German gas transmission operator ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH has selected Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) and its BizConnect partner Kapsch CarrierCom to implement a packet network upgrade that will enable ONTRAS tointroduce new security features to its facilities, improve data processing, and address existing and future industry legislation.
ONTRAS, which Ciena describes as the second largest natural gas transmission company in Germany, operates about 7,000 km of pipelines and approximately 450 interconnection points. The company's existing synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) layer will be migrated to a more reliable packet network by building on the current WDM network. The upgraded network will leverage Ciena's 3942 and 3932 Ethernet packet switches to provide bandwidth of 1 Gbps (up from 155 Mbps), and feature a 16-fold capacity increase to 10 Gbps (up from 622 Mbps).
According to Ciena, the network upgrade will also allow ONTRAS to implement improved remote control and security features for control transmission and measuring data between its SCADA system (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and peripheral PLC (programmable logic controllers), and measuring systems for controlling ONTRAS's natural gas transport in eastern Germany.
The enhanced network will provide ONTRAS with improved data processing within the gas line network, and advanced data communication between the sites, Ciena says. ONTRAS will be able to implement an advanced security system that supports remote control and video surveillance across all of its more than 50 sites with the upgraded network.
"Thanks to our collaboration with Ciena and Kapsch, we will have a more robust and reliable network in place that can better support our business and security needs within our critical infrastructure," said Mario Lochmann, ONTRAS Head of IT Management. "The increased bandwidth will allow us to mitigate bottlenecks, which our previous network would have been unable to handle."
Ciena says ONTRAS's subsidiary GDMcom will operate and manage the network.
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