Case Studies

Collaboration in Network Restructuring

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The Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (Combat Stress) manages a caseload of some 7,000 ex-Service men and women of all ranks of the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Army, Royal Marines, Merchant Navy and other allied services suffering from psychological disability as a result of their service.

Business Profile
Ex-Services Mental Welfare Society (Combat Stress)
Formed in 1919, Combat Stress is a mental health and welfare service charity, which has provided vital mental healthcare to more than 85,000 veterans.

The organisation’s infrastructure consists of three key sites in Surrey, Shropshire and Ayrshire, a small office-based team in Northern Ireland and a team of home-based Regional Welfare Offices providing community welfare support across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Network Infrastructure Design Summary
Network Interlinks and Combat Stress collaborated to design a new Wide Area Network:

Core Requirements – Implementation of Wide Area Network Infrastructure
Prior to the system-wide restructure, Combat Stress was operating three independent Local Area Networks and a workgroup environment for the small office based in Northern Ireland. Home-based users were operating independently from the organisation’s core infrastructure. The first stage was to incorporate a Wide Area Network to provide access to a new bespoke SQL database intended to replace multiple Access databases, enable centralised control of e-mail through Exchange and improve Internet facilities. Core to the overall project was the need to simplify IT management, improve security, reliability and resilience.

Combat Stress engaged Network Interlinks, who had installed a successful pilot, to assist in designing a suitable network infrastructure. This process involved a number of meetings with Network Interlinks, Combat Stress and the SQL database developer to design an environment suitable for meeting the current IT demands but also to provide for future developments. The project was complicated by the unavailability of Broadband and ADSL in remote locations. These important considerations had to be taken into account:

• Performance and resilience for operating the new SQL database, which had integral links to other Microsoft applications including Word, Excel and Outlook
• Ease of management for deploying further updates to the new SQL database
• Total cost of ownership of implementing the wide area network
• Additional hardware and connectivity requirements, which had implications beyond the database development

The resulting system comprised a new SQL server, an Exchange server and two load-balanced Citrix Servers installed at the Headquarters. Due to their high service level and low failure rate, BT IP-Clear circuits were chosen to connect each site to headquarters, and for maximum resilience they were backed up by ISDN point to point circuits. Remote users were provided with a VPN connection to headquarters’ systems. Users at all sites were migrated from existing dial-up connections for e-mail to the new Exchange system implemented. The improved Internet facilities and new database called Combat Stress Patient Administration (CSPA) system were provided through the Citrix client.

Our solution addressed all of the Society’s requirements, providing robust and fast distributed access to the new CSPA database and associated applications.

Since the initial redesign of the network infrastructure, Network Interlinks have continued to work in partnership with Combat Stress, and have recently implemented further Internet Security in conjunction with Network Box. This has enabled Combat Stress to introduce Win Terminal devices in order to provide patients (and staff) with controlled Internet access, reduced spam and virus detection and prevention provided at gateway level.

Haste Office Relocation and Terminal Services Solution

Business Profile
Haste Ltd provides both Contract Electrical Work and Appliance Repair Services. They work with most of the Electricity boards across the UK. Haste have offices in Hampshire and Leicestershire.

Core Requirements
In 2004 Haste needed to relocate their Hampshire office to larger purpose built premises, and wanted to take the opportunity to implement a more scaleable network infrastructure with improved network management capability. They specifically wanted to have greater control on workstation usage and provide access to a number of remote users.

Network Interlinks were able to provide the necessary resources to relocate the IT systems to the new premises, ensuring that internet access and e-mail services remained uninterrupted.

In conjunction with the re-location project Network Interlinks designed, supplied and configured a Thin Client solution based on Microsoft Terminal Services. With many of the workstations needing to be replaced or upgraded, we were able to substitute many for Thin Client Terminals; retaining PCs for a small number of users with specific applications requiring them. Mobile user VPN links were established for remote users and a Branch Office VPN was created to the Leicestershire office.

The Result
The resulting system has allowed nearly every desktop client to be managed centrally, ensuring that there is consistency of application availability and versions for all users. It also allows greater flexibility for users to access their own desktop from multiple locations without the need for more complex roaming profiles to be configured. Remote users and those situated at the Leicestershire office can now have fast access to unified, centrally located information eliminating the problems of disparate databases.

Fulton Umbrellas - Server and Network Upgrade

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Business Profile
Fulton Umbrellas is the UK’s largest umbrella supplier, based in Canary Wharf, and provides department stores and large chains with technically advanced and fashionable products.

Core Requirements
The IT systems were highly dependent on an aging single server and with an increasing dependency on IT to support the day to day business processes there was a need to implement a more resilient system. Other issues which needed to be addressed were that of unreliable e-mail, poor network performance and insufficient backup capacity.

The project was not particularly complicated in terms of design, but the replacement or upgrade of almost all of the back office systems required careful planning to avoid any disruption to the business. During the project the following was completed.

• Supply and Installation of new Server Cabinet
• Network Cabling between server cabinet and existing comms cabinet
• Additional cabling to eliminate the need for mini Hubs
• Installation of Application server and e-mail server
• Active Directory design and configuration
• New Backup system installed
• ADSL Circuit provisioning
• Management of ISP services migration
• Re-installation of all required server applications
• Migration of data from old server
• Centralisation of all existing e-mail from PCs to Exchange
• Configuration of VPN for remote access
• Upgrade or replacement of older workstations
• Migration of client applications to common version