Case Study   Harrisburg International Airport (USA)   Secure 3Com® Voice And Data Network To Provide Technology Backbone For Harrisburg International Airport's New $220 Million Terminal Organization: Harrisburg International Airport Location: Middletown, PA (USA) Employees/Staff: 120; will increase to support eight airlines and six rental car agencies Market Segment: Transportation Applications: Microsoft Navision finance application; MP2 facility maintenance application from Datastream; arrivals/departures application from Com-Net Software, a division of Signature Technologies, Inc.; building systems management applications from Johnson Controls; SABRE airline reservation and ticketing system; Microsoft Office applications. Harrisburg International Airport hosts eight major airlines, including Delta, United, Air Canada, and US Air, plus six rental car agencies. In 2003, more than 1.3 million travelers passed through the airport on their way to or from destinations in 14 U.S. and one Canadian city. Harrisburg services the central Pennsylvania region, with the goal of making "air travel more convenient, more affordable, and more enjoyable for travelers." The Challenge To fulfill this mission, Harrisburg is building a new 350,000 square foot transportation complex that will house the airline terminals and an AMTRAK rail station. The $220 million facility will help Harrisburg better support increasing numbers of travelers and comply with the 2001 Aviation Transportation & Security Act governing airport security. While constructing the multi-modal complex, the airport decided to follow a growing industry trend among U.S. airports to provide airline and rental car agency tenants with network access. At Harrisburg, these tenants previously managed their own networks and moved or expanded their LANs at their own expense. By giving them network access, the airport intends to make connectivity more convenient, improve data security, simplify network management, and reduce operating expenses. While planning the new facility, Harrisburg realized that its own preexisting 3Com® Fast Ethernet network, though reliable, was not designed to support the additional traffic from airport tenants. Instead, the transportation provider sought a fast, secure, high-capacity airport-wide infrastructure that would also prioritize voice traffic from an expanded IP telephony solution — also provided by 3Com. To simplify administration, Harrisburg sought a single-vendor solution that would service all of its tenants as well as its own communications needs. Why 3Com The solution consists of the following products: 3Com® Switch 7700R Read more here 3Com Security Switch 6200 Read more here 3Com Router 5680 Read more here 3Com SuperStack® 3 Switch 4900 Family Read more here 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 PWR Read more here 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 Family Read more here 3Com Wireless LAN Access Point 8250 Read more here 3Com VCX™ V7300 IP Telephony Solution Read more here 3Com SuperStack 3 NBX® Networked Telephony Solution Read more here 3Com Network Supervisor Read more here 3Com GuardianSM Service Read more here The 3Com consulting services team in cooperation with 3Com Gold Partner Dauphin DataCom designed a secure Gigabit Ethernet network based on the Switch 7700, the new 3Com Security Switch 6200, and the SuperStack 3 NBX Networked Telephony Solution. The Benefits The new Gigabit Ethernet network will ably deliver the reliability and security Harrisburg needs to support the airlines, rental agencies, and its own operations. Harrisburg is using the 3Com Switch 7700 modular chassis solution at the network core. Using the Switch 7700R 8-slot configuration, the airport will enjoy enterprise-class performance and the resiliency of having dual switch fabrics for highest-availability operation. The Switch 7700 provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching. Harrisburg uses a mix of 8-port 1000BASE-X modules, supporting GBIC-based fiber and copper connections, as well as 48-port 10/100BASE-TX modules. The switches' Quality of Service (QoS) and bandwidth management capabilities will enable the airport to prioritize voice and data traffic. For highest security, the network traffic for each airline and rental car agency will be isolated on its own virtual LAN (VLAN) using standards-based technology within the switch. Switch 4900s and SuperStack 3 Switch 4400s in the network will also prioritize network traffic and support the VLANs. The 3Com Security Switch 6200s will provide Harrisburg with enterprise-class security to safeguard airport-wide communications and data using a single-platform, all-in-one box solution. A Switch 6200 will screen all traffic going to the Switch 7700. The Switch 6200 combines a variety of security functions, such as firewalls, virtual private networks (VPNs), content and spam filters, antivirus scanners, and intrusion detection systems (IDS). In particular, the airport will depend on the Switch 6200 to provide intrusion detection, ensuring that an intruder cannot hack from one airline's network segment to another. Two 3Com Router 5680s will provide secure WAN access to Harrisburg. The routers' modular design will deliver the flexibility the airport needs to accommodate its growth. The high-value routers also eliminate hidden upgrade costs by embedding security features such as packet inspection firewalls and traffic filtering without requiring additional software purchases. The network will accelerate the delivery of a variety of applications for the airport and its tenants. These include Microsoft's Navision financial package, Datastream's MP2 facility maintenance tool, and Johnson Controls' building management application, which handles various electrical, elevator, escalator, lighting, and fire alarm systems. It will deliver Com-Net Software's flight arrival and departure software and the airlines' SABRE reservations and ticketing application. It will also provide high-speed connections linking gates, ticket counters, and baggage claim offices. Airlines and rental car tenants will also enjoy plug and play connectivity when moving or changing their networks, a cost-effective alternative to contracting IT professionals for these purposes. Harrisburg will add six 3Com SuperStack 3 NBX Networked Telephony Solutions and more than 150 telephone handsets to its existing phone system. SuperStack 3 Switch 4400 PWRs will provide power over Ethernet and network connections to the 3Com handsets. The airport uses 4-digit dialing and auto attendant features. Airport personnel, as well as some of the airlines will utilize the NBX systems. Travelers will also use the NBX network, whenever they pick up a courtesy phone located throughout the terminal. Airport personnel will benefit from unified messaging capabilities available through the 3Com VCX V7300 IP Telephony Solution. Thirty 3Com Wireless LAN Access Point 8250s will be deployed throughout the new terminal, enabling travelers to access the Internet on a secure subnet. Following its motto of "the antidote to the big airport," Harrisburg will offer this service for free, unlike some airports, which charge for the service. The 3Com professional services team approached the network as a business goal, first finding out the airport's plans and then designing the appropriate network that would support them. The team also offered best practices, to ensure that Harrisburg gets the maximum benefit from the network. On an ongoing basis, Harrisburg will utilize 3Com Guardian Service for maintenance and the powerful, easy-to-use Network Supervisor management application for monitoring, administration, and bulk switch firmware upgrades. "The simplicity, security, and value of our new 3Com network exemplifies everything we want our new transportation complex to be for our tenants and travelers alike," said Mark Berkheimer, manager of information technology, Harrisburg International Airport. "3Com stood out among other vendors in providing this solution, and we can't wait to get it off the ground."