When we moved in a year and a half ago, NWC Inc. was barely a twinkle in Lori MacVittie's eye. At the time, we had in-line booster fans added to the air conditioning and installed two extra air vents as well as air dump-outs into the hallway to prevent overpressure. For power, we had 14 additional 20-amp circuits added to the back half of the room.
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NWC Inc. Spotlight
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This setup served us fine for about nine months, until the amount of equipment in the lab outgrew what the air conditioning could handle. In-line booster fans were added to the dump-outs, and that kept things comfortable, more or less. The hot air we pumped into the hallway warmed the rest of the basement all winter without help from the furnace.
When planning for NWC Inc. we knew that the existing air conditioning would not be able to keep up. We consulted building management and American Power Conversion for a solution. APC suggested an excellent data-center cooling system, but it was designed for precise temperature and humidity control. In our space, with its sump pump and interior walls that go only as high as the drop ceiling, APC's precision equipment would have been a mismatch because it would have been constantly fighting outside factors not in our control. Instead, we installed a two-ton air conditioning unit, with the compressor outside and the heat exchanger/air handler mounted above our drop ceiling. (One of the saving graces of this location is the huge amount of space above the ceiling.)
The next issue was power. Until NWC Inc., we simply did not need redundant power anywhere except our communications rack. A rackmount APC 1400 was more than adequate to keep continuous power to our Quantum Snap 4100, DSL router, SonicWall firewall and Alteon WebSystems load-balancer. We consulted with APC again, and this time found an ideal solution: APC provided a PowerStruXure 12 kVa (kilovolt-ampere) UPS and four NetShelter VX racks. Sure, 12 kVa and four racks are indulgences now, but they ensure that we'll have room to expand.
The PowerStruXure required a 100-amp service unto itself, so we called in an electrician to wire us up a separate 100-amp service with a disconnect and about 10 feet of flex cable to let us move the rack housing the PowerStruXure around a bit. When the PowerStruXure and NetShelter VX racks came in, to our dismay, they didn't fit on the elevator. We ended up having the Otis Elevator repair guy remove the "headknocker" from the top of the elevator to get the racks in--they were simply too heavy to carry down the stairs. With the PowerStruXure safely in the lab, the electrician hooked up the UPS, the inspector inspected it and the facility was ready for NWC Inc.
Laying Network Pipes
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
