"H3C has increased our work efficiency while reducing our workload and maintenance costs with this network infrastructure upgrade. Macau Tower continues to represent a first-class banquet and MICE venue, providing world-class, one-stop dining and entertainment. To that, we can now add a truly digital-age network access service."

– Mr. Billy Chan, IT Manager, Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre

Background

The Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre (Macau Tower) is the Macau Special Administrative Region’s major landmark. Measuring 338 meters from ground to its highest point, it is a member of the World Federation of Great Towers.

Opened in December 2001, the tower is the premier venue for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE), and plays host to numerous international and regional business and trade events, as well as national celebrations. Delivering a choice of restaurants, theaters, shopping malls, bungee jumping and other adventure activities, the Macanese icon is a prototypical one-stop venue. With visitor numbers rising yearly, the Macau Tower turned to H3C to upgrade its network infrastructure to meet new requirements. Chief amongst these was the ability to provide high- speed wired-and-wireless network access to guests in any corner of the premises.

The Solution

In Macau Tower, H3C deployed a total wired-and-wireless solution, based on its S5120-SI series switch and 802.11n-based WA2610i wireless FIT access points. All these are connected to four H3C S5500-EI core switches located in two buildings virtualized to function as two core switches, using H3C Intelligent Resilient Framework 2 (IRF2) virtualization technology, thus providing excellent reliability and multi-service support capability.

A H3C WX5004 wireless controller connected to the S5500-EI core switch works together with WA2610i access points to provide wireless access six times faster than traditional 802.11a/b/g networks. With three built-in antennas, the WA2610i greatly enhances radio frequency signal management, and tolerance to user mobility and reauthentication, thus disseminating stable and secure wireless coverage throughout the tower.

H3C's Intelligent Management Centre (IMC) and Wireless Service Manager (WSM) management software tools are deployed to provide unified wired-and-wireless network management, including device and traffic monitoring.

With thousands of external end-users accessing the network, security was naturally a major concern for the Macau Tower. H3C’s solution was WSM, which provides WLAN intrusion detection and protection. The tool detects wireless attacks and rogue access, rapidly alerting administrators to network vulnerabilities. WSM also generates historical reports, enabling operators to monitor wireless network usage and performance, and the gradual evolution of roaming patterns over months or years.

Why H3C?

Ann international landmark that hosts major events, with exciting tourist attractions to boot, the Macau Tower needed a robust, reliable and secure network to support large visitor numbers. H3C earned the tower management's confidence in its proposed networking solution by producing and demonstrating a clear, complete proof of concept.

While H3C's switching and wireless LAN devices and IRF2 virtualization technology are designed to provide high-reliability, high-performance network bandwidth, its IMC and WSM tools enable simple, scalable, and most importantly secure, central management of both wired and wireless networks.

Furthermore, H3C delivered Macau Tower's network on time and on-budget, and has backed the installation with outstanding technical support services well beyond the project's official completion date. Most important of all, H3C worked with Macau Tower to ensure the smooth, uninterrupted transition from its aging legacy switching to the new solution that will permit Macau Tower to meet its visitors’ increasing demands for speedy communications for decades to come.

The Benefits

Via its provision of an easy-to-manage platform for centralized management of network devices, H3C has helped Macau Tower reduce its network infrastructure investment outlay:

"H3C's Intelligent Management Center (IMC) simplifies network administration and reduces maintenance costs. IMC gives our IT team a consolidated view of the network topology, the status of all network devices, and fault management, performance monitoring, and user authentication capabilities – all from a single platform."

– Mr. Billy Chan, IT Manager, Macau Tower Convention & Entertainment Centre