Stadtwerke Unna: Allegro Network Multimeter for the Pocket and Data Center

Leipzig/Unna/Neuss, Germany, October 14, 2021 - Stadtwerke Unna, a municipal utility from Germany, relies on Allegro Packets to administer its IT networks. They have been using multiple portable Allegro systems for several years and, most recently have progressed to the portable but even more powerful Allegro 1000. The Allegro Network Multimeters are used by the utility to ensure optimal network operations both internally and in their service and IT provider activities. The complete user story can be read here.

Allegro Packets provides industry-leading analyzers for Layer 2 - 7 network troubleshooting. IT administrators use Allegro Network Multimeters for network error analysis, monitoring and facilitating long-term IT planning.

Stadtwerke Unna uses the Allegro systems for network analysis of the internal network of Stadtwerke Unna. Additionally, they support the municipal utility in its role as an Internet service provider in ensuring network quality. As an IT service provider, for the district town of Unna, Stadtwerke Unna must also be able to perform reliable troubleshooting and analyses. The Allegro Network Multimeters can save employees a great deal of time in carrying out these activities. The portable appliances can be connected anywhere on the network, measure the network traffic there and provide raw data that can then be analyzed in more detail, whether within an Allegro Network Multimeter or via Pcap export to Wireshark..

"When we want to rule out problems in our network, the Allegro Network Multimeter definitely adds a lot of value," says Thomas Hönig-Heinemann, head of the Information and Communications department at Stadtwerke Unna. "Analyzing exclusively with Wireshark can be very confusing and tedious, as we all know, especially with large amounts of data," Hönig-Heinemann said. The utility's employees often use both tools in combination. "The usage scenario in Stadtwerke Unna corresponds exactly to the basic idea of our appliances," notes Klaus Degner, managing director and product manager of Allegro Packets. "The idea of our Allegro Network Multimeter is to quickly visualize packets and to locate errors, which can then be examined in more detail."

The utility can use the Allegro platform to quickly identify if problems are occurring in its own network or with external service providers. Specifically, an external server service provider may be unhappy if there is a suspicion that ports have not been enabled. In this case, the Allegro Network Multimeters are able to quickly measure the absence of communication from the server machines and prove that the fault did not lie with Stadtwerke Unna. The Allegro Network Multimeters also add value by providing for IEC104 protocol testing of infrastructure automation, which was requested by the utility. Furthermore, the appliances were able to help to analyze high latency, retransmissions or uplink utilization. This also supports the assurance of the long-term network quality of Stadtwerke Unna.

In the beginning, the employees of Stadtwerke Unna only used a single portable Allegro system. Now, each employee has their own Allegro 200 or Allegro 500 for acute network analysis in the field. In addition, the utility uses the more powerful Allegro 1000 to find spontaneous or long-term faults in its own data center as well as on customer jobs.

This project was accompanied and professionally supported by Mirco Jakuszeit, Kapsch BusinessCom.

About Allegro Packets
Allegro Packets is one of the leading global providers of network analysis and monitoring appliances. Its customers include network specialists from many organizations across a wide range of market sectors. The aim of the company is to deliver smart, affordable, high-performance tools to help simplify and speed up network analysis and troubleshooting. The Allegro Network Multimeter product range is developed entirely in Germany. This guarantees the customer efficient support and swift, easy integration of new features.

About Stadtwerke Unna
Stadtwerke Unna is a municipal utility founded in 1860 for green electricity, natural gas, heat, photovoltaics, electromobility and fiber optics. In addition to around 60,000 citizens in Unna, they also supply numerous external customers and provide services for companies within the Unna district town group. Since January 2021, Stadtwerke Unna has also been offering its services as an Internet service provider.

About Kapsch BusinessCom
Kapsch BusinessCom is a Kapsch Group company and, as a leading digitalization partner, supports companies in increasing business performance and developing new business models. Kapsch acts as a consultant, system supplier and service provider. Certified technology competencies combined with comprehensive industry know-how make Kapsch a trusted partner with many years of experience in network solutions, collaboration, data center infrastructure, security and managed services.