A/NZ College of Anaesthetists to expand campus security monitoring

Network performance monitor could be used to send SMS alerts to security staff

The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) has plans to use its network performance monitoring offering to alert campus security staff of potential break-ins during 2014.

ANZCA deployed SolarWinds’ network performance monitor (NPM) and server and application monitor (SAM) 18 months ago. If there is a network outage, IT staff in Melbourne and service providers based across A/NZ are sent an SMS alert.

The ANZCA's head office is located in Victoria. It also has offices in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, Western Australia and Auckland, New Zealand.

Speaking to Computerworld Australia, ANZCA IT manager Len Gemelli said that there are plans to bring the college’s security system online early next year.

“If a window is broken and the sensor alerts us, we can tell security staff where the alarm is going off on campus.”

For example, an SMS could be sent to security staff that contains details of which window is broken and the floor that has been accessed. Trials of the service are taking place at present.

Prior to the NPM and SAM deployment, IT staff were finding it difficult to monitor the network. They can now identify suspect Internet traffic and block it as soon as it is identified.

“The SMS component means that there are active alerts happening 24/7 without anyone logging in. We are getting meaningful data out of that," he said.

According to Gemelli, there have been a number of benefits including improved network availability and operational efficiencies.

“We were losing Internet traffic but now availability has gone from 88 per cent up to 100 per cent. By using the NMP we have been able to identify the [Internet] traffic that has been causing problems and remediate it.”

He added that it was been 15 months since the last network outage.

The network infrastructure at ANZCA is 98 per cent virtualized, with a production environment of four VMware hosts containing a 13 terabyte storage area network. Eight sites in A/NZ are connected by a voice, data and video network.

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick

Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU, or take part in the Computerworld conversation on LinkedIn: Computerworld Australia

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Tags NetworkingmonitoringSolarWindsAustralian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists

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