New network reduces CEM’s power consumption

A new IT network now handles all data communications for CEM’s users. The high-performance information network based on technology supplied by H3C also handles CEM’s operations and finance teams as well as the management.

In addition to taking CEM a step closer to its goal of “green communications”, the project is also Macao’s first implementation of the Rapid Ring Protection Protocol IT network. It will provide CEM with IT network availability of greater than 99.999 percent, with extremely speedy Layer 2 network recovery of less than 200ms.

“CEM has proven its green credentials by rolling out a series of environmental protection initiatives, such as electric vehicles and solar energy pilot project. Now, we are pushing the green frontier a little further, and reducing our day-to-day power consumption by upgrading an existing IT networking system, which we have been using for more than 10 years,” said Denis Chan, Senior Manager of CEM Information Systems Department.

“Besides energy saving, the new H3C-based IT network raises the bar on stability and uptime, as well as supports cross-point communications between our Main Office and the Colane Power Station and Dispatch Center at Porto Exterior. It also provides a sound foundation for future growth in IT network infrastructure for at least the next six to seven years,” he added.

The new IT network comprises an H3C S7500E core backbone switch to provide carrier-grade availability, performance and expandability. The switch also uses up to 55 percent less Watts/Gbps than the industry average and conforms to RoHs standards.

“As Macao’s sole power provider, CEM is responsible for ensuring that the city and its residents enjoy a reliable, high-quality electricity supply. This goal is dependent on a reliable IT network infrastructure and CEM had very precise requirements on the new network solution,” said Henry Lam, Senior Sales Manager, H3C.

The new network supports open standards for integration with existing third-party equipment and a unified management platform for wired and wireless service. H3C’s all-in-one Intelligent Management Center solution enables network status monitoring, event logging, network traffic statistics, and network alarm monitoring, and distributed web-based IT network management.

The upgraded IT network also offers an additional feature – support for the new Outage Management System designed to increase the stability and safety of all electricity users in Macao. The IT network enables seamless information exchanges within the Enterprise Resource Planning system that supports the majority of CEM’s business processes and the electricity distribution network.

Denis Chan emphasized, “We selected H3C because of the outstanding product performance and functionality, especially the RRPP technology which helped us achieve our objective of "beyond 99.999%" performance. The extraordinary power saving capability of the switch products, coupled with the best for price/performance solution made H3C the best choice. This will help us to obtain better environmental protection & energy saving benefits, and further improve CEM’s working efficiency in order to enhance customer service quality.”