Network Resilience: An Extreme Case of Remote Network Management

What Does the Growth of IoT Mean for IT Infrastructure?

Railroads have a unique set of challenges when establishing network resilience, these include regulatory restrictions, safety standards and compliance. In an effort to resolve these, a Class 1 Railroad decided to approach Opengear to discuss remote network management for their organization.

Thousands of miles of track and hundreds of monitoring stations across the United States poses a challenge when connecting network devices. The railroad was losing network connectivity and flying blind when it came to scheduling, maintenance and track switches. To monitor and maintain connectivity, the organization tested Opengear’s solution for cellular out-of-band capabilities.

For 6 months, the railroad rigorously tested the ACM7004-2-LMV with built in cellular. To ensure that the devices met their requirements, could perform in extreme environments without interruptions from vibrations and was able to be easily used by network administrators, the devices network resilience capabilities were tested.

Once testing was completed, Opengear’s devices were the clear solution. The railroad deployed the Resilience Gateway at each of their key locations, resulting with over 150 units across their network.  The anticipated result is to reduce truck rolls by 50%, repair connectivity in a matter of minutes and ensure network resilience.