Brocade upgrading Dreamworld's Wi-Fi network

Australia’s largest theme park - Dreamworld - is getting a major wireless network upgrade from networking vendor Brocade.

Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure Group has contracted Brocade for a network upgrade program designed to replace the existing ageing network infrastructure.

As its flagship asset, Dreamworld has been selected as the first Ardent attraction to receive a network refresh. Brocade’s local partner ASI Solutions is deploying a network based on its Brocade ICX family of switches.

Ardent Group Network Administrator Steven van Rooyen said that while IT needs vary across the company’s portfolio, “one thing we certainly need across all sites is much better manageability. As we acquire sites ... we generally find that they are running consumer-grade equipment.”

For example, before the upgrade, he said, the throughput of Dreamworld’s Wi-Fi access points had a performance limit of 100 Mbps. But the new Brocade network eliminates such performance bottlenecks.

“[In addition,] thanks to manageability of the entire infrastructure, it takes five minutes to turn on a feature whereas it used to take all day to change switch configurations.”

Pictured: A Dreamworld ride, courtesy of Troy Kelly under CC