International Speedway Corporation keeps its network ... - NetScout

ENTERTAINMENT SOLUTIONS
The Network Environment
An IP mesh, ATM WAN connecting
12 speedways, each of which has
up to three LANs. ISC’s data center
houses major applications including
email and print services, business
applications, and the company’s
Internet connection. The ticketing
application is based in a remote
hosting facility.
Challenge
To maximize the productivity of the
two network engineers tasked with
managing the strategic development
and day-to-day operations of ISC’s
network and, in turn, allow users
system-wide to enjoy high network
performance.
Solution
A Sniffer InfiniStream i420 that
continuously monitors three network
links: ISC’s WAN, Internet and VPN
connections. The fourth stream is
used on a troubleshooting basis.
Benefits
Sniffer InfiniStream empowers
the ISC network team to quickly
determine performance problems on
their own, without time-consuming
reliance on its WAN provider.
The network engineers spend a
smaller fraction of their time solving
performance issues and are now
free to focus on more strategic
challenges, such as building ISC’s
next-generation network.
SUCCESS STORIES | ENTERTAINMENT
International Speedway Corporation
Keeps Its Network Running at Full Throttle
with Sniffer InfiniStream
Introduction
NASCAR auto racing is arguably America’s most popular spectator sport, with millions
of fans experiencing the excitement of “race days” in the stands, wearing a hat or T-shirt
emblazoned with their favorite driver’s name, and indulging in refreshments dispensed
by bustling concession stands. Most of these fans are enjoying themselves thanks to
International Speedway Corporation (ISC), the country’s leading promoter of motorsports.
ISC owns and operates twelve legendary speedways, including the Daytona, Talladega and
Watkins Glen, as well as concession services and a centralized ticketing operation.
To keep its wide and local area networks (WANs and LANs) operating at peak performance,
the company uses its Sniffer® InfiniStream i420 “constantly,” says Mike Tanguay, a
network engineer at ISC. Tanguay and his colleague, network engineer Josh Conley,
are responsible for all aspects of ISC’s network, from strategic planning to day-to-day
troubleshooting.
Centralized Resources Streamline Operations
Tanguay and Conley are located in ISC’s data center in Daytona Beach, Florida, which
houses all of the major applications that users rely on, including email and print services,
business applications, and the company’s Internet connection. Users from all speedways
access these client/server applications and the Internet over a managed WAN, an IP mesh
network, via ATM circuit. Each track location has up to three LANs. The network team also
supports the operations of Americrown, ISC’s concession and merchandise subsidiary, and
the ticketing system, which is located in a hosting facility in Houston, Texas.
“Centralized IT operations are a logical choice for a company like ISC, but that leads to
some unique network challenges,” says Tanguay. “Traffic anomalies at one racetrack can
affect performance system-wide. Plus we have unpredictable traffic spikes prior to race
days, when the ticketing application is extra-busy and the tracks have an influx of teams
preparing for the race.”
“Before Sniffer InfiniStream, our first step would be to call the WAN provider
to investigate, which means we’d be on ‘hold’ for a long time. Now we
can just use Sniffer InfiniStream’s analytic capabilities to handle multiple
incidents simultaneously.”
Network Engineer

Sniffer InfiniStream Allows Multi-
Tasked Network Management
To ensure consistent network
performance, Tanguay and Conley use
Sniffer InfiniStream to continuously
monitor three network links: ISC’s
WAN, Internet and VPN connections.
The fourth stream is used on a
troubleshooting basis. Immediately
after deploying the device, they gained
the insight they needed to proactively
address performance issues. Prior to
using Sniffer InfiniStream, the team’s
first step in addressing user complaints
about network slowness was to call
ISC’s WAN provider, “which means we’d
be on ‘hold’ for a long time,” Conley
says. He and Tanguay now use Sniffer
InfiniStream’s analytic capabilities to
look at the traffic in real-time, or perform
back-in-time analysis. Multiple incidents
can be investigated simultaneously.
Greater Efficiencies, All Around
Much of the time, the performance
problems the network team discovers are
caused by users who are unknowingly
clogging the network with excess traffic.
Tanguay says they are often unaware
that perfectly legitimate network use
can slow down traffic. As a result, the IT
department has issued policies for file
distribution, recommending that certain
types of files be placed on a shared drive
or accessed through a link embedded
in an email. The impact was quickly
apparent. He says, “With InfiniStream
we are definitely seeing decreased
traffic over the WAN, and we are not
experiencing as many utilization issues.”
Conley agrees. “There’s not a constant
stream of fire drills any more. When we
first started using Sniffer InfiniStream
I spent a few hours each day tracking
down utilization issues. Now I glance
at the console every once in a while.
If someone has been sending a lot of
packets within the last few minutes I
can quickly look into the situation and
address it.”
SUCCESS STORIES | ENTERTAINMENT
Tanguay sums up, “With Sniffer
InfiniStream we are gaining efficiencies
on two fronts. First, as we have used
it to drive user policy, we are seeing a
decrease in traffic over the WAN and
fewer utilization issues. Second, when
problems do occur and Josh and I need
to investigate them, Sniffer InfiniStream
reduces the amount of time we need to
find the cause. Now we can find out in
ten minutes what used to take us hours.”
Epilogue
Mike Tanguay, a network engineer at
International Speedway Corporation,
says, “Centralized IT operations are a
logical choice for a company like ISC,
but that leads to some unique network
challenges. With Sniffer InfiniStream we
are gaining efficiencies on two fronts.
First, we have used it to drive user policy,
and have seen a decrease in traffic over
the WAN and fewer utilization issues.
Second, when problems do occur,
Sniffer InfiniStream reduces the amount
of time we need to find the cause.”
About NetScout Systems
NetScout Systems provides advanced
network and application service
assurance solutions that deliver
complete visibility into real-time, packet/
flow-based operational intelligence.
IT operators at the world’s largest
enterprises, government agencies, and
service providers use the Sniffer and
nGenius solutions to troubleshoot service
degradations faster and more efficiently
in order to reduce MTTR.
Our world-renowned Sniffer and
nGenius solutions include:
n Intelligent Data Sources for high
capacity, deep-packet recording and
monitoring
n Analysis Software for real-time and
historical network and application
performance management, troubleshooting,
capacity planning, and
reporting
n Advanced Intelligence for early
detection and in-depth analysis of
complex or specialized application
services
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