Whether we have high traffic usage or an application problem at the packet level, I can identify what the issue is.”
Network Confidence
Reynolds and his team utilize Observer to ensure ALSTOM UK staff does not suffer interruption in their jobs due to network problems. This allows Reynolds confidence in day-to-day network operations and allows the company to continue to set the benchmark for innovative, environmentally friendly technologies around the world.
“With Observer, we can be proactive in our approach,” said Reynolds. “We are not constantly fire-fighting. We optimize network performance and resolve network issues faster. For the company, it means the network doesn’t stop business operations.”
Reynolds has been able to see the value brought by the Network Instruments solution.
“We have seen a real benefit on the sites where we have installed Network Instruments software or hardware probes,” said Reynolds. “Observer is an essential tool to run daily operations. We are planning to equip most of our sites over time so we can benefit across the whole organization.”
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About Alstom UK |
As a world leader in energy and transport infrastructure, ALSTOM delivers innovative products and services for power generation and rail transport in over 70 countries. In Europe, the company is well known for the excellent reputation of the TGV™ trains in France and high-speed regional Pendolino™ trains for Virgin Trains in the UK.
Recently, ALSTOM won a contract worth more than 400 million euros to build a turnkey combined-cycle power plant in southwest England. More information is available at www.alstom.com.
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