Hundreds of millions of people pass through airports, subway stations and bus terminals every day. Mass transit systems move more than people — they move the global economy. And yet, the editing rooms for “Dancing With the Stars” have better video capabilities than most transportation control rooms, and the surveillance systems of “Big Brother” are of higher quality than the security and control systems in our mass transit hubs.
Of course, there are reasons for the outdated technology infrastructure. Many of these mass transit hubs are like archaeological sites, with layer upon layer of technologies forced together like pieces from many different, mismatched puzzles. The sites are too critical to shut down for wholesale changes, so they make do with patchwork improvements — and even then, only when status quo is no longer an option.
It doesn’t have to be that way. There are several IP-based technologies that can improve not just video quality, but data security, switching speeds and more in these control rooms and throughout the transportation IT infrastructure — and they don’t always require massive investments or downtime to deploy. Here are just a few:
High-performance KVM systems: This may present the simplest, most impactful and least imposing upgrade. KVM systems allow single users to access and manage multiple systems across multiple monitors from a single workstation with a single keyboard and mouse. Basic KVM systems are commonplace in transportation control rooms, but legacy systems lack the full capabilities of today’s high-performance models.
The broadcast industry has been leveraging these capabilities more or less from the moment they became available. That’s a world that values the ability to seamlessly switch between cameras, channels and broadcast origination sites and increasingly demands the ability to view all of this activity in high definition.
Transportation decision-makers haven’t always seen the benefit — or the business case — but the world is changing. Today’s airports have closed circuit television (CCTV) systems throughout their facilities — from security checkpoints and baggage claim to flight information terminals, runways and parking and pick-up locations. High-performance KVM systems allow a single user to monitor all of those feeds with high-definition video. It provides a single source of truth — free of pixelization or distortion — so airport and security personnel can make quick, intelligent decisions at times when speed and accuracy are critical.
The best of these systems can integrate with older, lower-res equipment as an organization transitions to modern equipment over time. And because video resolution is a market-driven technology, that timeline can be shorter than ever. New, inexpensive high-definition cameras and monitors make site-wide deployment eminently manageable
Modern crisis centers — either on-site or off — rely on high-performance KVM systems to simplify and streamline what can be a chaotic environment. We have worked in airport crisis centers that can push broadcast feeds, security footage or data files independently to everyone in the room, and any of those individuals can present to a larger group from an individual workstation. In the event the room on site is unavailable, those capabilities can be pushed to a remote location. The right KVM makes it all possible.
Robust power protection: Because the power chain is so closely connected, let’s lump a few power-related technologies into a single discussion. As we’ve mentioned, many of these mass transit sites have been around for decades, with elements of infrastructure that date to the initial construction. The power infrastructure in these types of facilities can be creaky, to say the least. As these sites become increasingly IT-driven and dependent, clean, reliable power becomes an absolute necessity.
Outages are inevitable, of course, and generators are the typical backup option. But failover systems are spotty — transfer switches, which switch from utility to backup power instantly, are rare. We routinely see server racks in these facilities without UPS protection or power distribution units (PDUs), making those racks more susceptible to outages or to power spikes and sags that can impact performance. Even if those racks aren’t servicing critical operations, the impact of a failure can be significant. If something as simple as a receipt printer can’t operate because of an IT failure, it can keep luggage from being tagged and create huge delays. Simply put, when it comes to power failure, there is no such thing as a small problem.
Fortunately, none of these technologies are cost-prohibitive or require massive inconvenience to install. And the peace of mind that comes with supreme confidence in power and IT availability is worth far more than the minimal investment required.
Remote management systems: We tend to think of IT systems in terms of traditional data centers, with rows and rows of racks housing hundreds of servers. We know there are hardware and software solutions designed specifically to enable management of those types of facilities — holistically, they’re called data center infrastructure management systems — but the IT networks in transportation environments are different. Each terminal in an airport or each individual train or subway station may have its own IT system. The computing that controls mass transit systems is disparate and scattered, and there’s tremendous value in pulling it all together.
It hasn’t always been easy to connect the dots between these archaeological sites. In fact, it hasn’t always been possible. That’s not the case today. There are technologies that not only make remote management of these computing outposts possible, they make it practicable and provide incredible value.
Console servers enable secure remote IT management, including monitoring and control of remote systems and diagnosing and troubleshooting issues within the network. Coupled with today’s management software — and optimized for single-user control with a high-performance KVM system — users today can view these distributed networks through a single pane of glass, ensuring more reliable, more efficient network operation and faster response to issues wherever they may occur.
Network security technologies and features: Increased intelligence, network connectivity and remote management are good things for transportation providers and the people they service, but this network evolution does present corresponding challenges. Specifically, a more connected IT network presents unique security issues, because it increases the number of network access points — and each access point is a potential vulnerability.
And keep in mind, this is only becoming more complicated as IT systems support more and more day-to-day functions in the transportation ecosystem. It’s not just managing schedules and security anymore. Travelers are demanding more tech-driven tools — from online and mobile ticketing to smartphone passport apps to real-time updates on flight status and security lines — and those tools are driving IT expansion and increasing access to network servers. Even if those functions are physically separated from more critical systems (as they should be), it’s not hard to imagine the chaos caused if a hacker with malicious intent were able to access an online ticketing tool.
Understand this: IT security isn’t about firewalls anymore. Security must be embedded throughout the network, and the best of today’s IT equipment is engineered with security in mind, all the way down to the device level. This can happen over time as equipment is refreshed, but in the interim there are gateway systems that isolate various branches of the network to prevent a remote breach from compromising the rest of the network. These are natural fits for these distributed IT architectures common to transportation environments.
One to watch — Redfish-enabled technologies: Redfish is a new management interface designed to be easier to use and manage and more secure than the previous industry standard (full disclosure — Emerson Network Power worked with Dell, HP and Intel to develop Redfish). Unlike the previous specification, Redfish uses a modern network interface style, allowing access to data using simple, script-based programming methods. The current version, released in 2015, addresses servers, but future iterations are expected to become the universal management application program interface for virtually everything across the network.
What does this mean for mass transit? It means eventually everything from servers to power protection to remote management systems will operate on a single management interface that will enable simple and secure machine-to-machine communication with enhanced management capabilities. The full effects are years away, but Redfish-enabled servers are available now, meaning transportation providers can start the transition with their next server purchase.
Jay Wirts is vice president & general manager of IT Management with Emerson Network Power.
