Challenge
The PoMC uses sensors placed along the coast and throughout the bay to collect tide data used by commercial shipping for safe navigation in Port Phillip Bay. One aspect of Project Manager, Charles Cornish's job at the PoMC is implementing a new Computerised Under Keel Clearance Management System for the bay. When investigating the new system Charles identified issues with the existing hardware and software affecting the reliability of the data that fed into the system. "We had a legacy system of computers and software which was unreliable, undocumented and difficult to maintain," he explains. "The system had been cobbled together over time, the servers were scattered everywhere, cable management was appalling and the bloke who put it all together had left long ago." Realising the entire system needed to be replaced, PoMC sought assistance from various vendors and chose the one proposed by Brennan. "Brennan's solution was elegant and well thought out and that wasn't the case with the others we saw," Charles explains.
Solution
The solution Brennan proposed was created in consultation with PoMC and as a result of a Business Impact Analysis made of the PoMC systems. According to Brian O'Rourke, Victorian State Manager, the solution is a sophisticated SQL cluster environment comprising two SQL servers and an additional 16 data collecting servers. Data recorded by the sensors is transmitted direct to the system where it is made accessible for commercial shipping needs. Brian explains that central to Brennan's solution was the clustering of the SQL servers to build in redundancy so "PoMC has a highly available system and it can be confident it can give real time data to shipping 24 hours a day".
Benefits
"Reliability is a key issue for PoMC," Charles explains, "the system Brennan put in place is highly reliable and offers a large amount of redundancy ". "It has been designed to run without a lot of human intervention - if one server falls over you can get the same information from backup sites on other servers and if one of the main SQL servers fails the other takes over the load." "Another benefit of the new system is that it is fully documented and designed for the future. Brennan helped us develop processes for managing the data over time so we won't encounter the problems we've had in the past where our database simply overflowed because old data wasn't being removed and archived," Charles explains. Charles also appreciates the pragmatic approach that Brennan brought to the job. "I'm a civil engineer and not an IT person, so implementing this system has been a challenge for me. I appreciated that Brennan appointed a project manager who could speak plain English and who was more focused on the solution than sprouting lots of technical jargon. Brennan has a good grasp of what we're trying to achieve and they talk our language," he says. "While it was a leap of faith for me to accept what Brennan suggested, the results have really paid off." Brian O'Rourke adds, "what Port of Melbourne found was that they could get a price for installing a SQL application and hardware from just about anyone. What Brennan gave them was a solution built around the Corporation's needs and advice on how to maintain and protect its reputation and its data. At Brennan we understand it's not just about the technology, it's about how the business uses the technology."
