| |
42U Helps KCSM Expand Television Studio
Environment
KCSM, a public television and radio broadcaster
located in the San Francisco Bay Area, wanted to
expand its studio environment. For assistance with
the project, KCSM contacted
42U, the nation’s
leading provider of
data center and remote server
management solutions.
Background
In the summer of 2006, KCSM received a Digital
Distribution Fund (DDF) grant of more than $300,000
to upgrade its master control operations. Of the
total grant, $50,000 was earmarked to optimize
workflow in the master control environment to
support KCSM’s full schedule of public television
programming and consolidate all equipment to a
master control room. At the time, KCSM was using an
Avocent
2X8 AV Outlook
KVM solution and sought to expand
this concept.
Creating a Solution to Meet KCSM’s Challenges
KCSM was looking for a large multi-user KVM solution
to make the most out of its new environment. The
organization hoped that by expanding its KVM system,
it would increase the efficiency of both the users
and the systems overall. Specifically, KCSM was
looking for a solution that would allow all users to
access any system attached to the KVM solution. In
addition, KCSM wanted a system that was easy to set
up and maintain, could be expanded to accommodate
future growth, and that would help reduce cable
clutter.
After a thorough analysis of the organization’s
goals, 42U designed a solution that met KCSM’s needs
and fit under its $50,000 budget. The solution
consisted of
Avocent AMX products, including the
Avocent AMX5010 16-User by 64-Port rackmount KVM
switch with the AMWorks Java-based software
management tool;
AMX5130 user stations with audio,
serial, and USB; and
AMIQDM-USB Dual UTP USB
interface modules with audio and serial.
Avocent’s
Technology Meets KCSM’s Challenges
| Challenge 1:
Allow multiple users to access any
system attached to the KVM solution |
The
Avocent AMX allows multi-user simultaneous
access and full KVM connectivity to a
variety of server platforms, including PS2,
USB, and SUN, as well as serial devices. |
| Challenge 2: Select a
solution that is easy to set up and maintain |
KCSM found the equipment
easy to set up, and as operators were
already familiar with the user interface,
transitioning to the new system went
smoothly. |
| Challenge 3: Select a
solution that can be expanded easily |
The Avocent AMX is scalable
and will permit KCSM to add computers or
devices as its environment evolves and
grows. |
| Challenge 4: Select a
solution that simplifies cable management |
Avocent AMIQ dongles replace
bulky cabling connections with
industry-standard Category 5 or 6 cabling
and deliver real-time, high-bandwidth video
for KVM switching up to 1,000 feet away from
a server. |
According to Hanns Ullrich,
Operations Manager/Engineer at KCSM, the new
solution has made the production environment more
flexible for operators and has eliminated the need
to perform specific tasks at particular
workstations. “Now the operators can do any task
from any position,” Hanns said. He added that the
new equipment has also made troubleshooting and
repair easier for systems engineers as they can
access systems from anywhere.
In addition, since the new equipment lets KCSM do
more with the same number of resources, as two
people can do similar tasks at the same time, staff
are able to spend additional time checking content
before it goes on the air. Hanns said that he is
pleased with the solution as it meets KCSM’s needs
and is easy to use. He said that the 42U sales
engineer who assisted him was very helpful with the
ordering process and made sure the he didn’t order
extra things that already came with the equipment.
“The experience was very positive,” Hanns said.
About 42U
The team at 42U specializes in needs assessment, solution
design, and implementation support to ensure that IT
professionals maximize their use of current technologies
to improve overall business performance. 42U provides
complete remote management solutions, including KVM
over IP,
intelligent power, environmental monitoring,
server rack cooling, and
rackmount
solutions. A 42U sales engineer
can help you improve your data center performance by
helping you select solutions that are most appropriate
for your organization’s particular needs and environment.
This article was written by Lauren
Nowenstein, Technical Writer, with guidance and
input from 42U's team of Solutions Sales Engineers.
If you would like to send us feedback about this
article, or have any questions, please
write to us.
About Avocent
Avocent delivers IT operations and infrastructure
management solutions for enterprises worldwide,
helping customers reduce the cost and simplify the
management of complex IT environments via
integrated, centralized in-band and out-of-band
hardware and software. Through LANDesk, Avocent also
is a leading provider of systems, security, and
process management solutions.
Free
Audio-Video Project Evaluation
|
|
