Starting on 4 April 2002 and working for several days, SCD's Network Engineering and Telecommunications Section (NETS) reconfigured network connections in the NCAR Computer Room. The upgrade provides more efficient networking for servers that provide web authentication, gateway, and email service to all of UCAR.

Until last week, the Ethernet switch controlling the network was on the other side of the Computer Room -- and because so many servers are mounted together in close proximity to one another on vertical racks, the cable and fiberoptic cable connections between them (ranging in capacity from 10/100 megabits per second to 1 gigabit per second) are dense and complicated. To simplify and optimize the network configuration, NETS engineers rerouted and shortened a hundred cables, removed the old switch, and installed a new, dedicated Cisco Catalyst switch next to the servers.

Above left: David Mitchell, project lead, monitors network performance while Rick Mumford (left) and Fabian Guerrero (rear) assist. Above center and right: Fiberoptic cable hangs from server racks waiting to be connected to the appropriate servers.

Photos: Lynda Lester/SCD