Intelligence in the cable network: distributer gains better control at several sites with a physical-layer management solution

Communications News, April, 2004

In a global communications-intensive enterprise like Diageo, speed and flexibility in communications are essential prerequisites for success. With its continued expansion and the need to accommodate a growing staff, the parent company of such brand names as Guinness, Johnnie Walker Whisky and Smirnoff Vodka found that managing the network's physical layer became a major concern.

Typically, companies simply add extra wires and plug in extra sockets to accommodate the network peripherals additional users require to access central services, such as printers, fax machines and telephones. As growth continues, however, the many miles of cabling that snakes its way through walls and across ceilings has to be monitored, controlled and managed efficiently.

To achieve the high level of management control demanded by Diageo at its new showcase building in Edinburgh Business Park in Scot]and and other locations throughout Europe, a sophisticated solution had to be installed and implemented. "We wanted an intelligent cable-management system," says Peter Stanhope, Diageo global IS account manager, who was in charge of the technology aspects of the project.

Aberdeen, Scotland-based cabling contractor DMS had undertaken several cabling projects for Diageo throughout Scotland that were based on physical-layer management technology, and was asked to install the physical-layer management system at the new Edinburgh site. in those previous installations, DMS chose to implement the PatchView for the Enterprise (PV4E) physical-layer management solution from RiT Technologies.

"Our IT people immediately benefited from better control and management features that saved them time and resources," says Stanhope. "For example, in our Edinburgh site, we have not installed any new LAN hardware since completing the project. You can easily identify and then recover ports that are not being used." PatchView was chosen for the new site.

Among the features enjoyed at the site area CAD module for virtual network planning; expanded support of a wide variety of LAN switches; support of stations with single MAC and multiple IP addresses; Web-based capabilities that allow access to data from remote locations; and converged network capabilities.

"PV4E provides us with a real-time, integrated, physical-layer management solution," Stanhope says. "That means we can control and manage the entire enterprise netwotk from one central location. PV4E gives our IT personnel real-time, end-to-end visibility of all network components, whether active of passive."

In addition, PatchView reduces the IT workload by automating labor-intensive network maintenance and documentation, Stanhope says, as well as enabling remote network-management capabilities. The Edinburgh building was cabled with PV4E installed for upwards of 300 users operating on two floors.

"Our operation is expanding and accommodating new markets and products all the time," offers Stanhope. "We were committed to utilizing PV4E in all our regional sites."

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