Case Study: Port of Tacoma Gets Cost Savings, Security & Redundancy via ezW Point-to-Point Wireless
The Challenge The Port of Tacoma was consolidating its IT infrastructure in an off-site data center in nearby downtown Tacoma just under two miles away. The Port has an extensive fiber optic network and other IT infrastructure including IP video surveillance cameras requiring tremendous bandwidth and security as well as a mission critical need for redundancy. With the move of the Port’s data center to the off-site location, the need for a high-availability, highly-secure, Gigabit Ethernet connectivity between the Port’s fiber network and the new data center location was paramount.
The Options The most obvious option was to lease fiber lines. However, the bandwidth requirements would make this a very costly endeavor. The Port considered running their own fiber to the new IT Center; but the hassles of permitting, trenching and delays of digging busy downtown streets and crossing of waterways quickly eliminated that option. ezWireless, having been engaged with the Port on other wireless projects, conducted a site survey and engineering feasibility study to determine how the Port’s bandwidth needs could be met…wirelessly.
A Secure and Cost-Effective Wireless Solution The world renowned ezWireless RF engineer team went to work mapping and engineering a wireless gigabit Ethernet solution with military-grade FIPS-140-2 AES encryption using the BridgeWave AR80X-AES radios. An Additional 270 Mbps of throughput and redundancy was then applied to the Port’s data center connection using the Motorola PTP600 with AES encryption. The network: was up and running at 99.999% availability in weeks instead of months, with no environmental disruption, at a fraction of the cost of fiber, and without monthly recurring fees. As for the bandwidth, reliability and security that the Port needed? “It’s so reliable & maintenance-free, we don’t even know it’s there,” says Port of Tacoma’s Bill Carney.
network and other IT infrastructure including IP video surveillance cameras requiring tremendous bandwidth and security as well as a mission critical need for redundancy. With the move of the Port’s data center to the off-site location, the need for a high-availability, highly-secure, Gigabit Ethernet connectivity between the Port’s fiber network and the new data center location was paramount.
the BridgeWave AR80X-AES radios. An Additional 270 Mbps of throughput and redundancy was then applied to the Port’s data center connection using the Motorola PTP600 with AES encryption. The network: was up and running at 99.999% availability in weeks instead of months, with no environmental disruption, at a fraction of the cost of fiber, and without monthly recurring fees. As for the bandwidth, reliability and security that the Port needed? “It’s so reliable & maintenance-free, we don’t even know it’s there,” says Port of Tacoma’s Bill Carney.
