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Canadian Board of Education IT Teams Collaborate to Improve Network Security and Performance with NETSCOUT Solution
Technology Category
- Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software
- Cybersecurity & Privacy - Network Security
Applicable Industries
- Education
Applicable Functions
- Business Operation
Use Cases
- Cybersecurity
Services
- System Integration
- Cybersecurity Services
The Challenge
The Board of Education (BOE) for a Canadian city was facing challenges due to the addition of new schools, which increased network traffic and links to IT Data Centers, potentially resulting in oversubscribed links. The BOE's IT team identified a need for an updated network capacity management solution. Furthermore, managing student populations posed information security challenges, and the BOE’s IT Security team oversees cybersecurity of the school system’s network and resources. The Network Operations team approached NETSCOUT regarding the need to solve potential data center and network link oversubscription via coordinated capacity planning.
About The Customer
The Board of Education (BOE) administers the school system for a Canadian city supporting more than 100,000 students, placing a high value on personalized learning for its students across grades kindergarten through 12. State-of-the-art facilities are top among its priorities, with several new and updated schools coming on line since 2016 and into the upcoming school year. In supervising the city school system, the BOE oversees academic planning and curriculum delivery, standardized testing and design for certain grade levels, and facilities management, as well as delivering necessary Information Technology (IT) services to support students, administrators, and educators. The BOE charter empowers the organization to make its own decisions regarding IT solutions deployed in city schools. In supporting the school system, IT operations include two data centers and a headquarters facility.
The Solution
To distribute the network traffic to both the InfiniStream appliances and the new security tools, the BOE IT group selected the NETSCOUT nGenius 3900 Series Packet Flow Switch (PFS) and NETSCOUT Taps. Budget considerations play a part in introducing new technologies for this public school BOE. Following a thorough evaluation of requirements and capabilities, the IT staff at the BOE identified the benefits and cost advantages that NETSCOUT PFS technology would offer. With the NETSCOUT PFS and TAPs technology offering solutions to both Network Operations and Security teams, the IT organization entered into an internal agreement to jointly fund purchase of the traffic aggregation solution. NETSCOUT and the collective IT team then jointly identified how many links required monitoring, which led to a fully architected PFS traffic solution, including a number of NETSCOUT TAPs.
Operational Impact
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