Last spring, aging equipment was replaced in the Network Operations Center (NOC). Four closet-sized rectifiers and a large transformer (whimsically dubbed "Old Sparky" by the NOC team) were unplugged and unbolted, then carefully scooted out of the building, to make room for new replacements. The changeout was scheduled for the middle of the night during Spring break in case anything went wrong, but happily, everything went according to plan.

Brent Hammond supervised the operation, saying recently that "the rectifiers have been in full production since the Spring break migration, without incident. They are completely powering all of our NOC DC (Direct Current) powered infrastructure and have provided us with improved power redundancy for DC powered equipment."

More upgrades are scheduled for the near-term, including AC (Alternating Current) systems. Brent continued, "The new inverter is not in full production yet, we are working with facilities to upgrade the conduit, wiring, and panels to provide upgraded 3-phase power to the North side of the building. This work will continue through the rest of the Summer. When it is complete we will rebalance our AC power load between the North and South sides of the building to provide more power systems redundancy for all the critical AC powered equipment servicing our voice and data networks."

What does this mean for our campus? The upgraded equipment last Spring, and the work underway now is a crucial upgrade of these redundant power systems. If an backup power system fails, this configuration increases the resiliency of our equipment by powering one side of our highly available equipment with a completely separate and upgraded backup power system. In the case of a sustained power failure, these redundant backup power systems can maintain campus services.