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In 1995, S&G was a company with a turnover of £12m per annum and had just relocated its operations to a purpose built factory. At that time the business employed 120 people and was running self-written manufacturing systems for around 25 users. The phone system was an analogue BT Meridian system with dect antennae scattered around the plant. Links to the outside world were via a 56k modem and most information reached the business via the postman.

In the subsequent 20 years the operation had grown and developed to a level where the turnover and staffing levels had doubled, the company had adopted Microsoft Navision as its’ core ERP package and had deployed Microsoft’s office to every desk. The phone system was still the original technology, but the broadband was running on a leased 100/100Mbs connection.

S&G had also added a team of field sales executives that required interaction with internal users and services 24/7.

Requirement

Early 2015 saw S&G encounter intermittent problems on their email services to their now 90 users. The exchange was relying on multiple unreliable domain controllers to service the traffic and the decision was made by Chairman and Group Managing Director Andrew Jones that the company should re-evaluate its’ IT infrastructure. Jones said, “The IT system had grown into a bit of a monster, many of the offices though large were only serviced for one person, yet we’d grown to a point where these rooms had two or three people working from them. The myriad of switches servicing these areas was slowing down the data transfer and making us inefficient. I knew I needed to do something drastic.”

S&G invited tenders from its’ regular suppliers, one of which was Touch Networks. The pitch was open ended and each company was invited to audit the current practices and the recommend what improvements could be made.

Touch Networks were a local company who had experience of dealing with large companies. Having recently completed a similar project at Cardiff Airport, S&G felt that they would get an excellent level of care from them. Touch identified that the core services of Domain Controller, Exchange and Storage were S&Gs main issue and presented a solution for that area. They also identified that the existing network was not providing the business with adequate speeds or reliability. A new network should be considered, building fibre connections between all key areas and cabling in each user with Cat6 connections.

The project leader at S&G was Technical Manager, Mike Donovan who added, “It became clear after meeting a few times with the guys at Touch, that the solution was not going to need a band aid, but a full organ transplant”.

Solution

Virtualisation

Stephens & George made an informed decision to employ virtualisation during the project. Touch Networks implemented two Host platforms using Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Data Centre edition upon HP Proliant DL360 Gen8 servers, one sited in the main coms room and the other located in the backup environment. Upon both of these hosts, a domain controller has been implemented giving us resilience for an Active Directory.

Touch Networks were able to identify an improvement to the way in which we offer remote-working to our field sales team by implementing a web-based Remote Desktop Services platform, also virtualised. Microsoft Hyper-V within Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacentre was chosen as the platform for virtualisation due to its reputation now arguably equalling its’ rivals.

Since the implementation, Touch Networks have continued working alongside our IT Manager to build a virtualised reporting server, conducting knowledge-transfer in the process.

San storage

For both the main coms room and the backup environment, HP MSA P2000 SANs were implemented and loaded with high-speed SAS hard drives. Each of these SANs connect to HP2920-24G switches using 10Gbe controllers. The user home drives, shared department folders, data backup destinations and Hyper-V servers are stored on dedicated volumes. Replication between the two SANs is achieved using DFS Replication.

Microsoft Exchange

Touch Networks implemented Microsoft Exchange 2013 and migrated the existing mailbox data to the new platform. Built on a HP Proliant DL380 server running Windows Server 2012 R2 STD and located in the main coms room. A “Vanilla” spare windows server on similar hardware has been pre-built as an offline spare and database and log file backups are taken using CA Arcserve D2D.

Navision

In parallel with phase 1 of the implementation, Stephens & George were experiencing frequent performance issues with the Microsoft Navision system, which is supported by an overseas 3^rd party. Touch Networks willingly investigated the server platform and identified a potential improvement in re-organising the RAID configuration and a fresh installation of the windows platform. Stephens & George fortunately held an offline spare server and Touch Networks built this replacement server with the operating system and SQL server software. Shortly afterwards, the Navision platform was added by the 3^rd party and with some fine tuning of user roles, we saw an instant improvement in the performance and stability of our ERP System.

Phone server

Following the completion of the Fibre and Copper Network Infrastructure upgrade, was the replacement of the legacy Meridian Norstar telephone system. The proposed solution was to upgrade to a NEC SV9100 Communications Server enabling S&G to utilise VOIP hardware, deployed over the new infrastructure. The system architecture would allow S&G flexibility in deployment and allow the integration of the MyCalls Operator, Desktop and Call Management Suite. NEC’s Umobility mobile app would replace the current DECT equipment providing coverage throughout the plant via the Cisco Meraki Wireless network. An upgrade from ISDN30 DASS to ISDN30e was provisioned allowing implementation of the new telephone system.

Network switches

The next generation M5300 series of network switches were Touch Networks overriding choice to deliver top of the line managed, stackable Ethernet with embedded 10 Gigabit uplink and stacking connectivity. They were the ideal choice for Stephens and George factoring in the need for a reliable and affordable 10 Gigabit Ethernet backbone architecture. As a proficient component of converged voice, video and data networking solutions, M5300 switches deliver a resilient access layer in server rooms for virtualization, spanning to the organisations print manufacturing LAN environments. Virtual Chassis stacking technology – including meshed stacking – scales both the entire network’s performance and its redundancy. To fully complete the network at the aggregation level Touch Networks have installed the M7300 which allows for a flexible top-of-rack infrastructure. All of its 24 ports are 10 Gigabit SFP+ interfaces and are fully Gigabit/10 Gigabit capable and deliver wired speed performance with ultra-low latency.

Implementation

Phase one of the plan saw an installation of a 2 x Hyper V servers, with 2 x SANs. These pair of devices would be situated in 2 coms rooms at either end of the plant. One virtual server would host the Active Directory and control the new domain, whilst the SAN would allow all users to have central storage for their data. The sister machines would allow instant duplication and back up. These were connected together using a 10Gbs fibre back bone with a 2Gbs fail over. The Email Exchange and Microsoft Navision server were both also added to that network, again with a back-up machine of each server being built in the second coms room. At this point all the users were made new on a new domain and all were added to the Exchange and Navision systems. S&G’s IT Manager Steve Price said, “Phase one was the most important part of the plan, once it was achieved we had a solid central core to build around.”

Phase two saw 270 individual Cat6 cables pulled from central areas to the user’s desks and also to the machinery in the factory. 8 new fibre HP switches were added to 8 cabinets around the business, these were linked together by 20Gbs Fibre with 2Gbs fail over connections. All cables were run through different routes giving ultimate redundancy. Touch provided S&G with a gantt chart of areas to be addressed over the 8 weeks needed to install all the cables, cabinets, switches and patch panels.

Donovan was impressed, “The plan was implemented in 8 weekly drops and every Friday, Neil Parry (Managing Director of Touch Networks) would visit the plant and together we would sign off each area and keep on top of the progress. The phase was completed two days early, which really surprised me as it was implemented in our busiest production time of the year and at a time where parts of the factory had large machinery installations occurring.”

All the users’ PCs were then added to the new network. Their data storage and email back up was transferred to the SAN and all the legacy storage areas were removed from the network.

The Pre Press department had traditionally existed on its own separate network but were now fully integrated. Their AGFA Apogee workflow was also replicated for redundancy in the second coms room.

16 Meraki wireless stations were added throughout the factory to give 100% coverage throughout the plant. Lan, Guest and Voice networks were added to give additional security.

Phase three saw the installation of a new phone system. The NEC SV9100 server was added and the old analogue lines were replaced by an ISDN30 solution. This system offered S&G the ability to reroute calls to mobile, individual voice messages and on screen controls direct from the users PCs. It also allowed them to dispose of the old unreliable dect system and use an NEC app to make calls on standard mobile phones. At this point the broadband connection was recited alongside the phone connection, allowing S&G to increase their bandwidth should they need to grow.

The installation of the phone system marked a point where 95% of the old network was redundant. At this stage a controlled removal of the legacy equipment happened. It was vital that the Fire alarms, Burglar alarms, clocking card/swipe door and CCTV systems all continued to function and were all integrated into the new network. The biggest challenge here was that some of these systems were cabled into the original build of the factory and hidden in ceiling and floor cavities, the route of which were a mystery.

Once all the legacy kit had been removed all the remaining hardware was moved into three new cabinets which were all connected to new UPS devices, giving protection from power surges and outages.

Price added “We now fully understand how our network is constructed, as we built it. We have mapped every port on patch panel and know what is plugged it every socket on every switch. It gives you a great feeling of control and allows you to sleep better at night.”

In conclusion

The project ran for nearly a year and look to have future proofed the business for the next 15 years. Implementing such a large change and still allowing the business to trade unaffected was the major driver for the project and both parties achieved this goal.

Donovan said, “The project was delivered to time and the level of workmanship shown by Touch has been exemplary. Whatever complications or needs we threw at the team, they found solutions and delivered them. The service extended to long hours on weekends and a few unscheduled call outs, which were done without quibble or any extra costs. Something you seldom get in business these days. I’d thoroughly recommend Touch to any of our partners and we are happy to have built a relationship that will last a long time.”