Gas company KVM install benefits control room

A major European gas transit operator has chosen Matrox Extio 3 KVM extenders for new dispatching and monitoring systems. The Extio 3 IP KVM extenders allow Belgium-based Fluxys to centralise noise and heat-emitting computers to a secure data centre and improve dispatcher productivity.

In Belgium, Fluxys is responsible for the operation and maintenance of high-pressure pipelines, a gas storage site, and a liquefied natural gas terminal in the port of Zeebrugge. Each day, dispatchers at Fluxys oversee 4,000 kilometres of high-pressure gas pipelines. To provide the best work environment for their dispatchers, Fluxys decided to renew the front end of its dispatching system entirely.

Swift decision
Fluxys’ control room featured a less than optimal workspace. Most computer systems were placed in the control room, next to each dispatcher’s desk, producing a lot of heat and noise and cluttering their workspace. Fluxys wanted to revamp the control room and shift all the computer systems into the data centre. This is where they took an opportunity to explore the latest KVM extender offerings as well.

“Having had great experiences with the Matrox Extio 2 Series KVM extenders, our decision to select the Matrox Extio 3 Series IP KVM extenders was an easy one,” said Tim Deleeuw, project manager at Fluxys. “Extio 3 Series features the familiar industry-leading KVM extension performance, feature set, and reliability that we were looking for, while offering support for the latest Windows operating system. The transition was seamless.”

Centralisation of assets
All the computers that were once found at each dispatcher desk have now been moved one floor below the control room, at distances of between 50 to 100 metres (164 to 328 feet), to a secure and heat-and-noise-controlled data centre. Each computer is connected to an Extio 3 N3408 transmitter, and all signals are extended over a single fibre optic cable to the dispatcher’s desk where a quiet and compact Extio 3 N3408 receiver appliance powers the keyboard, mouse, and four DisplayPort screens. Fluxys is in a good position to transition smoothly from its current point-to-point to a networked configuration in the near future, as Extio 3 readily supports both types of configurations.

New delocalised set-up
At the company headquarters in Brussels, all six dispatcher desktops are each now equipped with two Extio 3 N3408 receiver units to support eight screens displaying data from three types of systems. For making nominations to clients who buy natural gas or liquefied natural gas from Fluxys or store them, the dispatchers use a gas flow application called GSmart. The second system in use is a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) application portraying the realtime gas flow environment of high-pressure pipelines. The third is ASTRID, a system that manages the voice and data communication network for all emergency and security services in Belgium. Extio 3 flawlessly extends all signals and provides seamless remote desktop to the dispatchers for these time-critical applications.

High availability of systems is also important for Fluxys’ dispatching operations. To this end, Fluxys has set up a back-up centre. In this location, the dispatcher clients and Extio 3 units are deployed in an exact replica of the set-up at the Fluxys headquarters. Should something happen to the primary systems, this disaster recovery set-up allows the dispatchers to shift to the back-up centre and resume operations.

Transmitted benefits
The impact and advantages of deploying Extio 3 are manifold—to the company as a whole, the dispatchers, and the IT staff as well. “The Extio 3 IP KVM extender standalone appliances were straightforward to install and proved their stability,” says Tim Deleeuw. “Our IT staff are pleased with the final, delocalised setup, while dispatchers enjoy a decluttered, streamlined workspace with increased comfort, ergonomics, and productivity.”