WHITE PAPER. Cutting Satellite Costs: A Key to Efficiently Operating a Remote Business

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1 WHITE PAPER Cutting Satellite Costs: A Key to Efficiently Operating a Remote Business Satellite networks used by companies in extremely remote locations provide a unique opportunity for linking globally distributed operational sites with the corporate headquarters. But limited and expensive bandwidth, latency and intermittent availability make satellite a highly restrictive and costly choice. We live in the day and age of bandwidth-intense applications and devices, with the high price of satellite bandwidth and the lack of available capacity restricting our access to the latest information and operational data. Therefore, the challenge for companies who heavily rely on remote operations (such as energy, mining or utilities) is how to manage inherent bandwidth limitations within a given satellite link under tightening IT budgets. New satellite network advances and bandwidth management tools address this issue by allowing companies to choose the network design components consistent with their business objectives, and to apply bandwidth management tools that effectively control delivery of their traffic. C O N N E C T I N G Y O U I S W H A T Member of the SpeedCast Group W E D O R Pty Ltd Level 1, 12 Lord Street Botany Phone: Website:

2 Obstacles to Efficient Satellite Communications Solutions There are three primary challenges associated with delivering satellite communication services efficiencies to remote locations: high bandwidth costs; supporting welfare applications and devices; and maintaining industry-specific application performance. High Bandwidth Costs The advent of bandwidth-intensive applications, cloud storage and smart devices has put a significant strain on satellite bandwidth availability in remotely-managed industries. IT Managers are under pressure to reduce operational expenditure (OPEX) and improve profitability; they are looking for technologies that will allow them to fund more innovation without buying more bandwidth. Fortunately, new tools are emerging that allow users to squeeze the most from available bandwidth and support the increasing amount of traffic passing through today s corporate WANs. Managing Welfare Applications The market for mobile devices is booming and has hit the mainstream. Gartner predicts the usage of user-owned (mobile) devices will reach 46% by 2016 and 63% by For the remote industries, where workers entirely rely on ICT to keep in contact with their families, these numbers would be even higher. The BYOD era created a lot of benefits for both management and remote work force such as offloading the management of non-strategic devices from IT and increased employee satisfaction. However, it also has implications for bandwidth availability and consequently, operational costs. Imagine the strain on available bandwidth when each worker is operating two or more wireless devices simultaneously. It is essential to have policies in place, guiding what, when and how many devices are being used. Another consideration for managing worker welfare is recreational applications usage. Gone are the days when basic phone calls and limited access were the key means of communication. Applications such as Skype, File Sharing and Messenger services have become a basic need, rather than a luxury at remote sites. The real challenge comes in supporting these welfare-essential applications without compromising corporate communications. Fortunately, this can be addressed by the correct network design and QoS tools. Enhancing industry-specific application performance It can be a demanding task to achieve a balance between corporate and welfare traffic whilst sustaining bandwidth costs. Access to industry-critical information can have a critical impact on remote operations and those located in remote areas with only limited connectivity. Businesses must be supported by tightly integrated information systems that ensure uninterrupted, real-time access to operational and management data. Failure to provide reliable and readily-available connectivity will result in workers becoming limited by the performance and availability of enterprise applications as the sheer volume of application data consumes the available traffic. Consequently, an entire operation may be jeopardized. By leveraging bandwidth-efficient technologies, satellite throughput can significantly increase, leaving more bandwidth capacity without having to add extra bandwidth. 2 Cutting Satellite Costs

3 Addressing the Challenges To overcome the issues of costly bandwidth and maximizing application performance, IT managers need to take a look at their network design and goals and employ bandwidth management tools, which will make bandwidth usage more efficient and ease reaching those goals. It is natural to focus on the upfront investment costs (CAPEX) when starting a remote communications project. However, real return on investment comes from efficient bandwidth allocation (OPEX) to reduce operating costs of leased capacity. Consequently, it is important to consider a number of factors when designing a network such as project length, satellite link size, logistics and location and resources availability. Case Studies below illustrate two completely different, but equally efficient network scenarios. Important Considerations Capex vs Opex vs Contract Length Logistics & Location Service Type Hardware Case Study 1: Australian Government $100k + $28k p/ month 3 year contract term Sea freight delivery to Honiara Metro 6Mbps x 3Mbps SCPC Link 4.5m Antenna 40W BUC Case Study 2: Oil Exploration $30k + $40k p/month 6 month contract term Helicopter delivery within remote location 6Mbps x 2Mbps SCPC Link 2.4m Antenna 40W BUC In any business environment downtime represents a loss of revenue. In the resources and energy industries, where daily operational costs can reach $258,000*, every hour of downtime is extremely costly. Furthermore, IT needs to avoid networkinduced latency which is added on top of the inherent nature of geostationary satellite latency all of which factor into the ability to reliably and efficiently deliver mission-critical traffic. Once the network has been designed in accordance with operational objectives, IT needs to concentrate on optimising the satellite link to ensure they get the maximum out of bandwidth expenses. Some of the bandwidth management tools and techniques include: Caching solution stores all video, software downloads and other internet content on the network edge, eliminating when they are repeatedly downloaded across the satellite link. These data objects can then be delivered to end users on subsequent requests over the local network, eliminating the need to download them over the WAN again. * Source: How do you Estimate Costs in the Mining Industry? By Shahriar Shafiee, May 15, Cutting Satellite Costs

4 0.7Mbps 0.6Mbps 0.5Mbps 0.4Mbps 0.3Mbps Voice Corporate Applications Recreational Applications Application Filtering shapes bandwidth utilization so that capacity requirements for application delivery are always met. Just as for a welfare network, QoS rules can be applied to prioritize critical traffic such as voice and industry-specific software over recreational. Figure 1 represents a typical application control scenario for a mining firm, where voice takes the highest priority, followed by corporate applications during the day and recreational over nigh time. WAN Acceleration appliances overcome the limitations of satellite links by using compression and data deduplication techniques as well as minimizing the latency effects by speeding up transport and application protocols. To be successful with WAN Acceleration, IT managers must identify the primary categories of traffic that transit their WAN and how various acceleration techniques can be implemented on the performance of various types of applications. In order to increase WAN capacity and consequently application performance, the acceleration technology uses a memory-based dictionary to detect and eliminate repeated data patterns (also known as data or byte deduplication). Unlike File Caching, data deduplication can be implemented across any IP-based application. Therefore, even if 5% of a file has been changed, WAN acceleration technology will detect the remaining 95% that were repeated and eliminate them. 0.2Mbps 0.1Mbps 8am 10 12pm am Figure 1: Application control scenario for a mining firm Figure 2: Acceleration effects on WAN traffic To speed transmissions across a broad range of business applications, WAN acceleration technology needs to overcome the problem of network induced latency by distinguishing between various categorise of traffic (such as bulk TCP applications, real-time traffic and dynamic data) and apply an appropriate acceleration technique. The most practical approach is to adopt a hybrid of all three solutions. Entire content can be automatically reduced by removing the non-essential data and other inefficiencies caused by the web. Applications such as YouTube and Web Browsing can be cached to eliminate the need to download the same fragment of data twice. Application filtering can be applied to give high priority to the industry-specific applications and limit the recreational traffic. Finally, accelerating the entire network will result in higher throughput for the bandwidth-intensive applications. 4 Cutting Satellite Costs

5 BYOD Trends & Predictions by Gartner Over 60% of employees report using a personal device at work By 2015, emphasis will shift toward cost-reduction through mandatory BYO programs Enterprise Shift to Mobile & Laptop Use 8% Today Desktops + Mobile Tablet Installed Base % 46% Mobile Only Windows Android ios 9% 27% 63% Worker Welfare Increasingly, bandwidth-intensive applications such as Peerto-Peer, Video Calls and VPN access are becoming common requirements for a worker welfare communication while excellent voice services can no longer be confined to the office. One way of managing the welfare bandwidth consumption is to control the rise of BYOD trend and application usage. The best way to address the BYOD growth is implement a combination of policies, software and infrastructure controls. It is essential that IT specify: Which platforms and devices are supported How many devices may be used simultaneously What service level a user should expect What the users own responsibilities and risks are Who qualifies, and How the allocated bandwidth is distributed (authorized log-ins vs prepaid options). Application and time-based application filtering (QoS) will classify and prioritize network applications based on the objectives to guarantee bandwidth to the high-priority applications. The concept of time-based application (illustrated below) is widely used in a shift work environment. For example, during the day, the bulk of bandwidth will be assigned to the corporate traffic, while over night time bandwidth allocation will shift to recreational applications such as YouTube and Skype. Furthermore, individual applications can be clustered further according to their order of importance. Tactics to Gain Control Segment users, define multiple management regimes. One size of management won t fit everyone Regularly publish minimum specifications. What does an employee need this year? Work with the users - define SLAs, policies, expectations. Some employees may be happy with the status quo Explore new technological solutions. E.g. HVD, sandboxed , DRM, multiplatform MDM- Lite... Revisit application architectures & tools. Thinner = lower cost and more device neutral Source: Gartner: Bring Your Own Device Program. Author: David Willis Chief of Research, Mobility and Communications May 2, 2013 Top 3 Protocols 0.7Mbps 0.6Mbps 0.5Mbps 0.4Mbps 0.3Mbps 0.2Mbps 0.1Mbps 8am Drilling software File Transfer P2P & Skype 10 12pm am am - 6pm Drilling Software File Transfer P2P, Skype, etc Figures 3 & 4: Time-based application filtering illustrated 6pm - 6am P2P, Skype, etc File Transfer Drilling Software 5 Cutting Satellite Costs

6 Balancing the corporate and welfare needs of Macarthur Minerals In April 2012, Pactel International deployed an end-to-end managed satellite service, which would meet both the business needs of Macarthur Minerals and the personal needs of its staff living onsite. Content Distribution enables end-users to access key information cached in their local network that does not require reaching back to the headquarters over a satellite link. Essential content can be automatically distributed at the site with guaranteed LAN speed that originated over the corporate WAN. Coverage penetration can be particularly challenging due to the geographical spread of some accommodation camps. To avoid the risk of having poor and uneven coverage, implementing a wireless network solution with additional access points, security settings and log-in management (a system layout comparable to a multistorey hotel building) could be the way to go. For more information, read the PNG LNG Case Study. Based on one of Pactel s corporate C-Band platforms, the service supports simultaneous, but separated, corporate voice and data applications and recreational traffic. The design of the network allows for direct connectivity to Macarthur Mineral s headquarters in Brisbane while the welfare traffic for miners goes directly to the internet. Miner (smart) devices are supported via wireless coverage distributed throughout the camp and managed using a flexible portal with user login control. Figures 5: Network design, simultaneously supporting corporate and welfare traffic 6 Cutting Satellite Costs

7 Finding the right satellite communications solution Finding a solution to overcome all issues associated with remote operations is not a straight-forward task. Here are a few things to look for: Service Customization & Flexibility. Beware of commercial all in one box packages ; these are frequently price-attractive and a good fit for SOHOs (Small Offices/Home Offices). Instead, seek a multi-vendor, integrated solution which can be tailored to your specific needs by considering all aspects of design, implementation and control of your remote communications. The final solution should adapt as you do, both technically and contractually. Service Provider s Assets & Experience. The ideal service provider should have proven experience with a variety of networks in your industry. They should have a redundant infrastructure, which supports multiple platforms and network architectures and enables high-throughput applications. It is also essential for the service provider to have bandwidth reserved across multiple satellites to optimise availability and provide cost-effectiveness through their purchasing power. Integrated Bandwidth Management Solutions. Avoid the impracticality of deploying multiple devices by seeking a solution that can integrate all bandwidth management capabilities into your network. The ideal solution should allow you to apply hierarchical bandwidth control at both application and user level and provide better overall functionality and consequently efficiency of your bandwidth management tools. Robust Network Monitoring and Control Tools. It is essential for have access to the bandwidth monitoring and control tools which provide real-time visibility and analysis of bandwidth usage; equipment monitoring; and fault reporting across any link or service. 7 Cutting Satellite Costs

8 Addressing Your Network Challenges with Pactel s Turn-key Satellite Network Solutions With the customer-centric design model, works closely with its customers to provide best-of-breed customised remote communications solutions to meet a wide variety of connectivity needs: from linking global operations to quick-deploy solutions for exploration sites through to wireless welfare networks for remote accommodation camps. Whether you need to: Consolidate all satellite resources of your global business Execute on a worker welfare ICT strategy Set up an instant temporary network for your exploration site, or Increase network capacity on a limited budget Our team will work closely with you to design the optimal fit for your budget. Furthermore, we will continue to monitor and optimise your network; analyse and advise on new developments and specific improvements and evolve together with your communications needs. Our Value-Added Service include: See a potential to reduce satellite costs Contact us now at sales@pactelint.com or for your obligation-free network assessment! C O N N E C T I N G Y O U I S W H A T W E D O R WAN Acceleration We employ compression and data de-duplication technology, which compresses and stores a single instance of information across all remote sites and offices. The result is reduced bandwidth usage and accelerated application performance. Application Filtering & QoS Pactel s filtering can be configured to create customer-defined protocol groups as well as different access policies based on user group types. The application filtering service allows our customers to shape and filter their IP traffic to suit specific needs. Utilising our technical capabilities in QoS, and relationships with world renowned suppliers, we guarantee bandwidth to our customers time-critical and real-time applications. Our policy and time-based bandwidth management allows us to assign multiple levels of QoS based on protocol and IP address range. Caching Deployed within the operator s network, Pactel s caching solution accelerates and controls traffic from bandwidth-consuming applications such as YouTube, P2P & File Download. The technology stores all media and web content on the local server, eliminating the need to send the same fragment of information twice. Performance Reporting Pactel s performance monitoring capability represents an online management portal, which allows customers to remotely log-in and monitor their sites on a continuous basis. Using the award winning software, we can provide automatic and on-demand reporting on all aspects of customer networks: WAN Bandwidth Usage: identification of WAN traffic from all users and applications, bandwidth leakages, usage patterns, protocol analysis and throughput. VoIP Performance: latency, packet loss, ASR, CDR, jitter and financial analysis (for carriers). Equipment Monitoring: temperature, RF Levels and CPU Loads. External Interference: sun outages, rain fade or objects which can interfere with the satellite signal. 8 Cutting Satellite Costs NOC Support Pactel operates an Australian-based 24x7 Network Operations Centre (NOC), which provides multi-tier support and centralised management across all sites within our network. All our NOC engineers adhere to specific network support procedures, which allow them to proactively monitor customer network environment and detect possible issues before they occur. Every issue is automatically recorded within our database to ensure rapid response time. Utilising over 30 network performance metrics, including jitter, latency, throughput and equipment status, we ensure all situations that can affect network performance are considered.