Home Depot Launches North American Voice/Video/Data Network Based On
High-Speed 3Com Systems - BUSINESS WIRE, 12:08 p.m. Jun 07, 1999
World's Leading Home Improvement Retailer Expedites Mission-Critical
Services from Atlanta Headquarters to Regional Business Offices
Using 3Com(R) PathBuilder(TM) WAN Access Systems
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 1999--
3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS) today announced that The Home Depot, the
world's largest home improvement retailer, has standardized a voice/video/data wide
area network (WAN) on advanced 3Com(R) PathBuilder(TM) WAN switching
systems. The new, 7500-user network ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)
infrastructure links the company's Atlanta-based Store Support Center (SSC)
headquarters with its 13 regional business offices across the U.S. and Canada.
The network provides a faster, more efficient infrastructure for video-based training
and employee communications, high-speed remote printing of reports and telephone
services. With 40 percent more capacity than Home Depot's previous router-based
WAN, the new 3Com solution is one of the first and largest switched ATM retail
WANs and is expected to deliver a nine-month ROI.
Today, Home Depot is on the high-growth fast-track, enjoying a 30 percent increase
in sales and store expansions every year since its 1978 launch. To support more than
800 stores, the company has segmented the U.S. and Canada into 10 regions
consisting of 13 regional offices. Located in venues such as Dallas, Atlanta, Seattle
and Toronto, these offices administer the company's key business operations from
marketing to merchandising. Each site has 150 to 300 users, most of which require
ongoing networked communications with colleagues at the SSC.
Launched in December 1998, Home Depot's new converged WAN allows the
retailer to use bandwidth dynamically for the first time, enabling the company to
aggregate T1 circuits for low-cost delivery of applications from regional offices to
the SSC. PathBuilder WAN switches at each regional office are linked to a
PathBuilder system at the SSC via up to four 1.54 megabits per second (Mbps) T1
lines. The SSC PathBuilder switch provides a high-speed 45 Mbps DS-3 ATM
circuit using 28 T1 circuits to parcel inbound and outbound converged traffic among
the headquarters 5,000 users.
Using ATM's Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities inherent in the PathBuilder
systems, Home Depot can also prioritize applications based on their importance. The
company is now gaining unprecedented performance from its preexisting PictureTel
videoconferencing system. Previously, Home Depot needed to reserve 25 percent of
the WAN's bandwidth for videoconferencing, even when not in use. Now, using the
PathBuilder devices, the retailer allocates only the bandwidth each videoconference
requires for much more cost-effective service.
The new WAN also is enabling Home Depot to run voice traffic over its WAN for
the first time, allowing the retailer to bypass per-minute toll charges from the public
telephone network and save many thousands of dollars every month. The WAN also
provides Home Depot with high-speed remote printing. While mainframe output
reports sent to field offices historically resulted in wasted bandwidth set aside to
support printers, Home Depot now employs IP-based printing that quickly flushes a
print job through the network and releases unused bandwidth for other applications.
In the future, Home Depot will use videoconferencing to distribute information such
as product knowledge, training materials and a video magazine over the WAN. The
retailer further plans to broadcast video-based messages from executives such as the
chairman or CEO to regional offices and will download videoconferencing files to a
video server for playback on demand. Eventually, Home Depot will stage an
IP-based broadcast of events, such as stockholders meetings. The retailer is
additionally considering videoconferencing "town" meetings so that regional office
users can have more input into company decisions.
"The world of networking is moving swiftly toward mixed media, including video
and picture content, which is driving bandwidth consumption sky high," explained
Dave Ellis, Home Depot's vice president of information systems. "With our
emphasis on videoconferencing, and media rich content over our intranet, our need
for increased bandwidth to run video, voice and data over a single network made
implementing a converged ATM WAN a top priority. Now, with 3Com's
PathBuilder switches at the heart of our infrastructure, we're providing better service
to users at significantly less cost using a solution that will support our growth for
many years ahead."
Bandwidth When and Where It's Needed
Home Depot's new ATM WAN emanated from the retailer's need to increase
bandwidth for voice, video and data services between its regional offices and the
SSC. Prior to the 3Com rollout, the company's network consisted of routers and
CSUs providing IP, IPX and AppleTalk services using single T1 circuits. With 25
percent of WAN bandwidth allocated to video, the retailer needed a higher
performance architecture to deliver these services at a lower cost. To rectify this
situation, Home Depot evaluated offerings from leading vendors, the home
improvement giant selected 3Com, whose equipment has served as the
high-performance local area network (LAN) at the SSC as well as in the retailer's
North American stores supporting point of sale and back-office applications for
several years.
"3Com's converged ATM WAN solution provided the high-powered infrastructure
we needed for current and emerging applications with a quick ROI," said Dan
Haumann, the firm's senior manager of network systems. "3Com also had proven
itself in our headquarters ATM LAN, which gave us added confidence in the
PathBuilder switches."
Completed this May, Home Depot's WAN relies on 13 SuperStack(R) II
PathBuilder S310 WAN Access Switches, one at each regional office, connected via
up to four T1 circuits to a PathBuilder S700 switch at the SSC. The SSC-based
system maximizes bandwidth via a DS-3 link, which allows Home Depot to
aggregate up to 28 T1s for distributing converged traffic across the WAN. The
PathBuilder S700 system is also connected to the SSC's PBX, video configuration
bridge and data network, enabling it to effectively converge traffic.
The regional office PathBuilder devices are also connected to a PBX at their sites, a
router on the data network, and a PictureTel to optimize convergence for key
applications. The preexisting routers continues to connect to the central-office
PathBuilder, although Home Depot is now using an internal CSU on the PathBuilder
switch itself instead of separate CSUs. Unlike the routers, the PathBuilder switches
allow Home Depot to add T1 lines incrementally without increasing system costs - "a
major cost-savings compared to when we had to double the cost of our architecture
to add a T1," noted Haumann.
"Using 3Com's solution, we're gaining performance and savings simultaneously
that give us an extraordinary operating efficiency at tremendous value," said Ellis.
"Our new WAN is helping Home Depot become a more profitable company and is
one of the better leveraged IT decisions we've ever made."
About 3Com Corporation
With more than 200 million customers worldwide, 3Com Corporation connects more
people to information in more ways than any other networking company. 3Com
delivers innovative information access products and network system solutions to
large, medium and small enterprises; carriers and network service providers; PC
OEMs; and consumers. 3Com --More connected.(TM) For further information, visit
3Com's World Wide Web site at www.3com.com or the press site at
www.3com.com/pressbox.
3Com and PathBuilder are registered trademarks. More connected. is a trademark of
3Com Corporation. All other company or product names may be trademarks of the
respective companies with which they are associated.
Copyright 1999, Business Wire
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