Satellite Management

Satellite communications represent a cost effective and reliable means of transporting voice, video and data to and from remote locations. However, as the adoption of satellite-based communication networks continues to grow, so do the management challenges.

In particular, maintaining high availability of satellite networks at remote locations presents a number of unique management challenges for operational and IT staff. Communications are often disrupted due to environmental interference which can require a dispatch of a service technician to the remote site to re-establish connectivity. Likewise, routine network maintenance such as re-provisioning an antennae controller or upgrading a router’s operating system with the latest security patch often necessitates a costly on-site visit. Addressing a satellite network outage on an isolated oil rig in the North Sea, for example, can be a very expensive, difficult and time-consuming challenge for any IT staff.

Existing network monitoring tools fall short on meeting these challenges because they only work in-band, or when the network is up, and lack the automated capabilities to correct problems without manual intervention. IT staff have been left to manage with tools designed for centralized, terrestrial-based networks that are not able to respond to the unique challenges of satellite-based communications. Until now.

Discover next-generation satellite management

Uplogix offers a new approach to reducing the cost and complexity of supporting satellite network environments. Envoy from Uplogix is a remote management appliance that enables operators to remotely manage, monitor, and control both satellite and terrestrial-based network equipment. The Envoy co-locates and connects serially with network and satellite communications equipment to provide non-stop local management and control.

Case study

RigNet provides broadband voice and video networks to offshore rigs and remote locations for drilling and production operations. They selected Uplogix Envoy to meet their rigorous network support and automation requirements. Click to download the case study.

Satellite Management Capabilities

Envoy automates hundreds of routine network maintenance and recovery tasks to help organizations reduce remote support costs and eliminate operator errors through best-in-class, standardized procedures. Envoy’s automated capabilities include:

• Detecting and correctly diagnosing equipment and communications failures
• Executing pre-defined, best-practice recovery procedures
• Provisioning and re-provisioning services
• Configuring devices via remote administration
• Measuring and managing remote network service levels from an end-user’s perspective

Increase Network Availability
Envoy leverages a unique, out-of-band architecture to ensure that the network is always being managed, even when the main network connection is down or degraded. In the case of an outage, the Envoy will automatically establish an alternate communications path via a dial-up connection to send important monitoring and logging data back to the EMS. 

For satellite-based networks, the Envoy uses its integrated, external modem to dial out to a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite to establish a secure, alternate communications path. With Envoy on duty, you will never be in the dark again, even during an outage.

Enforce Security Standards
Security standards are often compromised at the network’s edge. In the case of an outage, outsourced support personnel may be given root-level access to systems and applications in order to quickly restore them, exposing the organization to a potential security threat.

Envoy ensures end-to-end management security by providing encrypted access to all managed devices, enforcing authorization and authentication policies, and auditing all user interactions and configuration changes. Envoy’s out-of-band architecture enables security standards to be enforced even during a network outage or service disruption.

Satisfy Compliance Requirements
Regulatory compliance standards are adding even more complexity and risk to managing distributed networks. To satisfy stringent compliance requirements, IT administrators must be able to quickly and correctly identify information about what changes are being made in the network, who is making the changes, and what the impact of those changes are or will be.

Envoy automatically collects and reports all device interactions and configuration changes for each managed device, including satellite communications equipment. Envoy’s physical connectivity to each device enables compliance auditing even during network disruptions and outages.

Remotely Manage Hybrid Network Equipment
With Envoy, you can remotely access, monitor and control hybrid networks of satellite and terrestrial network equipment, including routers, switches, hubs, firewalls, wireless access points, VSAT modems, antenna controllers, RF amplifiers, GPS devices, power controllers and more.

Simplify and Standardize Management
Envoy’s standardized, automated management capabilities, combined with the web-based, graphical view from the EMS, allow operational staff to simultaneously view and control their hybrid networks from anywhere in the world. Via the EMS portal, administrators can easily view real-time device statistics and alarms, and execute automated tasks, such as service provisioning or auto-recovery through its simple point-and-click interface.

Meet New Challenges
As new technologies emerge, it is imperative to have a flexible and extensible management platform in place to adapt to changing requirements. Uplogix’ breakthrough automation, architecture and extensibility allow users to adapt to the requirements of new technologies to protect and ensure high network service levels and availability.