Fuji Photo Film, one of the world`s leading photographic and imaging companies, has boosted the reliability of communications in its D"usseldorf-based European head office, installing a network based on 3Com XRN (eXpandable Resilient Networking) technology.
Fuji Photo Film (Europe) GmbH now has the cost-effective, high-quality service it needs to support effective, 24/7 global communication - improving productivity and cutting costs across the entire company.
Johannes Kr"amer, Fujifilm`s IT coordinator, is more than happy with the new 3Com infrastructure, especially as the performance and cost savings have far exceeded prior expectations. "We now have a 100% fail-safe network that gives users better, faster performance and total freedom from problematic bottlenecks. The 3Com products are all powerful and reliable. The switches are easy to use, have impressively quick boot times, simple management functionality and high levels of reliability."
Fujifilm is so satisfied with new 3Com network infrastructure that it is considering installing 3Com technology in its other European offices. "3Com technology is not only good from a theoretical perspective, it`s also good in practice. And it offers excellent value for money," summarised Kr"amer.
"Fujifilm regularly sends high-resolution images of 50MB and more across the network. The previous network`s inability to deal with such weighty traffic meant that bottlenecks and delay were a daily fact of life. Since going live with the 3Com network, we can rely on images and other files of this size taking only seconds to transfer."
Kr"amer was pleased to find that installing the new network was quick and simple. Even creating a distributed gigabit switch fabric at the network core took only a few minutes. All Kr"amer had to do was use the data cable included in the XRN Interconnect Kit to link two 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4950s. As soon as the software was installed, the new and highly resilient network core was ready to go. Configuring and installing a total of 16 3Com SuperStack 3 Switch 4400s took just a couple of evenings.
Kr"amer has found the vastly improved network management facilities offered by the 3Com Network Supervisor management tool have allowed the IT team to take total control of the network from every perspective - technology, service and cost. "The old network worked in its fashion, but there wasn`t enough control. We`d considered buying a LAN scanner, but that is no longer necessary thanks to the 3Com Network Supervisor as it provides all the information we need," he said.
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Established in 1934, Fuji Photo Film has driven developments in digital technologies, imaging and document solutions. Around one in five digital cameras, and nearly half of all TV camera lenses around the world, carries the Fuji brand. The company is also a pioneer in medical engineering and a significant supplier of prepress technologies. Since 1966, Fuji Photo Film`s European activities have been coordinated from its German head office in D"usseldorf.
3Com
3Com is a tier-one provider of innovative, practical and high-value voice and data networking products, services and solutions for enterprises of all sizes and public sector organisations. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.
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