Utilities and Big Data: Exploring Route Analytics and Traffic Management for Utility Networks
(Room 201BC)
19 Jun 19
8:10 AM
-
9:10 AM
Tracks:
SCADA, AMI & Utility Automation
Speaker(s):
AJ Brewer, IT Network Consultant, AEP; Mitch Simcoe, Director, Solution Marketing, CIENA; Brandyn Ward, Engineer, American Electric Power Company, Inc.; Paul Zawada, Staff Engineer, American Electric Power Company, Inc.
Data analytics are transforming industries across the globe, from professional sports to retail and big business. And with the advent of new technologies, data analytics is starting to impact the utility industry as well, promising significant changes and ushering in new efficiencies into the system. In this session, a panel of experts will discuss the volumes of data utilities are now able to collect and whether utility IP networks are able to keep up. There are countless real-world examples of application and service problems stemming from ignorance of the way large IP network routing and traffic logically operate: security breaches, loss of application data, etc. This presentation will discuss the concept of route analytics technology, used by many national and regional electrical power utilities, and whether it is the answer to understanding the logical operation of IP networks. Panelists will also cover bandwidth management techniques for substation networks, which includes network throughput modeling and the use of Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms. In addition to bandwidth modeling, the benefits of using QoS mechanisms will be illustrated. The presentation will describe how QoS works as well as demonstrate how the implementation of QoS, similar to the methodology described in the 2017 UTC Canada whitepaper “Quality of Service in Power Utility Telecommunications Networks,” can be effective in real world situations.