Province of North Brabant

Demographic information

 

Located in the south of the Netherlands, the province of North Brabant is the third largest province
in the country, covering approximately 5,100 square kilometers with nearly 2.5 million inhabitants. The Provincial Council, the Provincial Executive, and the King’s Commissioner are seated at the provincial government building in the capital of North Brabant, ’s-Hertogenbosch. The provincial government building consists of a building with a basement, two floors, and an office tower, which, at 24 floors and 103.5 meters in height, is the tallest building in the city. Because the constant growth of data storage, security, speed, and continuity was already overloading the existing infrastructure of the provincial government building, construction of a completely new data center began in the basement of the building in early 2014. To facilitate a phased migration to the new data center and to prevent any disruption to the province’s primary processes, various additional backbone connections were installed.

 

High-quality installation

 

The new data center had to be one thing above all: future-proof. To achieve this, the bar was set high regarding the requirements for the new backbone infrastructure. The provincial government building not only wanted to enable speeds of 10 Gbit/s but also wanted to be equipped for even higher speeds. To integrate old and new systems with copper connections, there was also a desire to implement copper connections in the data center parallel to the modern fiber optic connections. Furthermore, the cabling had to be simple, clear, and structured without crossings. The specified deadline was also demanding, as the installation in the data center and the backbone infrastructure of both buildings had to be completed within six weeks. During the tender process, creativity and a solution-oriented approach were of great importance. To achieve this, HTC International B.V. utilized proven high-quality products and special custom solutions from Datwyler.

 

Reserves for future expansions

 

One of the proven cabling systems is the “Datwyler Data Centre Solution.” This high-speed fiber optic solution has already been installed in several large data centers. The components consist of factory-assembled modules, MPO cassettes, and MPO cables pre-cut to length by the manufacturer. “This system is simple and quick to install, which is a very important aspect in a data center,” notes Fons Schute, the responsible project advisor at HTC International. “Additionally, the quality of the connections is truly excellent.”

In the data center, more than 100 MPO cables with the required MPO cassettes of type 2xMTP with 6xLCQ were installed in approximately 60 special 1U panels from Datwyler. Since each panel can hold three MPO cassettes, there are enough slots remaining for future expansions. At the rear, the MPO cassettes are interconnected via FO-DCS Mini-Breakout MTP-MTP cables, each containing 48 OM3 fibers and delivered with pre-mounted
MTP connectors at both ends.

 

Time- and cost-saving “blown fiber” solution

 

For the modernization of the backbone infrastructure—the fiber optic backbone of the provincial government building—HTC implemented a specialized solution. HTC International is a certified partner of Datwyler and developed the solution in collaboration with the manufacturer. A total of more than 12 kilometers of mini-cable was blown into a special fire-safe duct system. The cable is a 12-fiber OM4 multimode fiber optic cable of the S-Micro type, only 2.6 mm thick. Additionally, 500 meters of 24-fiber OS2 mini-cable was required for provider connectivity. This combination solution greatly facilitated the installation, which would otherwise have been extremely time-consuming, especially in the tower. On the floors, the mini-cables are terminated in 60 pull-out splice boxes of the OV-A type. Datwyler delivered these mostly pre-assembled with 24 LCD adapters (multimode), some also with 6 SCD adapters (singlemode), and with pigtails. A proportional number of patch panels ensures the installation remains exceptionally organized on the floors as well.

Parallel to all fiber connections in the data center backbone, approximately 1,000 copper connections were also implemented. 80 percent of the 24-port panels are filled with RJ45 modules of the KS-T Plus 1/8 type, which meet all Category 6A requirements. Combined with durable shielded data cables, of which HTC International installed approximately 12 kilometers, the provincial government building can also achieve speeds of up to 10 Gbit/s via the copper network. The old copper cabling in the backbone is now only used for traditional telephone traffic. During the installation, fiber optic connections between the old and new data centers ensured that data and applications could be used without disruption. Thanks to these connections, there were no interruptions to primary processes during the relocation.

 

On schedule in every respect

 

HTC was able to hand over the installation to the client on time at the end of April 2014. “We are very satisfied with the new data center, which meets all requirements,” said Martin Kuijl, team leader/project leader for the province. In the meantime, the provincial government building has also integrated several security applications and building automation into the network. “Everything functions perfectly.” HTC International is very positive about the collaboration with Datwyler: “The cooperation went very well in every respect,” said Fons Schute. “That starts with the competent support in product selection, followed by timely deliveries—including the pre-assembled cables of various lengths—some even faster than expected. With the tight schedule, it was very important that deliveries were on time. The products were all of high quality and without defects. And not insignificantly, the price was right too. What more could one want?”

More information about HTC International and the North Brabant Provincial Government Building project can be found on our website www.htcinternational.nl. For the PDF version of this article, click here. If you are interested in the global Datwyler publication in which this article was published, click here. For the issue in the Energy & Infra edition, click here.