Work, an Anthology
I have to warn you that these pictures are pretty old. Various agreements have prevented me from posting pictures from my new workplaces, so you'll have to settle for these. :)
For two years I worked as a site administrator for a local Secondary School here in Oshawa. The experience was fulfilling in many ways, and has helped me to gain insight into the workings of a large-scale local area network when utilized by the most horrifying type of user of all - HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS!. {smile}
I've got a collection of photos here which I'll now share with you so that you, too, may get a glimpse of what I've been working with. (Mostly the equipment because, hey, that stuff turns me on! {wink!} ).
These pictures are provided for interest purposes only. Some people asked for them, so I posted them. Just pay no mind to the freaky looking tall guy who appears periodically. ;)
Equipment;
- Our T1
For the longest time we suffered through a 128k ISDN line for the entire building; students, staff, and administration alike. Finally, near the end of my time, we got a T1 and let me tell you - it's glorious! - New Rack (Cabinet)
Here lies the 'meat' of the new network. This cabinet holds the fibre backbone of the network, the new wiring drops (for the ground level), the PDC, and the student HTTP proxy / Internet server. - Old Rack
This is the original rack containing the beginnings of the building's network, upgraded over the years to accomodate the new high-end machines and the demands they placed on the network. - New Wiring Close-Up
Here's a better look at the wiring in the new rack. OooOOooOoh; fibre! Crunchy, and tastes like chicken! - New Wiring Drop
What you see tucked neatly in the corner is the new wiring drop. There aren't many CAT-5 cables because of those four wonderful flourescant orange cables you see tucked in there. Those cables each carry twelve fibre optic strands headed to each of the four IDFs scattered throughout the building. - Old Wiring Drop
Here lies the original drop of cables into the server room. These CAT-5 wires run to all ends of the building, for the initial purpose of serving hubs in class/work rooms and individual workstations in offices. Since the new drops were installed, a lot of these drops were rendered virtually obsolete and have been accordingly disconnected. - Primary Domain Controller
This, folks, is the PDC. The thing that dreams are made of. It's an IBM NetFinity 5500 M20 equipped with two Intel Xeon 500MHz processors, 1GB of PC133 SDRAM, six Ultra Wide 160 18GB SCSI hard drives on a RAID 5 array, and dual 100Base-TX NICs. Unfortunately all that power is being wasted on WinNT 4. :( - Student Internet Server
Here's a close-up of the student HTTP Proxy / Internet server. It's a puny Intel PII-400MHz with 128MB of PC133 SDRAM and a 6GB HDD; but we keep it around 'cause dismantling the cabinet is a royal PITA. The monitor above this server is actually for the NetFinity which which it sits atop of. The video for the Internet server is over on port 'C' of the ABCD switchbox on the old rack. - Administrative Workstation
This would be the workstation used most often by the administrators (Hey! That's us!). It's a small machine; an under-powered PII 400MHz, but it's also the most common machine type on the network so we have to be able to support it as fully as possible. (I still say we could support the network with a pair of Athlons, but noooo, apparently textbooks for classrooms was more important!). - Administrative Switch
When we upgraded all of our switches to the IBM 24-port models, we had this one lying around so we 'administratively re-allocated it' for our own pleasure and mis-treatment. On any given day it'll support as many as four machines and a network printer. Today, however, it's only got two machines. (But we'll get those Athlons yet!). - Network Printer
Ahhhh; speaking of a network printer! Here's one of the big beasts we use in the building. 8PPM and about 10k pages per toner cartridge. They are, however, quite tempermental {coughBITCHYcough} and will fail and/or jam on you at the drop of a hat. (That's why I don't wear a hat). - Truenorth and Babel
Here are the Microsoft Alternatives on the network. On the left, please allow me to introduce you to Truenorth, our friendly Linux server. Truenorth serves as the primary DNS server, master HTTP proxy server, backup server, file server, and all-round great machine in general. It does more than I could list in a whole fleet of HTML pages. (Oh, somebody stop me, I'm gushing!). Yes, Truenorth is my baby. I created him out of scrap parts from a previous server, suffered through a mediocre processor, HDD, and RAM allotment until finally the administratin buckled and sprang for our upgrade. On the right is Babel; the Novell server. It was the server that started the network and has been carried into the 21st century with a combination of blood, sweat, and copious quantities of tears. - Truenorth and the Office Cooling System
Focus your eyes upwards and you shall see Truenorth's interface (set to switch 'A' on the ABCD switchbox). Oh? And what do we have here? The over-worked, under-paid office cooling system has snuck into the frame! Yes, that's right, the administration doesn't understand how integral we are to the survival of the building and its occupants so they allotted us a mesely 19" fan to cool our abnormally hot office. - UPSs, Hard At Work
These two UPSs carry the load of all servers in the MDF. It's a big burden they must bear, but they do it amicably, and for that we thank them. (Yet still hope for a 30A service and a REAL UPS to arrive!) - Business Wing IDF
This IDF serves the business wing of the school, including the Cisco class. The upper cabinet holds four IBM 24-port switches below the first 48-port patch panel. The lower cabinet holds the second 48-port patch panel. - Media Centre IDF
This IDF serves the media centre (library) as well as the English and Math wings of the school. Since these wings don't require quite so many computers, only two switches are installed at the moment (with a third possibly to arrive shortly). - Media Centre
Here's one of two islands of computers in the media centre. See all the IBMs, sitting in a row? Yes, we breed conformity. I admit it. Now can we move on with our lives? - Old Workstations
Here lie some old high-end 486s that we're looking to re-allocate somewhere, possibly within the building, after a recent onslaught of new Pentium systems arrived. We'll find a home for them eventually, otherwise, can you say "Administrative Sleeping Bench"? - Server Lights
Finally, a piece de resistance (ok, just imagine there are accents in there!); a picture of the MDF with all the lights turned off. Unfortunately the digital camera we used isn't quite sensitive enough to light, so it can't accurately convey the true feeling of being in a NASA control room when those lights go out. But we thought we'd try and show you anyways. :)
Cisco;
- Overview of the Cisco lab
As the description says, this is the practical work-area of the Cisco room. In the background you can see the equipment rack, all loaded up with five Cisco Routers (1x 2514, 4x 2501) and two switches (1x 1924, 1x 1912). The hubs that normally adorn the rack appear to have been shelved at the moment. - Cisco Rack
A more close-up view of the Cisco equipment rack. Had I been thinking, I would have taken a side view or something more interesting, but hey, I'm a network engineer not a photographer, ok? - Cisco Cables
Here are the cables and assorted goodies that inter-connect the above routers. Those big, fat serial cables you see are unbelievably expensive!
Last but not least; Me!
- Me, Standing Around
That would be me - your friendly neighborhood webmaster. The guy sitting here at one in the morning typing out these captions by hand. The guy.. Oh, never mind, you get the idea. - Me, On Wheels
I've got WHEELS! The chair in which I'm sitting is the most sought-after chair in the place! It's got wheels, it's height-adjustable, it reclines, it twirls, it's got it all! Unfortunately the administration doesn't believe that we should maintain any level of creature-comfort, so our other chairs are all padded but immobile. :( - Me, Working on Truenorth
Here I am, working on my baby, Truenorth. (You can't see it, but that's a root prompt. MuAHAHA! The seat of power!)
Oh, and one other thing!
- Mystery Picture
I have no idea, either.
