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RET
RET chooses Black Box as supplier and advisor

RET is a public transport operator in the Rotterdam area, transporting 600.00 passengers on a daily basis.


The project

Among other things RET's Information Services Department is responsible for the maintenance of the data communication network. Through this transparent network the RET-departments and accounting centers communicate with each other. Other applications run on this network as well. RET is a public transport company that apart from office locations consists of tram depots, warehouses and workshops. On these locations heavy machinery like welding machines are used, trams ride in and out as well.


The magnetic fields on these locations disturb the signals that run through copper wires. That's why RET decided in 1992 to transfer to fiber optic for these specific locations, because fiber optic networks are not influenced by magnetic fields.

That solved the problems on these locations. The offices on 'clean' locations still use the much cheaper copper wiring.


The challenge

RET looked for a way to connect the fiber optic locations to the data communication network. At first they used hubs with a fiber optic connection at the network side, and fiber optic transceivers. Later on they used converters for the fiber optic to copper connection on the workstation side.

The Information Services Department saw an increasing demand of network capacity, because more demanding applications were used, there was a significant increase in the number of users, and the number of automatic applications was growing.


RET upgraded their network quite recently, because they wanted to offer the workstations a faster connection (100 Mps). At the 'clean' locations they used CAT5e cables and switches.
At the depots, workshops and warehouses all fiber optic hubs and converters had to be replaced. The fiber optic hubs could be replaced with fiber optic switches, but RET needed quite a number of these expensive switches. They decided to use the more economical copper switches instead.

This created the necessity to convert from fiber optic to copper on the switch-end as well. To this end they used the Black Box media converter racks with hot swappable cards that convert from fiber optic to copper. For the workstations in the tram depots, warehouses and workshops they considered using fiber optic PC-cards, but used converters instead.


The personal computers are connected with a copper wire, so the connection is less vulnerable when cables are pulled or twisted accidentally.
RET places media converter racks and cards in the cabinets before installation, so they can be connected in a later stage, thus causing less inconvenience for the users.
RET chose Black Box products because they saved them more money, compared to other solutions. Mr. John van Dokkum, working at the Information Services Department is very satisfied with the pre- and after sales support Black Box supplies. The RET first got to know Black Box when they were looking for a few special cables they needed for an adaptation to their network in 1992.
Since that time RET is a satisfied Black Box customer, especially when looking for 'hard-to-find' hardware.

Mr. John van Dokkum about Black Box:
"I like working with Black Box, especially because of the excellent advice we get when we send them a project descripton. I also like that we can test a product before purchasing it. That way I can be sure the product suffices for my application."