The next time you send an email or hunt for a web site on the Internet, your connection may go through a little faster courtesy of Ceitronics. Ceitronics has just wired a new, warehouse-size state-of-the-art co-location facility in Northern California for a leading Internet provider.

The fast track project, wired by Ceitronics in 30 days, allows the network operations center to offer enhanced co-location and complex hosting services to businesses in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is a high growth market for Internet server “farms” because of the strong demand for co-location service, which allows a company to connect directly into the Internet backbone at super high speeds without having to invest in expensive infrastructure.

This Northern California data center is constructed to deliver the high-speed performance and high level of security necessary to run business-critical applications over the World Wide Web. Web servers within the facility provide a complete line of options, including dedicated and shared web hosting, co-location, electronic commerce solutions, groupware and application housing, and hosting of professional services.

Network operations centers such as this one, more commonly called co-location (or Co-Lo) facilities or Internet server farms, function like complex switching, warehouse and storage stations to host and route the global traffic of the Internet. The Silicon Valley server farm manages an enormous amount of traffic coming into the building. Ceitronics, under the direction of project manager Mike Lopez, wired all the major areas of the data center, including:

The Telco Room: Ceitronics wired this space, which functions as the main point of entry into the building, with fiber optic cable so that cables can be cross connected to in-house cables or customer-owned cables. It serves as the demarcation point for incoming and outgoing traffic.

The Network Room: Ceitronics wired this nerve center, where Internet signals come in via fiber optic cable from the Telco Room, go through core routers, and then travel into aggregate switches. There are two aggregate switches, one for the managed area, and one for the Co-Lo area. Once a signal reaches an aggregate switch, it is then dispersed throughout the building through “smart switches” and switching hubs to the destination servers. There are four switching hubs per room in the managed area. Switching hubs for the Co-Lo area are kept in the Network Room.

The Managed Area: Here, the co-location technicians host and manage equipment, servers and operating systems for the Internet applications of various businesses in Silicon Valley. Ceitronics ran 12 strands of fiber from the Network Room to each one of 12 communication (com) cabinets in the managed area. Each com cabinet is filled with multi-port patch panels, top to bottom. Patch cords can be plugged and unplugged to various ports as needed. From each com cabinet, Ceitronics ran 36 Category 5 cables to each of 108 host cabinets. Each host cabinet has 48 port patch panels, and a switch and other connectivity equipment. Servers and their applications are stored within the cabinets.

The Co-Location Area: In the Co-Lo room management provides secure equipment space and high speed Internet backbone connection to some 200 businesses and private owners. These clients manage their own operating systems and servers and use their own equipment. Ceitronics ran six Category 5 cables from the network room to each of the 144 co-location cabinets. Servers and their applications are stored within the cabinets.

The data center features an on-site staff, including operations personnel and engineers. Customers can depend on 24 hour-a-day technical support. Security is tight, with a fully equipped card access system, security cameras and a guard. Customers also have on-site access to work stations with private desks, telephones, and computer connections. Internet farm customers can choose between a managed hosting solution or a co-location solution. Managed hosting is the deluxe model, and includes the management and maintenance of operating systems and applications. Under this plan, the network operations center installs the server, and makes sure that it is always up and running and that all operating systems are current.

Co-location service is more of a “handoff,” offering businesses a “one hop” to the Internet backbone. Co-Lo customers receive a cabinet and a connection to the Internet, as well as security, but are responsible for their own equipment maintenance and management.

Ceitronics was retained for the project because it is one of the few Silicon Valley telecommunications contractors that could comply with a highly compressed time schedule. The project was completed within five weeks this spring. Ceitronics ran multi-shifts seven days a week throughout the project. Ceitronics completed 12,000 connections with 6,000 cables within the 30-day time frame. A total of 3,000 man-hours were involved. Cable lengths ranged from 30 feet up to 200 feet.

“It was a challenge, but not something new to the company,” said project manager Lopez, who worked with Ceitronics superintendent Bruce Utzerath and foreman Les Pappas to complete the job. “Ceitronics frequently finds itself doing jobs on a tight time frame, so we didn't have to spend too much time thinking about it. We’ve got a framework of people who make things start to happen once they are put into action.”

For more information about how Ceitronics wires the Internet, contact President Aaron Colton directly at 408-452-5000 or email him at aaron@ceitronics.com.

Illustrations
1. Anatomy of an Internet Server Farm (outside)
2. Anatomy of an Internet Server Farm POSTER! Available Down

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