BACKGROUND
The conurbation of Forbach, established in 2002 and located in the department of Moselle, carries out numerous missions ranging from the development of economic, social, cultural, touristic, and sports projects to the development of the territory. Comprising twenty-one municipalities, the conurbation of Forbach wanted to operate a global overhaul of thier network core and their remote sites. The objective was to merge the solutions used to optimize the entire network and thus facilitate its management.
Their systems teams also wanted to improve performance in order to decongest the network. Moreover, the installation of these equipments had to be as simple as possible in order to avoid further work and to stay within budget.
To meet this goal, the Forbach conurbation hired an integrator, System Solutions, which recommended the installation of NETGEAR 10 Gigabit PoE+ switches. System Solutions is an ICT partner that has been accompanying its customers in the implementation and management of infrastructure since 1996.
THE SOLUTION
In its desire to standardize and utlize their network park, the conurbation of Forbach has decided to replace all their installed appliances. In short, 55 NETGEAR switches were configured between 2018 and 2019 before being dispatched to the various city councils.
The advantage of moving to a 10 Gigabit network.
The Chief Information Officer of the conurbation, Pascal Licata, was convinced by the high level of reliability and high transfer speeds achieved with the 10 Gigabit switches.
Designed to keep up with changing requirements, NETGEAR 10 Gigabit Switches help bring data to users’ fingertips, from everyday tasks to background maintenance (backup, restore data, etc.). In addition to avoiding bottlenecks, the installation of 10 Gigabit switches allows hundreds of people in the urban area to have increased bandwidth.
Moving from 1 to 10 Gigabit represents a significant upgrade that translates into increased efficiency in getting data available: this allows the staff of the various city councils to get immediate benefits for all tasks involving heavy data transfers. Also, the 10 Gigabit network is an obvious asset in the daily use of cloud tools.
The advantage of PoE+ for the conurbation
This network environment redesign has been achieved with NETGEAR PoE+ switches, which offers another advantage to the conurbation with the ability to power compatible equipment without the need for additional cable pull. In this context, only one RJ45 network cable provides data and electricity.
More commonly known as PoE+ (Power over Ethernet Plus), the IEEE 802.3at standard provides greater flexibility to city halls by delivering up to 30 watts per port, while providing backward compatibility with 802.3af (PoE). They now power IP Telephony, Video Surveillance, Conference Equipment, and Wi-Fi Access Points, from a centralized switch.
Sites can also enable and disable power to devices as needed to keep energy costs at their lowest.
Furthermore, PoE+ makes it easy to deploy or extend the network, and is also an effective way to save money. With PoE switches, it becomes possible to position devices where the installation of an electrical power supply would have been impractical (ceilings, walls, etc.). A benefit for the various city councils is not having to increase costs for this project, such as installation of new electrical outlets.
THE RESULTS
Once the installation by System Solutions was completed, the conurbation of Forbach was quickly able to see results. The most obvious result is the simplicity of implementation that saves complicated installation costs. The conurbation of Forbach was also satisfied with the optimization of its network installation and convinced by the resulting speeds. The shift to more costeffective 10 Gigabit switching solution allows the conurbation to meet its high-speed network needs, including access to its network core, virtual servers, and various stored data. A gain in productivity, and thus more time for the teams in the municipalities. Finally the easy to use monitoring interface was particularly appreciated and adopted by the conurbation teams, and increased the effectiveness of customer support to ensure the monitoring of the installations.
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
