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Alpine Resorts Victoria Modernizes Multi-Resort Network Operations with pfSense Plus and Netgate Nexus
Alpine Resorts Victoria (ARV) is a statutory authority of the Victorian Government responsible for managing the state’s alpine resort regions, including Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Mount Buller, Mount Stirling, Lake Mountain, and Mount Baw Baw. These destinations attract more than one million visitors annually and support an ecosystem of ski operators, hospitality businesses, retail locations, and seasonal workforce communities.
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Across its six regional resorts and two corporate offices, ARV oversees the infrastructure that supports thousands of seasonal employees, tourism operators, and visitors. Reliable connectivity and secure network access are essential for:
- Resort operations and administration
- Retail and hospitality systems
- Guest services and tourism infrastructure
- Secure communications between remote mountain sites and corporate offices
Because the resorts are located in remote alpine environments with distributed facilities, managing networking infrastructure across multiple locations presents unique operational challenges.
Customer Challenge
- Managing network infrastructure across six geographically separated alpine resorts plus two corporate offices
- Maintaining consistent firewall policies, updates, and monitoring across many remote locations
- Reducing the operational overhead of managing each firewall individually
- Improving visibility into network health and performance across distributed mountain sites
- Supporting secure, reliable connectivity for resort operations, guest services, hospitality systems, and remote communications
Customer Solution
- Deployed pfSense Plus across both physical resort locations and a cloud-hosted AWS environment
- Implemented Netgate Nexus for centralized multi-instance management
- Ran the Nexus controller in AWS so the ICT team could securely manage the full firewall fleet from one place
- Combined on-premises Netgate security gateway systems with a cloud-based management layer
- Supported the rollout with Netgate TAC Pro for on-prem systems and TAC Enterprise for AWS deployment
Customer Benefits
- Centralized management of all pfSense Plus instances through a single interface
- Lower operational complexity and less time spent maintaining firewall policies and updates
- Better visibility into network health and security posture across remote resort locations
- Scalable architecture that can grow with resort infrastructure while keeping governance centralized
- A more reliable and secure network foundation to support over one million annual visitors and thousands of seasonal workers
Challenge: Managing Distributed Infrastructure Across Remote Alpine Regions
ARV operates across six geographically separated alpine resorts, each containing multiple retail outlets, operations buildings, and connectivity endpoints.
As the organization expanded its network infrastructure with pfSense Plus security gateway systems, the ICT team needed an efficient way to manage security policies, updates, and monitoring across all locations.
Managing each firewall individually created operational overhead and increased the complexity of maintaining consistent configurations across the environment.
To address these challenges, the ICT team looked for a solution that would allow them to:
- Centralize management of multiple firewalls
- Maintain consistent policies across remote locations
- Reduce operational complexity
- Improve visibility into network health and performance
Solution: Centralized Multi-Instance Management with Netgate Nexus
ARV implemented pfSense Plus software from Netgate across its infrastructure, combining on-premises security gateway systems at resort locations with a cloud-hosted pfSense Plus instance in AWS.
To simplify operations, ARV deployed Netgate Nexus.
Netgate Nexus enables organizations to monitor and manage hundreds of pfSense Plus instances from a single interface, delivering centralized visibility and control across distributed environments.
The Nexus controller can run on:
- Netgate security gateway systems
- AWS or Azure cloud instances
- pfSense Plus subscription deployments
ARV chose to run the Nexus controller within AWS, allowing its ICT team to securely manage the entire fleet of resort firewalls from a centralized cloud environment.
Implementation & Support
ARV initially engaged Netgate through a Proof-of-Concept (POC) trial program to evaluate pfSense Plus running in AWS while simultaneously expanding their deployment of physical pfSense Plus systems across resort locations.
To support their production deployment, ARV selected Netgate TAC professional and enterprise assistance services (available on the AWS Marketplace), including:
- TAC Pro assistance for on-premises systems
- TAC Enterprise assistance for the AWS deployment, including a 4-hour SLA and phone/email/portal access
Because ARV planned to manage numerous distributed systems through its cloud environment, Netgate included them in the early adopter program for Netgate Nexus, enabling centralized management capabilities as the platform matured.
Architectural Diagram
Results: Simplified Operations and Improved Network Visibility
By combining cloud-based control with distributed Netgate security systems, ARV achieved a highly scalable network architecture suited to its geographically dispersed operations.
Key outcomes include:
Centralized Management
Network administrators can now monitor and manage all pfSense Plus instances across all Alpine Resorts and corporate offices through a single pane of glass.
Reduced Operational Complexity
Centralized configuration management significantly reduces the time required to maintain firewall policies and updates across dozens of devices.
Improved Visibility Across Remote Sites
The ICT team gained better insight into network health and security posture across geographically remote resort locations.
Scalable Architecture
The hybrid architecture allows ARV to continue expanding resort infrastructure while maintaining centralized governance and operational efficiency.
Data Sovereignty
All firewall processing and log file retention is handled either on-premises appliances or within ARV’s onshore AWS tenancy, essential for Victorian Government data security standards.
Enabling a Seamless Alpine Experience
With its networking infrastructure streamlined and centrally managed, Alpine Resorts Victoria can focus on its core mission: delivering world-class alpine tourism experiences while supporting the businesses and communities that operate within its resort regions.
By combining pfSense Plus software, Netgate security gateway systems, and Netgate Nexus multi-instance management, ARV built a secure and scalable network foundation capable of supporting millions of visitors and thousands of seasonal workers each year.
About pfSense Plus software
pfSense Plus software, the world’s leading firewall, router, and VPN solution, provides secure network edge and cloud networking solutions for millions of deployments worldwide.
About Netgate Nexus
Netgate Nexus empowers operators to effortlessly manage hundreds of pfSense Plus instances through a secure, unified, and intuitive interface.
More Information:
Buy Now: https://shop.netgate.com/products/nexus-mim
Learn more: https://www.netgate.com/nexus
Contact us for a Proof Of Concept (POC) Trial and consultation.