TM
Company
Photon Research Associates (PRA)
Location
Huntsville, Alabama
Industry
Defense contractor
Business Needs
Meet government requirements for secure and reliable switching between different computers that perform different functions and that have different security classification levels
Solutions
Avocent® SwitchView™ SC switch
Business Benefits
• Enables computer operators to instantly switch between multiple computers with different functionality and classification levels in a secure and reliable manner
• Meets government-mandated security certification and accreditations
• Accommodates design and implementation requirements for environments with limited space by reducing more than half the number of needed computers, monitors, keyboards and mice
• Saves millions of dollars by preventing damage to high-end equipment caused by manual switching
• Cuts shutdown time of all computers from
20 minutes down to one minute to allow fast and graceful shutdowns during an emergency
• Ensures operators can work and communicate at the proper security classification levels
®
As part of the Raytheon Company, Photon Research Associates (PRA) is a leader in the development and application of physics-based modeling, simulation and analysis products and services for both government and commercial markets. Its business operations focus on the areas of remote sensing, missile defense, surveillance and reconnaissance, intelligence data analysis and stealth system design. To ensure its cutting-edge technology services and products deliver the high reliability and security levels that its customers demand, PRA relies on the secure SwitchView™ SC switch from Avocent®.
One of PRA’s systems engineering groups in Huntsville, Alabama develops ground stations for unmanned and manned vehicles. These ground stations serve as portable analysis and control centers that can be deployed virtually anywhere and under any conditions to support sensor-equipped, forward-deployed vehicles. Outfitted with 19 high-end workstations and three back-end servers, the ground station’s Avocent® SwitchView™ SC switch enables a nine-member team to easily switch between workstations to control the reconnaissance vehicles, as well as compile and report on the data that those vehicles gather.
When first designing its portable ground stations, PRA had two primary criteria that its KVM switch of choice had to meet. First, the switch had to be government certified to meet its customers’ high-level security requirements. Second, the switch had to be extremely reliable.
“There are only a handful of KVM switches certified to the level of security we required, and of those, only Avocent® delivered the reliability and customer support that we could count on,” says Alex Clark, Lead Mechanical Engineer at PRA. “Avocent® switches work right out of the box, which, believe it or not, isn’t always the case with other vendors’ switches.”
With the objective of supporting manned and unmanned reconnaissance vehicles, the
PRA portable ground stations will be deployed on the front lines where conditions are harsh and equipment breakdowns could be a matter of life and death.

TM
“There is nothing worse than being out in the desert and your KVM switch no longer allowing you to switch from one computer to another,” Clark says.
“If you’re toggling between one computer that handles recorded images and another that controls the vehicle, the absolute worse thing that can happen is to be stuck on the one that deals with pictures, leaving you with no control of the vehicle. We don’t have that problem with Avocent® switches.
Avocent® switches are frustration-free products that simply work.”
Clark adds, “If you want something that is going to work all the time, then you need to go with Avocent®. If you’re okay with things working just some of the time, then you can consider other brands.”
In terms of security, Avocent® SwitchView™ SC switches have gone through all of the certification and accreditations needed by PRA’s government customer.
“The Avocent® switches allow our customers to operate in environments where there are multiple security classification levels,” Clark says. “The operators in our ground stations need access to different computers with different classification levels, such as secret or top secret. The Avocent® switches make it easy for those operators to instantaneously switch between the classifications on all the different computers whenever they need to.
Additionally, whether they’re on chat or talking through their headphones, it also helps ensure that operators communicate through the proper classification levels.”
The reliability of Avocent® switches also translates into savings for PRA and its customers. Not only does PRA not have to equip its ground stations with multiple replacement switches, but the switch’s reliability can also prevent its customers from unintentionally damaging millions of dollars of equipment.
“Our ground stations will be deployed in places where there are no spare parts, so everything in them has to work,” Clark says. “If a KVM switch were to stop working, customers would typically have to resort to manually unplugging and switching cables between the different computer systems.
Not only does that cost you time, but it can cause potential damage to your systems. You don’t want to ruin a couple million dollars worth of equipment just because your KVM switch bites the dust. The reliability of Avocent® switches saves us from that worry and cost.”
The Avocent® switches also save PRA customers time and money in their ability to easily switch from one computer to another and quickly shut each one down.
“In a combat situation, if you ever have the need to evacuate the shelter, you need to be able to gracefully turn everything off,” Clark says. “Enabling one operator to shut down all the computers from his desk cuts shutdown time from 20 minutes or more to about a minute or less. That fast, graceful shutdown also makes sure we don’t lose any data, let alone damage any of the equipment.”
The Avocent® SwitchView™ SC switch has played an integral role in the design and implementation of PRA portable ground stations. All of the 22 high-end computers, hundreds of terabytes of storage systems, dual-output monitors, mice and keyboards in the portable ground stations have to fit in a 20x16-foot area within the station. Avocent® KVM switches enable PRA to get the most use out of that tight space.
“The functionality of our design depends on the Avocent® KVM switch,”
Clark says. “It would literally be impossible for the ground station operators to do their jobs without these KVM switches. We have such a high-density environment that physically placing each needed computer in front of each operator would not be practical or workable. The switches allow us to put two to four different computers at any operator’s beck and call.”
“Without these KVM switches, we’d have to have twice as much equipment and, in some cases, four times as much,” Clark adds. “It also helps us space our operators out, so they have their own work area as opposed to having to be shoulder to shoulder. That ability to space everything out also lets us put all the hot equipment farther away from the operators.”
Clark concludes, “The Avocent® SwitchView™ SC switch allows us to deliver a higher quality solution at a competitive price that meets our customers’ demanding requirements. They give operators the ability to reach multiple classification levels while staying within all of the government-mandated guidelines for physical spacing, data security and reliability. Avocent® KVM switches are infinitely better than all the other switches we’ve tried in the past.”
Emerson Network Power.
The global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity TM .
AC Power
Connectivity
DC Power
Embedded Computing
Embedded Power
Industrial Power
Infrastructure Management & Monitoring
Outside Plant
Power Switching & Controls
EmersonNetworkPower.com
Precision Cooling
Racks & Integrated Cabinets
Services
Emerson, Business-Critical Continuity , Emerson Network Power and the Emerson Network Power logo are trademarks of Emerson Electric Co. or one of its affiliated companies.
Avocent, the Avocent logo, SwitchView are trademarks of Avocent Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. ©2012 Emerson Electric Co. All rights reserved.
0412-PHOTON-CS-EN