| 11/17/09 - THEGreenBox focuses on providing
businesses with the technology they need to grow and become more efficient,
while gaining a competitive edge. With the help of D-Link, the Olympia,
Wash. full-service IT management company engineered an ideal 'connected and
secure' office building to serve as a model for their small business
clients.
When THEGreenBox purchased and moved into a commercial building, founder
and president Bill Hammond decided to architect the modular office suites,
some of which are leased to other businesses, with a full-scale security
and Wi-Fi solution to showcase technology options that his customers can
replicate in their own buildings.
Hammond sought the ideal implementation, one that would include Internet
access (wired and wireless), security cameras, alarms, and automated door
locks. "Our goal was to showcase a flexible, yet secure implementation. We
sought specific products that would fit the look and feel we were going
for, without being too expensive," he explained.
The two-story structure is divided into 20 individual suites on each floor
that can be tailored to fit multiple tenant needs. The goal was to install
a 48-port gigabit switch to serve as a backbone with virtual local area
network (VLAN) capabilities to streamline operations, and then dedicate an
access point (AP) to each business so every suite serves as a
self-sufficient, protected enclave with its own secure Wi-Fi access.
"We wanted a commercial grade technology but with SMB pricing. I work with
many suppliers and we knew that D-Link would be a quality product and
priced appropriately for this project," Hammond said, adding that he
coordinated with regional D-Link support teams to specifically narrow down
which products would best meet his needs for the architecture that he was
putting together.
In order to realize the flexible configuration design that he envisioned,
Hammond opted for D-Link Web Smart Switching, managed switching with
power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities. This provided the backbone for the
wireless capabilities and allowed him to use smaller, more aesthetically
pleasing APs. He also purchased a D-Link Web Smart 48-Port Gigabit Switch
(DGS-1248T) for wired Ethernet and VLAN capabilities. He used seven D-Link
Web Smart 802.11g PoE Thin Access Points (DWL-3140AP), one for public areas
and one per suite. He installed a D-Link Wireless Day & Night Network
Camera (DCS-3420) with audio and housed it in an industrial-grade D-Link
Network Camera Outdoor Enclosure (DCS-70) with power supply, heater and
cooler.
In addition to Wi-Fi, the office building offers other common services such
as interior/exterior security web cams with audio and remote monitoring,
shared printers on a public network, remotely triggered door locks, a
bundled Internet Service Provider (ISP), and other security and
productivity capabilities that would provide fluidity for the clients
leasing suites.
"Now we can showcase that we're a premier office space suite based on
cutting-edge technology. D-Link and its solutions helped us achieve that
goal," Hammond added. "With this showcase we can show building managers how
quickly they can recover costs using this system, usually in about three or
four months with a typical-sized structure. The payback is very high."
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