LTE SD-WAN for the Oil & Gas industry
Pacific Drilling was created with the goal to meet the needs of a new generation of offshore drilling demands. They bring together a fleet of the newest, most modern and sophisticated drilling ships in the industry with new thinking and a company-wide focus on providing the highest quality service to its clients from around the world.
Challenge
High data usage, low latency to enable real time application, advanced cybersecurity to comply with and affordable solutions are just some of the dilemmas faced by Pacific Drilling.
For Pacific Drilling they’ve always been the ones to provide and meet clients needs but this time was different. Putting trust in the industry digitalisation leaders, TechFirm Canaris. Pacific Drilling needed a solution to how they could provide a VPN service from the Pacific Santa Ana in the Canary Islands to their headquarters in Houston.
Solution
Using the power of peplink product and technology TechFirm Canarias delivered the following solution. The HD4 MBX is capable of combining the bandwidth of up to 4 cellular links into an unbreakable connection, matching perfectly with Pacific Drillings fleet digitalisation ambitions. Attached to it is a Mobility Antenna, a strategically placed antenna to provide the best possible connection.
Additionally, a HD1 Dome will provide fast (CAT-18) connection through its integrated antennas. TechFirm Canarias also included the BR1 IP67 to meet the needs of Pacific Drilling because of its durable waterproof enclosure ideal to withstand any inclement weather and conditions.
The combination of the Pepwave MAX HD4, BR1 IP67 and HD2 Dome provides the perfect LTEA cellular solution, that is able to maximize the signal received from the shore whilst minimizing cable run. In the case of cellular WAN failure, all models support Hot Failover ensuring session persistence and uninterrupted productivity. Also, with built-in GPS fleet tracking and InControl management, Pacific Drilling is able to keep tabs on location and manage network connectivity from any connected device ensuring they stay connected at all times. They have also set up a FusionHub virtual appliance within the customer database.
Result
Essentially, TechFirm Canarias Maritime Peplink Certified engineers (mPCE) configured the SpeedFusion relying on three main features:
- Bonding (bandwidth aggregation) on the 6 SIM cards (running on different local providers)
- Latency management to exclude from the SDWAN a SIM card which latency is higher than 150ms
- 256-bit AES encryption VPN to match with advanced Cybersecurity policies
With the help of TechFirm Canarias Pacific Drilling now has a low latency connectivity solution to allow them to reduce their cost and keep their fleet “Ready for Drilling”.
Deployment
- Provides first-class performances
- Fast (CAT-18) and maximizes reception (4×4 MIMO)
- Deployed due to its durability and waterproof enclosure
- Outdoor antenna connected to HD4 MBX to ensure reliable connectivity
- SpeedFusion end-point at the datacenter
