LUXURY RESORT PLUGS IN HIGH END IT FACILITIES
SASIWIMON BOONRUANG
Technology and the environment have become green companions at the Six Senses Hideaway on Koh Yao Noi, between Phuket and Krabi, which offers Internet connectivity in each of its 56 bungalows.
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| From left: Nopparat Chinrattanapisit, deputy country manager, Lantro (Thailand); Chingchai Maketippachai, country manager, 3Com Thailand; and Marco Groten, general manager, Six Senses Hideaway Yao Noi. |
WiFi is only turned on for bungalows that request the service to minimise RF radiation, while guests may stay connected through fixed lines.
Six Senses focuses on the use of products and processes with minimal environmental impact, explained Marco Groten, general manager of the Six Senses Hideaway on Koh Yao Noi.
He said that while the core aim of Six Senses was to facilitate innovative and enriching experiences in a sustainable environment, IT was essential in supporting us to deliver a service.
Internet nowadays is a commodity and nothing special anymore, he said. "Guests do not ask whether we have Internet in the room, they ask how to connect. They do not ask if we have Wi-Fi, but how to switch it on and off," Groten said.
Five years ago guests were happy with dial-up, but now they expect a high-speed connection, he said.
A LAN connection is available in every pool villa, but visitors would never see any network cabling because network infrastructure has been designed to accommodate the natural surroundings.
"WiFi is also available, but we provide it on request because we are concerned that some guests would may feel discomfort from being among WiFi signals," the general manager said.
Nopparat Chinrattanapisit, deputy manager of Lantro (Thailand), the system integrator, said the concept of Six Senses was to keep the environment as natural as possible.
The IT infrastructure of Six Senses has been planned to support advances for the next 10 years, and is ready for IPTV.
Fibre optic cables from the server room reach out to hubs which cover five to six villas each. The villas can run at 1Gbit/s so there are no bottlenecks, he said, pointing out that the design also considered heat control.
Some access points are on roofs and some are in trees and covered by boxes so the technology doesn't disturb the natural surroundings.
Every item of equipment used must have low heat radiation, he said.
A new 3Com solution ensures that the operation of Six Senses continues to have minimal impact on the environment while helping the resort run an excellent communications network.
According to Chingchai Maketippachai, 3Com manager for Thailand, the large-scale network of 1,000 ports at Six Senses was designed to support the business in the long term. 3Com delivered integrated, secure, converged network solutions for Six Senses. These include wireless access products, standalone and stackable switches, powerful core switches, interoperability-tested routers, standards-based convergence applications and IP phones.
3Com has refreshed its entire switching product portfolio, which is the main driver for networking power. The power consumption has been reduced by as much as 78 per cent from previous generations.
Chingchai said most 3Com products have migrated to the latest 90nm silicon technology to provide the most advanced functionality without an increase in power usage.
3Com switches use power supplies with greater than 80 per cent efficiency under full load and they also support DC connections to dedicated power racks. In periods where the ambient temperature is low, many 3Com systems can detect when the fans need to run at lower speeds, eliminating the use of power for unnecessary cooling.
In addition, the new generation of 3Com switches reduce power use and carbon emissions while generating savings that directly offset electricity operating costs, he said.
The network is 10GB-ready, with only one-tenth of its capacity currently utilised. This gives Six Senses significant room to support bandwidth-hungry applications in the future.
Six Senses Hideaway did not disclose the cost of its IT investment, but Groten said that a resort like this had a very large capital backing, with an expected pay back time between eight and 10 years. Only after that would they see a profit on their investment. "We make long-term decisions when we make a development, and also from the IT point of view, we are very much looking at to how to make sure that it is for the long run."
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