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Railey Mountain Lake Vacations, Network Services Case Study

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COMPANY OVERVIEW

Railey Mountain Lake Vacations, a very successful property management company located in Western Maryland, has experienced exceptional growth in its more than 24 years in business, assisted in the last year through the merger of two competing firms. The company operates two separate offices, one housing its reservationists and management, while the other is home to housekeeping and maintenance staff.

To maximize efficiency and operational reporting, the client utilized the Microsoft Access version of Instant Software's Property Plus reservation and property management software, which they ran in a mixed Microsoft Windows NT/2000 network. The main office houses all computing resources, including servers and Internet access via a 128Kbps ISDN data circuit. Internet security was provided through a very old NT Server running Proxy Server software as a firewall. The remote maintenance office accesses these computing resources using Windows 2000 Terminal Services over a dedicated T1 data circuit.

After implementing a new online website initiative with plans to increase sales through the Internet, stresses on the computing infrastructure began to burden operations and the company quickly determined that they needed help to evaluate the current environment and to recommend and implement a new technology solution.

ISSUES

Network and Application Response Time

• All users were experiencing slow response and poor performance when using the property management software.
• Response time was worse for users at the client's remote location.
• There were frequent occurrences of communication sessions between the website and the Property Plus application failing due to "time-outs", where the Web Server waits only so long for a response from the property management software before it gives up, cancels the original communication session, and rebuilds a new session.
• Users were experiencing intermittent performance issues when using the Internet. Response was usually good, but at times it was very poor.
• General network performance was decreasing as more users and services were being added. A high rate of network collisions was apparent on the network infrastructure, which was built using 100 Mbps Hubs.

Server Performance and Management

• Property Plus software was installed on a Windows 2000 server with reasonable power, but this server was also utilized as their primary File Server.
• The mail server, a very old undersized NT Server running Exchange 5.5, was running out of disk space. This server also functioned as a Domain Controller, and provided key network utilities that were being impacted by the server's poor performance.
• There were concerns over the levels of Internet Access Security being provided by the Proxy Server software.
• Another old server functioned as a Print Server and Domain Controller.
• A third old server functioned as the primary Tape Backup Server.
• The overall computing environment was difficult to manage. The newer servers were Windows 2000 (Win2K) and all user desktops had been upgraded to Win2K but, since the older servers and the Network Operating System were Windows NT 4.0, most of the Win2K management advantages were not available.
• The backup system no longer had the capacity to backup all systems and data in one pass, so multiple backup jobs had to be run on multiple tape devices.
• There was no way to monitor network traffic to isolate potential bottlenecks or to resolve network problems.
• The servers had been deployed as "towers" on shelves, which consumed a lot of space and made it difficult to properly maintain the hardware.

CHALLENGE

Because the client was operating in one of its busiest rental seasons, maintaining access to the network and applications was extremely important so the staff could continue to deliver service to arriving guests. Project planning required extreme care in order to limit downtime during business hours and to ensure the project team could make the necessary changes to deliver on the proposed solutions.

RECOMMENDED SOLUTION

The on-site portion of the project was to occur over five days, with the team working about 15 hours each day. The new equipment was designed and specified to provide approximately five years of service based on the client's current growth projections and business plan. The Project Plan called for the following network services to be performed:

Application Upgrades
To improve application response, we recommended migrating Property Plus from the current Access platform to the recently developed SQL 2000 version, and Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000. These migrations required that the NT Domain be migrated to Win2K Active Directory as a preliminary step.

Domain Controllers and NT Domain To Win2K Active Directory Migration
Two new utility class servers were deployed as Win2K Active Directory Domain Controllers, and the NT Domain and user account information was migrated to the Win2K Active Directory. All network utilities were duplicated on both servers for performance and reliability.

Property Plus Access DB to SQL Server
A high performance server was deployed as a SQL 2000 server to exclusively house the Property Plus application. The server included redundant hard disks, power supplies, and network cards to increase performance and reliability. Once this server was on-line and tuned, Instant Software staff remotely loaded the new SQL application and migrated the original data from the Access database on the File Server to the new SQL system.

File and Print Services
Once the property management software was removed from the existing Win2K File Server, this server performed well. Print Server functionality was added, which improved printing performance without impacting file transfer performance. The old Print Server was retired, eliminating one old server from the server room.

Email Services
A second high performance server was deployed as an Exchange 2000 server to exclusively house the mail application. This server also included redundant hard disks, power supplies, and network cards to increase performance and reliability. Once this server was on-line and tuned, all the original mailboxes and mail data were migrated from the old server. The old mail server was retired, eliminating a second old server from the server room. As an added benefit, Outlook Web Access was configured so that traveling and off-site users could access their Exchange mailbox via the Internet.

Internet Access and Security
A high performance Firewall appliance was configured and deployed to replace the old Proxy Server. The Internet Access router was fine-tuned to improve data transfer performance. The old Proxy Server was retired, eliminating a third old server from the server room.

Data Back-up
A high speed, high capacity Backup Tape device was attached to one of the new Domain Controller utility servers. The old tape devices and the old Backup Server were retired, eliminating a fourth old server from the server room.

Networking Infrastructure
An expandable Network Switch was deployed to replace the stacked Hubs.

Equipment Housing
A new "Rack Mount" server cabinet was deployed to house all of the new and existing servers and network devices that were located in the server room. This locking cabinet is on casters and is completely self-contained, including a monitor and keyboard, all interconnecting wiring, and UPS' for the servers, firewall, and routers.

Remote Site Access
Several configuration changes were required on the Terminal Server to properly integrate it into the new Win2K Domain, so we took this opportunity to further fine-tune it. The two remote site routers were also fine-tuned to improve data transfer performance.

WHY MAKE THE INVESTMENT IN ALL OF THE NEW EQUIPMENT?

Railey Mountain Lake Vacations knew it had grown quickly and added network services and equipment in an ad-hoc fashion. Moving piecemeal to achieve the performance that was necessary to continue to excel and beat its competition would not allow the company to meet its strategic goals and objectives. According to Zach Taylor, one of the principals of Railey Mountain Lake Vacations, "The security, reliability and productivity gained were well worth the initial investment. The network hums".

RESULTS

The payback has been phenomenal for Railey Mountain Lake Vacations. All of the project goals were attained while maintaining the budget. Client management, IT Staff, and users were all thrilled with the greatly improved performance and enhancements to the support structure.

While each individual solution would have provided performance benefits, the combination of solutions provided multiple resolutions that worked together to provide synergistic enhancements to each system.

• The property management application "flies", with little discernable difference between main and remote site response. Reports that took minutes now take seconds. Screens that took seconds to appear are now instantaneous.
• The Mail Server is fast, reliable, and has more than enough storage capacity. As an added value, we configured the server to allow any authorized user to access their mailbox remotely via the Internet.
• The new Firewall improved Internet access security, allows better data throughput, and provides much more flexibility.
• Internet communication time-outs have disappeared, and Internet access response was much improved without the need to increase Internet bandwidth, which would have increased operating expenses around $1,500 per month.
• The network environment is much more manageable, reducing the time necessary to resolve any issues that may arise, providing more user account flexibility, and allowing automated upgrades to workstation Operating Systems and applications.
• General network performance is excellent, and network traffic for every individual device in the environment can be monitored via the Network Switch.
• All systems and data are efficiently backed up nightly on one high capacity tape via one high-speed backup job.
• All server room equipment is housed in a single, self-contained equipment cabinet with locking doors. The use of the cabinet increases security, reduces the space consumed by the equipment, and eases accessibility to the hardware for maintenance.
• Overall response of the remote site data terminals has improved for all computing functions.

For more information on how working with Visual Data Systems can benefit your business, contact Brandon Besecker at Brandon@vdsys.com, or visit us on the web at www.vdsys.com.