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Vyatta Connects Citywide Network for Portland, Texas
Cost-Effective Vyatta Solution Provides End-to-End Routing and Security Without Causing Financial Heartburn
| Source: Vyatta
BELMONT, CA--(Marketwire - May 27, 2009) - Vyatta, the leader in open networking and
network virtualization, today announced that its open routing and security
software has been adopted to connect and protect the offices and emergency
services of the city of Portland, Texas. Using Vyatta, the city created a
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) supporting voice and data at every city
facility. And thanks to the low cost of Vyatta -- about 1/25th the cost of
a solution from Cisco -- the new network infrastructure did not cause
heartburn for city officials.
"Vyatta is the heart of our citywide network," said Terrell Elliott,
detective sergeant and IT manager of the Portland, Tex. Police Department,
"and Vyatta offered us a cost-effective solution that didn't compromise
availability or security. I could easily see us spending well over $250,000
for Cisco equipment to replicate what we did here for less than $10,000,
and Vyatta's open networking software offers the flexibility to meet both
our current and future requirements."
Located along the Texas Gulf Coast, Portland, Texas has 17,000 residents.
When the local police department was challenged with migrating network
connectivity to the statewide Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications
System (TLETS), which provides online access to the drivers' license,
vehicle registration, and criminal history databases, Elliott needed to gut
the existing non-IP networking systems. To find a cost-effective solution
for enterprise-class routing and security, Elliott explored open source
networking and selected Vyatta as the only solution to provide not only
secure, economical TLETS integration, but also end-to-end routing and
security throughout the city.
In addition to installing Vyatta at the network core, Elliot installed
Vyatta routers at three line-of-site microwave connections and in each of
seven patrol cars. Said Elliott, "Vyatta not only performs the routing
function, but also provides firewall, content inspection, and VPN for TLETS
and other software, such as the Automated Vehicle Location system, that
goes out to the cars." Mobile communication will eventually extend to all
fire and emergency medical vehicles as well.
Elliott also installed Vyatta routers at each city location including the
Public Works Department, the Community Center, two fire stations, and the
library. Together with the central router at the police station, Vyatta
routers manage the full range of services including Internet access, public
and secure Wi-Fi, VoIP telephony, a video surveillance system, and an
intelligent building access system. Layers of redundancy ensure
availability.
By selecting hardware based on the performance needs of different network
nodes, the City was able to use the same Vyatta software for the entire
infrastructure instead of managing a network with different classes of
routers, VPN appliances, and firewalls. This single system approach enabled
Elliott to minimize the learning curve, while the flexibility of Vyatta's
open networking software ensured the city will be able to meet all its
future requirements.
"The recession hasn't eliminated the need for government agencies to invest
significant dollars in keeping pace with evolving regulations and
technologies, but Vyatta goes a long way toward softening the financial
hit," said Kelly Herrell, CEO of Vyatta. "As the City of Portland has
found, Vyatta offers all the functionality and security demanded by the
most critical network tasks at a fraction of the cost of Cisco and other
proprietary network vendors, enabling more money to be saved for other
vital city services."
About Vyatta
Vyatta builds commercially supported, open-source networking solutions that
provide an alternative to over-priced, inflexible products from proprietary
vendors. Our customers are smarter, better looking, and drive much nicer
cars than purchasers of big-name products. Vyatta customers know that
Vyatta's Linux-based router, firewall and VPN software gives them a level
of control unavailable from proprietary solutions. Vyatta customers are
thought leaders who recognize the benefits of flexible deployment options
-- x86 hardware, blade servers, virtualization -- of freedom to integrate
applications of their choice, and of the economic and performance
advantages of commodity hardware and components. For more info, visit
http://www.vyatta.com.