DataBus - Vol 41 No. 1: December, 2000-January, 2001
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NOC Wrap-Up
Turn out the lights. That's about the only way that I was able to get the crowds out of the NOC at closing time. The NOC is always a popular place to check e-mail and see if we'd elected a President yet. This year we added two remote computers near the registration area to better serve the attendees. Both systems (Apple and HP) were state of the art with crisp flat-panel screens and were connected back to the NOC via wireless LAN technology. Wireless was used quite extensively this year. We used Apple's Airport technology to connect certain vendors in the vendor show area. Cisco wireless was used to provide connectivity to the main speaker breakout rooms and Lucent wireless technology powered the remote registration area. It was challenging at times to keep the frequencies from "stepping" on each other but careful planning along with the ability to make quick changes kept everything running smoothly. Another popular feature in the NOC again this year was the IP enabled telephone system provided by Cisco. Running over the Ethernet network, these phones were connected to the outside world and attendees could try the technology by making short phone calls outside the conference center. One group using the breakout rooms needed a phone to "conference in" another participant. Cellular service was limited and cell phones were having a tough time getting through. Vern Alvarado, who was helping keep the NOC running, quickly found a solution. Using Cisco's wireless LAN technology, he moved a CISCO In-line power switch into the meeting room, connected an IP enabled phone, and PRESTO! the phone call was in progress using the latest technology! Now for the acknowledgements. I'd like to thank Marty Eifrid and his crew from the Santa Barbara COE for helping in providing Internet connectivity, Marty Melendrez from AMP for the many hours he spent wiring up the NOC area, and Vern Alvarado, Jack Blaylock and Jeff Korfas for all of their help keeping things running so well. Jeff Sehi of Sehi Computer Products gave us the use of eight HP systems in the NOC and is also well deserving of our appreciation. Next year we'll be doing things a bit differently in the NOC. Terrell Tucker will be overseeing the project and if you have suggestions please forward those on to Terrell at . I hope you found the NOC to be an interesting part of this year's conference. I enjoyed working with the vendors this year and I hope that you learned a thing or two that you can use back at the office. I hope to see all of you in Monterey at the 41st Annual CEDPA conference and as someone semi-famous once said, "We'll leave the light on for you!" |
CEDPA