An Upgrade to the Network is Required!

April came and went in such a flurry, I did not have time to reflect on all that IS the technology and education world.  Our technology team spent much of March and April evaluating our hardwired and wireless networks.  Next, we developed a four (4) phase infrastructure upgrade plan. We have completed Phase I which was to  upgrade switches in closets where needed to provide the necessary GB ports to swap out our current 802.11g access points with the faster 802.11n access points.  As everyone knows, your infrastructure must be upgraded if it is to support the influx of personal wireless devices with BYOD as well as district issued laptops and digital devices such as iPads.  With our private cloud and portal for 24/7 access for students and staff, our current infrastructure is taxed.  Unfortunately the funding is not always available to meet the need.

Phase II is to actually replace the current access points, referenced in Phase I.  Phase III involves upgrading core switches to provide a 10 GB backbone on each campus and replace current local school servers with faster servers with 10 GB NIC cards.  It should be noted that district-wide applications are housed on virtual servers located in the District Technology offices and that local school servers are used primarily for file storage and grade/course level applications.  We have migrated many of our applications to cloud based applications but continue to install Microsoft Office to the local machine. 

For, Phase IV, we mapped out areas that may require additional access points due to anticipated use.

To write the four (4) phase plan, we physically visited each closet to ensure that our records were complete and accurrate.  I have never found a tool that did a perfect network inventory but then I am extremely detailed oriented.  Next, we spent weeks researching all of the various vendors that provide wireless solutions and 1 GB and 10 GB switches.  Our third step was to get preliminary quotes for possible solutions.

To date, we have secured funding for Phase I and part of Phase II but are working to secure funding for all four (4) phases.   However...I am a firm believer that the time to plan is when you don't have money so that you are ready to implement when you do.  More to follow as we progress.