Had an interesting day unvieling a systems plan designed around the retrofit of the Municipal complex's data systems. I have been working on a plan for the past two weeks that would completely overhaul the present system and turn it towards a viable entity based on the processing needs that are required for today's information requirements. Sounds very sophisticated but not really. This is tried and true data processing design. Start with the infrastructure and build your way out. The better you prepare for the transport mechinism the better the overall design of the system. I have always overbuilt on the cabling plant and I still really don't believe in wireless connections so my advice is always to lay the most wire that you can and then find a couple of more spots to wire some more. It will be no exception with the city complex either. First off, will be the building of a fiber backbone shaped in a star topology that will accommodate the data transport and allow no one connection to be more than once removed from the fiber. We also will be building a new tech center that will house the new server systems for the complex. The center will tie in all the fiber connections as well as enable the installation of new drops in several areas of the complex. The City, Police, Construction Office, etc. will be connected on this net as well. There will a couple of "outside" connections as well and they will be used to connect the Senior Citizens Offices as well as the budget office in the front of the complex. The Police Department will also be connected through this system for both email and server systems. There are some new systems designated to be placed into operation in the near future that will also be housed in the new center. This first cut of the cabling plant design was very inclusive but still we will need to fully construct a site map that will give us every location, numbered and identified throughout the complex. Off this site map I will be able to ensure that all connections will be up and operatonal and most importantly, always lit.
The server systems are the next to flush out and since they will be run the bulk of the operations in the complex I will wait till the next post to go into more detail about them. Suffice it to say that I am excited about this project. It really will help to regenerate my interest in this type of project again since I am mostly relegated to more administrative duties this time of the year.
One of the nicest things that I have seen in the past few months was the site of a classroom full of second graders using one of our new lab areas today. Now there were some happy campers and their teacher told me they were not only having fun but they were learning the number system off of a math web site that he had decided to use since he now had access to the necessary equipment available for their use. Till next post.
8:53:03 PM 
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