The IT Troubleshooter @ Interop NYC

This week the IT Troubleshooter is hanging out at the InteropNET network operations center (NOC) in New York. You can check out the NOC through one of the four live webcams. InteropNET is the the world's largest temporary network, built as a living lab of best-of-breed technologies. Fourteen vendors including AGN, APC, Avaya, Citrix, Computer Associates, Cyclades, Extreme Networks, Fluke Networks, Infoblox, Network General, Gigamon Systems, Juniper, Splunk and Quest have commited gear, software and people to run internet access for the Interop trade show.

The NOC consists of twenty crack system administrators and a handful of help desk support staff working together to set-up, manage and troubleshoot the InteropNET systems. A total of 60 people make up the complete InteropNET team.

The network installation starts on-site at 6:00 am Friday and is delivered by Monday in time for the beginning of the show. Troubleshooting in this type of just-in-time environment can be pretty arduous given the timeframes and the range of technologies to integrate. The network uses 6000 feet of fiber and 20,000 feet of CAT 5 cable. The 802.11a/b/g wireless network has to cover about 200,000 square feet. Internet access to the outside world is a 45Mb DS3 circuit. To read more about the InteropNET mission and the journey towards it's exisitence read an interview with Glenn Evans, Interop's Lead Network Engineer.

These savvy system administrators have some great stories about cutting edge troubleshooting problems and techniques. Over the next few days I'll be bringing you some of their tales. Stay tuned.