Hospitality Retail

K Enterprises is a campground holding company.

Challenges

Accommodate Business Growth

K Enterprises brought in SpotLink® in 1991 to help upgrade and convert their network with new servers and workstations. They went from a Xenix (a predecessor to Linux distributed by Microsoft) to a Novell Network, and in 2001, SpotLink® upgraded K Enterprises to a Windows domain structure.

A big shift came in 2008 when K Enterprises acquired another campground in Northern Arizona.

 

Solution

At that point, K Enterprises needed to make some major strategic decisions about the architecture of their network.

To minimize costs, SpotLink® designed the IT architecture to consist of a centralized network security structure, centralized VOIP phone system, centralized time accounting, and distributed file system with centralized management. They built the core of the architecture around a Microsoft Windows Domain with domain controllers at each site, connected via a WAN built using Cisco ASA firewalls with site-to-site VPN and site-optimized routing.

Manage Remotely Located Server

K Enterprises’ mission-critical application – a combined reservation and point-of-sale system that handles all transactions from the front desks and convenience stores – runs on server in rural Montana via terminal emulation. K Enterprises also requires highly reliable telecommunications circuits that are economically priced.

 

Solution

Working with their telecommunications partner, SpotLink® designed a system where each location is linked to the other while also independently linked to the mission-critical application. Now, through a backup phone system, K Enterprise’s satellite location can continue to operate even if the primary location is down.

The distributed file system also allows each site to make changes to a common set of files, independent of the other site’s availability, and have the files synchronize when WAN communications are functioning.

results

With a solid IT infrastructure built for growth and scalability, K Enterprises continues to look for new opportunities while relying on SpotLink® to confront any new challenges that may occur along the way.