Xstrata

BESTECH was responsible for managing a project where a new network topology was designed, installed and commissioned, providing high availability and redundancy throughout the mine for all critical Ethernet switches.

The new implementation consisted of two Cisco core switches configured to run as one virtual logical switch. All critical Ethernet switches were configured with dual Ethernet trunks connected to each physical core switch. The two network uplinks on each edge switch were terminated using fibre cores from two separate shaft cables that traversed the main shaft and surface fibre plant. This provided full redundancy to the mine site in the event of a failed core switch, fibre cable or edge switch failure.