Credit: Pacific National
Ip.Glass has overhauled private rail freight operator Pacific National’s network setup with Fortinet-based tech, moving it away from its older private multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) network’s limited bandwidth and redundancy.
The new network utilises Fortinet’s Secure-SD-Branch and Secure solution and spans 86 locations.
It also includes a FortiGate next-generation firewall, FortiSwitch switch and FortiAP wireless access points at all 86 sites along with FortiExtender cellular gateways at sites with 4G and 5G access. Additionally, firewalls, proxies and routers in its data centre were upgraded to Fortinet-based solutions.
The network replaces Pacific National’s existing set-up, which was described by the vendor as a “traditional hub-and-spoke” MPLS system. Fortinet claimed the older network “was expensive to manage, offered limited bandwidth and redundancy and was not responsive enough to support Pacific National's mission-critical applications”.
As a result of that old system, Pacific National was facing networking challenges that got in the way of modernising its transportation management system.
“Our engineers meticulously assessed Pacific National’s unique business needs and, together with Fortinet’s Secure SD-Branch and Secure SD-WAN solution, designed and implemented a tailored solution that met the company’s requirements,” said Semyon Taskin, managing director at Ip.Glass.
Taking from early 2021 to mid-2022, Fortinet claimed the rollout of the new network caused Pacific National to halve its annual networking costs, as well as improve network performance, redundancy and resilience.
Steve Carroll, information technology infrastructure manager at Pacific National, added that Ip.Glass is viewed as an extension of the business’ IT team.
“[Their] engineers really understand our business and our network, they came to every site with us and they've shown a passion for it,” he said.
Ip.Glass' announced work with the private rail freight operator comes months after it was crowned Fortinet's Australian Emerging Partner of the Year at the vendor's annual partner awards in February.
