183,000 gross registered tons, 337 meters long, 2,500 cabins. These are just a few of the superlatives AIDAnova has to offer. After two and a half years of planning, construction and installation, one of the world’s largest cruise ships will set sail in December 2018. On this new generation of ships, innovative design meets state-of-the-art technology. AIDAnova is also the world’s first cruise ship to be powered entirely by low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG). KVM technology from G&D ensures that entertainment services run smoothly.
AIDAnova – a cruise ship of superlatives
On board, AIDAnova offers 2,500 cabins, 17 restaurants and 23 bars as well as cafés and lounges. Several pools, a beach club, a sports deck, a spacious wellness area, a theater, activity areas and countless entertainment facilities offer passengers the opportunity to enjoy themselves around the clock. Of course, all these areas are equipped with media devices and therefore integrated into the Guntermann & Drunck KVM system.
High demands on technical equipment
But a KVM system must have a lot to offer to be used on a cruise ship:
- Latency-free transmission
- Access in real time
- High usability
- Easy operation
- Transparent and intuitive user rights management
- Robustness
To keep track of the entertainment on a huge ship like the AIDAnova, it is also important for the technical team to be able to access the media servers from anywhere without having to go to one of the actual technical rooms. All the computers are located in separate technical rooms, some of which are on different decks. It would take a lot of time to go there every time there was a problem.
G&D systems on the high seas
“Considering how many entertainment devices we need to control via keyboard, mouse and screen onboard AIDAnova, using a powerful KVM system makes perfect sense,” said Bernhard Loesken, Senior Superintendent Entertainment / Mediatechnics Newbuildings at AIDA.
In the server rooms, two matrix systems of the ControlCenter-Compact series therefore serve as central units allowing the switching of any computers to several endpoints. CPU modules and the associated CAT and fiber cabling extend and switch the computer signals to the various locations on the ship.
Receiver modules (CON units) receive and process computer signals at the remote workstations. Depending on the venue and multimedia equipment, consoles could be designed with one or two monitors.
Due to the application size, two KVM matrix systems form a KVM Matrix-Grid™. Using this grid, matrix systems can communicate bidirectionally and are securely connected with each other.
Another challenge was managing user rights. But with G&D’s intuitive configuration tool, the administration team was able to create different user groups and assign them individual access rights.
Challenges in planning the project
Of course, space is always an important consideration on a cruise ship. As a result, the computer equipment had to adapt to the space constraints, and is now spread out over several decks. But the challenge of equipping a cruise ship with media equipment was not so much finding the right equipment to use on board, but rather getting everything up and running in a very short window of time. But as smoothly as the installation went, our systems have been running reliably on their journey around the world ever since.
Safe journey to our equipment, ship ahoy!
If this post has been a bit long for your taste, here’s an overview of the most important facts of the project:
Customer
As one of the largest cruise ships in the world, AIDAnova offers guests exclusive comfort and a whole world of entertainment. In keeping with AIDA’s green cruising concept, AIDAnova features an innovative propulsion system and is powered by 100 % environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas.
Challenges
The ship’s technicians needed to be able to control all the media servers from any location without having to go to one of the technical rooms. Therefore, almost all areas of the ship should be integrated into the KVM system.
Equipment
- Two ControlCenter-Compact matrix systems
- KVM Matrix-Grid™ function
- Various DVI-CONs (CAT and fiber)
- Various DVI-CPUs (CAT and fiber)
Result and benefits
- Comfortable working environment on a high-end cruise ship serving as a flagship for “Green Cruising” and the new Helios-class
- Decentralized operation of a large, distributed IT installation using a KVM matrix grid
- Flexible, latency-free and user-friendly operation for crew and technicians
- Transparent user rights management thanks to intuitive configuration tool
Would you like to know which applications also benefit from using our KVM systems? Then you might want to take a look at the following blog posts:
- Sky Germany provides best entertainment with high-end technology
- Wastewater treatment with KVM from G&D? This is how it works
Guntermann & Drunck was founded in 1985 and is now regarded as one of the foremost manufacturers of digital and analogue KVM solutions.
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