The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) is Canada's largest convention and trade show facility. Since its opening in
EXTREME NETWORKS CASE STUDY: METRO TORONTO CONVENTION CENTRE
Canada’s Largest Convention Centre Deploys Extreme Networks Wireless to Provide Differentiated WLAN Service
About Metro Toronto Convention Centre At a Glance MTCC STATS • Canada’s largest convention centre • Over 600,000 square feet
CHALLENGES • Support attendees’ wireless devices • Provide stable, high-performing bandwidth to exhibitors and event managers • Provide different service levels to the variety of events taking place across the facility
PRODUCTS UTILIZED • Extreme Networks OneFabric Edge Solutions • Extreme Networks Wireless Access Points • Extreme Networks Wireless Advanced Services • Extreme Networks Wireless Controllers • Extreme Networks OneFabric Control Center
RESULTS • Faster, more reliable network • Visibility and control over every asset on the network • Ability to parcel out wireless bandwidth to different groups (i.e. exhibitors and attendees) within the same physical space
The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) is Canada’s largest convention and trade show facility. Since its opening in 1984, the MTCC has hosted approximately 15,000 events and entertained more than 40 million guests. With a facility spanning over 600,000 square feet, MTCC plays host to some of the world’s most prestigious and technologically demanding events.
Business Challenge: Support Attendees’ Wireless Devices Each day presents unique challenges to MTCC’s Technology Services team as trade shows, meetings and conferences—and corresponding networking needs—change on a daily basis. Additionally, with the high number of people entering MTCC on a daily basis, the convention centre needs to support the proliferation of new devices connecting to the network. Armed with smart phones, tablets and notebooks, visitors walking through the doors at the MTCC expect their device to work seamlessly on the convention centre’s network. “To provide the best experience for MTCC visitors means ensuring a stable, fast wireless network. However, the wireless demands vary for different conferences, meetings and exhibitors. Added to an already complex networking environment is the fact that attendees are not evenly distributed through the convention centre at any point in time,” said Bill McDonald, MTCC’s director of technology services. “The ability to manage the network load with all of these variants is our single biggest challenge.” MTCC’s previous system was installed six years ago, and while it was successful, wasn’t capable of providing the growing, necessary management capabilities for a convention facility. “One of the reasons we decided to upgrade is we needed a solution that was capable of supporting our future wireless needs,” said McDonald. “We can only assume that the wireless demands of our visitors and exhibitors will continue to escalate and we need to be prepared by installing access points with robust management capabilities.”
Business Challenge: Meeting Exhibitors’ Wireless Demands Today’s conferences are increasingly dependent on the wireless infrastructure. To meet the demands of MTCC’s event managers and exhibitors, and maintain its stellar reputation as a premier convention centre, MTCC’s Technology Services team needed wireless services that could provide stable, high-performing bandwidth across the entire facility.
Metro Toronto Convention Centre – Case Study
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MTCC needs to meet the different needs of event planners, exhibitors and show attendees. For example, when a vendor has a booth at a show they will want Internet access to demonstrate their capabilities. A show visitor has a completely different set of needs such as web surfing and email access. The flexibility and granularity of Extreme Networks delivers the applications that each unique user requires in a secure manner without impacting the other users. “Very seldom do we have only one event at a time that we need to support. We frequently have about five different shows that we have to service at one time,” said McDonald. “To successfully provide wireless access to MTCC’s various conferences, meetings, public shows, and trade shows, we needed a wireless solution that could parcel out wireless bandwidth to different groups within the same physical space.”
Solution: Extreme Networks OneFabric Edge When Bill and his team began evaluating different wireless solutions, the most important criteria in their selection process was flexibility
After a thorough competitive bidding process, MTCC selected Extreme Networks and partner Secure Links to support the complex wireless demands of MTCC’s exhibitors and attendees. Extreme Networks OneFabric Edge provides visibility and control over every asset on the network and allows the IT team to provision, manage and secure mobile devices. The intelligent, distributed access points handle complex, timesensitive functions such as QoS, encryption, policy enforcement, rate limiting, and dynamic channel selection at the entry-point in the network. Meanwhile global functions like configuration management, user and application monitoring, and reporting are centralized at the wireless controller or Extreme Networks for greater scalability. Furthermore, the innovative Extreme Networks Wireless solutions-oriented architecture is able to determine how to forward traffic for the highest performance and reliability for each application.
Results: Faster Speeds, Better Manageability
and management. To effectively manage the wireless demands of
Since deploying the Extreme Networks OneFabric architecture,
the various groups and attendees entering MTCC required wireless
the technical team has enjoyed improved speed and manageability.
access points that could define different service levels to the variety of events taking place across the facility.
“This is a leaps and bounds improvement. The speeds are phenomenal and not only do we have better coverage, but it
Determining which wireless LAN solution was capable of these
is very stable and easy to manage,” said McDonald. “We are
expectations involved the following evaluation criteria:
extremely happy with the overall performance.”
• Flexible Deployment Options – the ability to bridge at the access point or tunnel to the controller.
Additionally, MTCC event planners, exhibitors and attendees have benefitted from the increased speed and functionalities of the facilities’ wireless services.
• Diverse Device Support – 802.11 a/b/g/n support ensures the diverse customer base of MTCC is fully supported no matter what type of mobile device they use. • Capability to offer multiple virtual networks – the convention center typically hosts many shows on a given day. The virtual aspect of the solution allows MTCC to deploy services where they are required without impacting services in another area. • Highest Performance – 3x3 Access Points offer higher performance with greater assurance that all users will receive maximum bandwidth.
“Recently we successfully ran one of the most involved networking shows we’ve ever taken on. The IT team for the show was very impressed with our services, and our wireless system in particular, as it is a critical component to their show’s success,” said McDonald. “We wouldn’t have been able to provide such a high level of wireless support for this show had it not been for the Extreme Networks wireless infrastructure.” As providing a stable networking infrastructure is critical to ensuring successful events, MTCC views Extreme Networks as an important business partner in developing a better, faster, more secure network.
• Load balancing/band steering capabilities – load balancing allows equal distribution of users amongst radio resources. This ensures a fair distribution of users across APs in a given area. While improving performance and service, it also ensures that MTCC is making best use of the network (i.e., all radios are being used). The band steering moves higher performing 11n clients to the 5 GHz spectrum so users can enjoy full 802.11n (300Mbps) data rates.
“Extreme Networks offers great support and we appreciate the fact that they are committed to continually improving their products and services,” said McDonald. “We are in a profession that must meet the demands of a shifting marketplace and we are confident Extreme Networks can help us successfully navigate what’s to come.”
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Metro Toronto Convention Centre – Case Study
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