NETWORK ELECTRONICS/VPG demonstrates DataMiner NMS integration at IBC 2008

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep 10, 2008 -
Network Electronics, the industry leader in optical transport, video over IP, video over SONET/SDH, routing and signal processing solutions for reliable video transport, has integrated the awarded and widely deployed Skyline Communications DataMiner multi-vendor NMS (Network Management System) with its market-leading Flashlink, VikinX and Ventura product ranges, enabling customers to monitor and control all its video transport solutions from a single consolidated user interface. The integration, which will be demonstrated on booth 8.B70 throughout IBC 2008, will reduce the time needed for broadcasters and telcos to discover and resolve problems in their networks.

DataMiner NMS is a comprehensive multi-vendor network management solution based on an open platform to support integration of third-party products. The Skyline solution has a proven track record within the broadcasting and telco industries. The extensive feature set provided by Network Electronics’ advanced management systems, GYDA control system and AEMS (Advanced Element Monitoring System) can now be accessed from the DataMiner NMS.

This integration enables Network Electronics’ customers to deploy an ‘umbrella’ network monitoring approach and provides broadcasters, telcos and other video transporters with a simplified consolidated overview of their entire network activities through DataMiner. This approach means that customers can use the advanced router, optical transport and signal processing control and management systems developed by Network Electronics while using DataMiner to obtain an overview of the whole system end-to-end, resulting in a best-of-breed solution for video transport and network management.

The cooperation between Network Electronics / VPG and Skyline Communications provides broadcasters and telcos with an integrated management solution that provides a state-of-the-art and highly intuitive user experience, resulting in lower total cost of ownership. As part of the integration with DataMiner NMS, the two companies are working to develop protocol drivers, alarm templates, trending templates, visual overviews and documentation for the Flashlink, VikinX and Ventura product ranges. This will guarantee minimum implementation times for customers making use of the combined capabilities.

“Video quality and availability is an important differentiator for service providers and the efficient and cost-effective transport of highest quality video, whether for contribution or distribution applications, requires good insight into network performance and fast responses when problems do arise,” comments Jan I. Helgesen, Product Manager for Network Management Systems, Network Electronics / VPG. “The integration of Network Electronics video transport control solutions with Skyline’s DataMiner multi-vendor NMS provides broadcasters and telcos with a single point for system overview, making it easier than ever to maintain service quality levels in mission-critical video transport environments.”

“DataMiner enables advanced management of video services and simplifies user control,” adds Ben Vandenberghe, Sales & Marketing Director of Skyline Communications. “Our philosophy has always been to provide an open platform so network operators have the freedom to create best-of-breed solutions. We are delighted to extend our existing relationship with Network Electronics to enable customers to have an increased choice how they manage state-of-the-art systems that include Network Electronics’ popular range of video transport solutions. Also noteworthy is the fact that aside from the traditional device perspective, DataMiner will offer these customers also a comprehensive service perspective, and on top of that it even enables professional real-time monitoring of the service level agreements (SLAs) associated with those services.”

Network Electronics provides a comprehensive portfolio of video transport solutions. The Ventura range of modular signal transport solutions covers SONET/SDH and IP network interfaces and multiplexers, JPEG 2000 and MPEG-2 encoders and decoders, optical multiplexing, CWDM and DWDM, and multi-format metropolitan transport. Flashlink has gained a high reputation for power and reliability and has become the industry leader for signal processing and optical distribution. This product range includes optical multiplexing, CWDM and DWDM, time division multiplexing and signal processing and distribution. The VikinX Sublime range of routers represents a new era in small and medium sized routing and provides Ethernet control, 3Gbps single link support for 1080p HDTV and ultra low power consumption.

DataMiner is a powerful open architecture multi-vendor network management solution designed for advanced management of earth stations, headends, backbones, datacenters, HFC networks, digital television platforms, satellite uplinks & downlinks, etc. It offers unlimited client web access, such that the monitoring environment can be accessed from any location with a standard PC, and is currently widely deployed across the globe by industry leading operators for the end-to-end management of their technology infrastructure.

The intuitive graphical interfaces of DataMiner provide comprehensive features for real-time monitoring and control, trend analysis, alarm management, notification, automation, correlation, reporting, etc. DataMiner also features a powerful graphical user interface to dynamically present the system in rack diagrams, floor plans, schematics, etc. with drawings based on standard Microsoft® Visio® drawings.