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Smooth Sailing for One of the World's Largest Cruise Line's IT Operations with Raritan's Paragon
While cruise vacationers swim with stingrays in the sapphire-hued waters of the Caribbean, the IT staff of each
Royal Caribbean International luxury liner ensures smooth sailing by using Raritan's award-winning Paragon® KVM
switch to control their two onboard data centers.
Over the past 30 years the cruise industry has boomed as cruises have evolved from a luxury trip for the well heeled to
an affordable vacation for everyone, according to Keith Hopkins, Manager, IT Newbuilding Administration, at Royal
Caribbean International. Royal Caribbean International is part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the world's second
largest cruise company, operating the Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises brands, with 25 modern
ships and a passenger capacity of approximately 53, 000 berths. Royal Caribbean International is riding the wave of
expansion by building four new ships, each of which adds 2,000 to 3,000 berths to its fleet, in the next three years.
As business has surged, so has the technology infrastructure associated with building and running new ships. "Our
first ship had a room full of computers and other devices and now we have two highly sophisticated computer rooms
on each ship," said Hopkins. The number of servers per ship has increased from four to 32. 27 of the servers are in
one onboard server room while another five, in a separate room, are dedicated to interactive television guest services
(events, room service, movies, and account information). Hopkins knew that the space constraints on the new ships
dictated that the company change from a one-monitor to one-server approach, to one workstation accessing and
controlling all of the servers onboard. But, because each room on the ship has thick steel bulkheads with limited
space for cable runs, using think VGA cable for each server would necessitate that the installation team drill
additional pass-troughs in the bulkheads. Hopkins needed a solution that not only saved keyboard and monitor
space, but also required a minimum of space in the cable channels. With such unique onboard requirements,
Hopkins put a premium on flexibility and scalability in considering a KVM solution.
At their state-of-the-art configuration center in
Hallandale, Florida, Dominick Flores and Gary
McCusker, the two Project Managers in charge of the
IT Newbuild Installations, tested Raritan's Paragon
KVM switch with Cat5 SimplicityTM and simulated how
the product would operate onboard. "We looked at
other KVM vendors on spec and determined that
Raritan offered the best solution with the most
functionality—
all at a lower cost than our previous
KVM vendor," said Hopkins. "We were impressed with
how easy Paragon was to install and how quickly we
had the servers up and running. The Cat5 cabling
enabled us to link our two computer rooms point to
point, so the systems managers could control all the
servers from one location. Plus, Paragon's small 1U
height eliminated the need to have a monitor, keyboard
and mouse in each rack." Hopkins worked through
Waveguide Communications, a Raritan authorized
reseller, to deploy their KVM solutions. Waveguide
Communications (www.wgc-usa.com) is a leader in
fiber optics and cabling solutions for the cruise
industry, land-based businesses and offshore
companies.
With Paragon as the line's new control standard,
Hopkins follows a set procedure to establish onboard
IT operations on new ships. Once the equipment is
tested, the Royal Caribbean IT team sets up the
monitor wall, configures and pre-loads all servers and
workstations and sends the products to shipyards in
either Germany or Finland, where new Royal
Caribbean ships are being built. Royal Caribbean IT
Project Managers then lead an installation team that
physically installs the Raritan KVM products onboard,
along with all other systems on each ship.
Royal Caribbean has been "onboard" with Paragon since
July 2002, with its Brilliance of the Seas ship. "We have
not had a single complaint," said Hopkins. Moreover,
Hopkins has achieved a seven percent cost savings on each
ship by reducing the staff needed to operate the equipment
and eliminating the number of monitors/keyboards/mice.
"We can keep our onboard IT managers in one location
and centralize their functions. Now there is no need for
them to walk the ship to troubleshoot any problems," said
Hopkins.
Three of the four new ships Royal Caribbean is currently
building will require more technology onboard. With that
in mind, Hopkins is deploying the Paragon 16-user by 64-
port KVM solution to handle more network devices. "We
need KVM technology that is complex enough to
accommodate our current and future equipment needs, yet
simple enough for us to implement. Many solutions out
there are too complex on both fronts—
Raritan's Paragon
strikes the perfect balance," he said.
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Royal Caribbean International
One of the world's largest cruise lines
needed a flexible and scalable KVM solution
to manage two onboard computer rooms.
Raritan's Paragon KVM solution
Royal Caribbean reduced staff costs,
centralized server control and saved precious
space on each ship.
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