3 minute read
MMC Corp: Constructive Connections
by ⌘ ⇧ ⌥
NETWORK ENGINEER CHRIS TRUSLER
MMC Corp: Constructive Connections A construction services company uses a fi ber ELAN to build its future.
If I need more bandwidth, I can get it quickly—in days, not months.
–Chris Trusler
THE CHALLENGE: MMC Corp, a holding company made up of construction services brands, is a busy place. It has eight divisions, which handle everything from HVAC installation to general contracting. It also operates up to 60 construction sites at any given time. To streamline communications, MMC Corp wanted data from all locations to fl ow across a single network. To maintain data security, it needed a dedicated, private network. It also required the fl exibility to add and remove locations on the network with ease. Network engineer Chris Trusler considered a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) system, but its cost, complexity, and inability to scale quickly were deterrents. Trusler and IT director Jim Scales asked Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) what it could offer.
THE SOLUTION: Today, all MMC Corp offi ces are connected over a TWCBC Ethernet Local Area Network (ELAN); bandwidth varies from10 Mbps to 500 Mbps, based on the number of employees at the location. In addition, job site trailers can access a Virtual Private Network (VPN) via 15x2 Mbps Business Internet access. On the corporate side, the service connects the offi ces to MMC Corp’s data center, which is equipped with 1 Gbps of data throughput. This bandwidth ensures that there is no latency, even if many of the company’s 1,200 employees are simultaneously using email or accessing fi le servers. The ELAN solution also gives MMC Corp a fi ber infrastructure, which rarely has problems (such as packet delay and “jitter”) that affect time-sensitive applications.
THE RESULT: Greater effi ciency, security, and opportunities for growth. Enterprise-wide connectivity has allowed MMC Corp to relocate fi le servers from dispersed locations to its data center. “On one management console, we can manage and back up the computers that are on job sites, as well as all data and resources,” Trusler says. The ELAN solution also adds stability compared to MPLS services, because it is deployed with simpler electronics placed at the customer site, allowing easy and quick service resolutions. Given the sensitive nature of all that flows across the network—blueprints, CAD drawings, RFPs, accounting data, and more—MMC Corp is more comfortable using its ELAN, located in TWCBC’s facilities-based, privately owned network, than the open Internet. The ELAN also means that businesses such as MMC Corp don’t need to exchange their Private Internet Protocol (PIP) information with their service provider.
Finally, the scalability of its ELAN lets MMC Corp seize new business opportunities. It enables the company’s growth strategy, which includes acquisitions and establishing job sites nationwide. (Should a new location be outside TWCBC’s expanding footprint, TWCBC works with local carriers to establish connectivity back to the main network.) If MMC Corp decides to use virtual desktops or virtual desktop image (VDI) files for some job sites, internal bandwidth can be scaled without the need for MMC Corp to add to infrastructure. “If I need additional bandwidth, I can get it quickly,” Trusler says. “We’re talking about days instead of months.”
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