Electricity + Control February 2017

CONTROL SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION

ADSL – Asymmetric digital subscriber line CCTV – Closed Circuit Television DSL – Digital Subscriber Line ISP – Internet Service Provider IT – Information Technology MTN – Mobile Telephone Network SLA – Service Level Agreement UPS – Uninterruptible Power Supply VESDA – Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus VOIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol WAN – Wide Area Network

Abbreviations/Acronyms

solution, which include managed off-site back- ups, full server hosting (physical or virtual), hosted lync, hosted SharePoint, hosted exchange, VOIP, and disaster recovery and business continuity. An innovative Data Centre offers guaranteed power by drawing electricity directly from the National Grid and a series of backup measures - including two Uninter- ruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems and backup generators. This to ensure continuity of service in the event of external problems. The result is: resilient connectivity; complete protection through climate control and Very

cinemas, such as at theMall of Africa. Delivering connectivity to cinemas situated within shopping centres, in particular, can be challenging due to the different rules and regulations that the respective management teams might impose on suppliers. In terms of support, it is crucial to manage everything from site visits to centre management, especially when trenching to install fibre. This is intrusive work, with various health and safety compli- ance requirements. Landlords are wary, mall management must be consulted when undergoing revamps, and sometimes extensions to the buildings themselves are required. For the existing sites, the WAN solution was designed with the availability of the infrastructure already confirmed, ensuring effective planning. The network is designed to offer redundancy and to have few to no points of failure. To achieve this, there are two completely separate networks deployed (primary and secondary). Each of these networks use different ISPs and infrastructure to connect the cinemas and head office to each other, and to the outside world. The majority of cinemas now make use of fibre as primary con- nectivity, withWireless or ADSL acting as the failover. In areas where fibre is not available, the cinemas make use of Wireless (licensed) as their primary connectivity, to ensure the best possible network uptime and experience at predefined critical sites. The benefits of this approach are that the cinemas now all have uncapped internet, including international traffic, while the failover ensures consistent uptime. The network is resilient, and is driven by a fibre backend. The use of multiple internet breakout providers for each network results in a 1:1 contention. With full-time, around the clock monitoring, the networks are fully managed. For the effective management of the firewall and router, all devices are managed and connected to the Network Operations Centre for early warning in the event of a connection being dropped. The firewall and routers are Juniper and Mikrotik respectively and were configured according to specifications before deployment. The benefits of this approach include fully managed devices that are reconfigured for deployment, constant monitoring and support, and no in-house skills are required within the customer’s workforce. The solution is proactive; informing the customer when- ever there is an error on a line, confirming that the secondary line became active and that connectivity was not lost. It is al- ways important to offer customers continuous added value. Ad- ditional enhanced services are available, by virtue of the WAN

Early Smoke Detection Apparatus (VESDA); rigorous security via CCTV monitoring, professional security staff, and access control; and a Network Operations Centre which monitors all dc and network activity and is manned by expert engineers. The general Service Level Agreement (SLA) is considered a ‘Financially backed SLA’. In terms of the solution prepared for Ster Kinekor, the fibre network adheres to a 99,5% uptime guarantee, 90% speed guarantee, a latency guarantee and a packet-loss guar- antee. As such, and in the unlikely event that the customer suffers any downtime, lack of network, or infrastructure unavailability, Ster Kinekor shall receive a credit on their account. Conclusion Ster Kinekor believes it is in good hands. A major part of this agreement is the fact that it can exit the agreement within 30 days if the guaranteed service levels are not maintained. This is a huge statement and goes to the confidence and support levels that the company stands by.

• Ster Kinekor was experiencing problems with its IT infra- structure and technology. • Fibre is a fast connectivity mediumwhich offers a point-to- point synchronous connection. • This approach suited Ster Kinekor which was seeking a cost-effective solution.

take note

Brad Fraser is the Chief Executive Officer at InfoProtect. He seeks to achieve constant improvement through principles that are universal, timeless and self-evident. He has been instrumental in finding effective solutions to challenges in En- terpriseMobility, Connectivity, Data Centre Hosting Services, IT Security, Data Back-ups, Disaster Recovery and IT Outsourcing

in large enterprises. Enquiries: Email brad@infoprotect.co.za

February ‘17 Electricity+Control

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