Avocent DSR Series DSR2010 User manual

The Power of Being There®
Case Study
Symcor banks on Avocent for IT success
“I knew our new Avocent
solution would save us time and
money and deliver a return on
investment. I just never thought
it would happen this fast!”
Misana Bannister
Intermediate Technical
Systems Analyst
Symcor Inc.
Symcor Inc. is a leading North American provider of business process outsourcing services
for the financial services industry – providing excellence in cheque processing, payment
processing, statement production and document management services. With offices located
in Canada and the U.S., and approximately 5,000 employees, Symcor provides essential
support for North America’s largest banking and financial institutions.
IT department needs new technology deposit
As an essential service to major financial institutions, it is important that Symcor maintain
efficient management of their data centres. Symcor’s 10-member IT staff watch over 450
servers operating a mix of platforms from PC to Sun to UNIX and beyond, located in two
separate sites in the Greater Toronto Area and a new site in Montreal, Quebec. It’s easy
to imagine how serious the situation becomes when a problem arises or a critical server
goes down, hundreds of miles away.
Symcor relied on Avocent AutoView®KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse) switching systems for
local access and control of some servers. While this older technology served its purpose,
Symcor required new technology. Technology that could effectively provide their IT
department with rapid, remote access and control of their servers – especially in their new
Montreal location.
“Once we were commissioning our new Montreal location, we knew that we would have
to upgrade to a more advanced KVM over IP switching solution,” said Misana Bannister,
a Symcor intermediate technical systems analyst. “One that would make more efficient use
of our manpower resources, save us time and money associated with travel, and ultimately
reduce the ‘cable clutter jungle’ strangling our server rooms.”
Symcor invests in Avocent
Since Symcor had previous proven success with Avocent products, it was hard to persuade
management to look at any other vendor for the new technology. Especially since Avocent
KVM over IP technology is the market leader in providing products designed to address
server access and control issues.
“Initially we did investigate other products to some degree, but since we were pleased with
the performance of our previous Avocent products, we knew that upgrading to Avocent

digital solutions was our obvious choice,”
Bannister explained.
Symcor ultimately chose the Avocent
DSR1010 KVM over IP switching system.
Fully complete with click and connect
DSView®management software, the DSR®
Series is considered a premier KVM over IP
solution for enterprise installations.
It provides powerful server and serial device
management from anywhere, CAT 5 cable
management, centralized authentication
and administration, and unlimited user and
server scalability.
In addition, with DSView software, users
have easy access and control of all their
servers; anytime, anywhere. This gives
Symcor IT personnel the power to view and
manage all connected data centre devices
on one screen – regardless of whether the
devices are a mix of multi-platform servers,
routers and power devices – or located in
offices hundreds of miles away.
Checks and balances provide
total control
While implementation of the new Avocent
solution went smoothly, it was the realization
of immediate benefits that caused the most
stir at Symcor. “The ability to remotely
access an important server is invaluable.
We now have the ability to enjoy boot level
control and get down to the BIOS level. So,
if a server goes down, we can immediately
access it, reboot and correct the situation –
something no other similar competitive
product provides,” said Bannister.
Security and flexibility are other beneficial
results. The ability to lock out physical
console access is a key security feature.
The new Avocent solution enabled the
Symcor IT department to benefit from the
ability to delegate authority and allow
remote access to specific users, something
they were not able to do in the past.
"Plus, we now have a tremendous amount of
flexibility. Previously, all the servers were
jumbled together. Now we can instantly
specify that the UNIX users have access to
just the UNIX systems and so on.
“One look at our new server rooms and
it’s easy to see that we no longer have to
‘machete’ our way into the cable jungle.
The Avocent DSR solutions with its CAT 5
cabling system has significantly reduced our
cable clutter and made it safer to travel into
the rooms,” added a smiling Bannister.
Symcor credits Avocent for IT success
While the Symcor IT department is thoroughly
pleased with the new Avocent solution, it is
Symcor’s financial executives who have a
major reason to celebrate – Symcor’s ROI is
instantly materializing.
“Now that we don’t have to physically be at a
server site, we are saving an immense amount
of travel time and downtime and are able to
react and respond to situations quickly. This
has enabled us to enjoy a significant and visible
improvement on how our resources – especially
manpower – are utilized. We have definitely
met our IT objectives,” said Bannister.
Also, since it is simple to “daisy chain” devices
with the Avocent KVM over IP technology,
Symcor will be able to easily expand their
IT department in the future. Something that
Bannister sees as inevitable. “We eventually
will have a 100 percent KVM over IP
environment, further increased savings and
a very happy chief financial officer!”
About Avocent
Avocent is the leading worldwide supplier of
KVM switching and connectivity solutions
that provide IT managers with access and
control of multiple servers and network data
centre devices. Branded products include
switching, extension, intelligent platform
management interface (IPMI), wireless,
mobile, and video display solutions. Avocent
solutions are distributed by the world’s
largest server manufacturers and installed
in Fortune 100 companies around the world.
Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama,
Avocent has sales, operations and R&D
centres worldwide. Visit www.avocent.ca for
more information about Avocent products.
Avocent Canada
Toll-free Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Avocent, the Avocent logo, The Power of Being There, DSView
and DSR are registered trademarks of Avocent Corporation.
All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
Copyright © 2005. Avocent Corporation.
1005-NH-CS
20 Mural Street, Unit 5
Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 1K3 Canada
Toll Free Tel: [phone]
Web Site: www.avocent.ca
Avocent DSR switching solutions offer a flexible,
scalable design that works with existing network
infrastructures.