More photos of the BIVAC job

See more photos of our recently completed networking job at BIVAC, which we blogged about earlier.

Please note this pictures are of work during the project. They depict the enormous task we had!

Photos by Daniel Collins

Networking Project at BIVAC

Contributed by Jonathan Barwon

NATC recently completed a networking job at the Bureau Veritas Inspection Valuation Assessment and Control (BIVAC) offices. 

What was our goal? Following the initial technical survey that was carried out by the Head of Operation Mr. Haresh Karamchandani and Head of IT Mr. Jonathan D. Barwon,  the goal of this networking job was to replace all damaged network cables and cable channels;  to make sure that all cables are well labeled and arranged in channel; and also creating new data points in some offices and departments. Our job was spread over a 3-floor building. 

The solution also included installation of a 9u server rack with a switch to give internet access to all users on the ground floor.

See the 'before' pictures. 

 

 

Implementation: We started the work on March 12, 2014 which was on a Wednesday. We were asked by the Administrator of BIVAC to work only on a weekends and holidays, reason was that they are very busy during the week days and cannot let go a day without work. 

Ground floor or first floor So, we started work from the ground flood in the data center or customer care center which is on the left side of the first floor. We setup a Cisco 24-port switch to connect all users on the ground flood to access the network. The 24-port Cisco switch is getting internet connection from a network cable coming from the Server room (IT Office). We created eight (8) new dual-port data points which is 16 data points in the customer care center and three (3) data points for the three (3) Receptionists' desktop. We also created five (5) dual-port data points which is ten (10) data points in the Program Department, which is on the right side of the first floor. All the network cables are connecting directly from the Server room. 

The Server Room is located on the third floor of the building.

We passed the cables from the top of the building as you can see in the picture below; the team is at work try to pass the network cable into PVC pipe from the top of the building or the third floor where the IT room or Server room is located.

 

The second floor of the building is hosted or been used by the Country Manager (CM), General Manager (GM) and the Secretary to the Country Manager (CM).

We set up an eight (8) ports Cisco switch in the secretary's office to give internet access to six (6) data points on the second floor. The Country Manager (CM)'s two (2) data points are getting internet access  from the Server Room. The total number of data points on the second floor is ten (10).

The third floor of the building is used by the IT Department/Server Room, HR Office, Finance Office and Maintenance Manager Office. Data points were installed as follows: two (2) data points in the Maintenance Manager's office; six (6) data points in the Finance Office;  two (2) data points in the HR Office; and four (4) data points in IT Room for the IT manager. All of the connections are from the 48 ports Cisco switch in the IT Room or server Room.

We also connected two (2) data points in the LAB Building. The cable is coming connecting from the 24-Port switch on the ground floor.

The job took 3 weeks to complete.

See a picture of neatly arranged cables in the server room.

Photos by Jonathan Barwon

A day at NATC

Photos by Luca Varaschini 

An ad for the Liberia Yellow Pages

This is an ad designed by our very own Luca Varaschini for the Liberia Yellow Pages. 

Completed Networking Job at the Ministry of Lands Minds and Energy

Contributed by Daniel Collins

NATC recently completed a networking job at the Ministry of Lands Minds and Energy (see earlier post) which we started back in February. The project involved networking two training halls, two offices and a server room. Due to power fluctuations and changing of plans from the client's management, the job lasted for more than a month.

The first hall carried 30 data points/wall boxes while the second hall carried 25. The two offices carried 3 data points each.

With instruction from our Head of IT (Jonathan Barwon), I was assigned in one of the halls to terminate 25 data points/wall boxes on the floor.

We made a total number of 55 drop down cables for their desktops. In the Sever room, we mounted the Sever rack where the Cisco VPN router, 24&48 Ports Cisco switch, Power On Ethernet box (POE) and the Server was configured and setup.

A Cisco router was configured and mounted in the two training halls for Wi-Fi signal.

During this job, I was also attending to client calls and conducting maintenance as well.

A Note From the Head of Operations

1^st Quarter Report from the Desk of Haresh Karamchandani – Head of Operations

The year has started with a BANG! A big BANG!

Let me begin with the highs:

We were awarded a prestigious LAN contract with one of the Government Ministries. A World Bank sponsored project where we installed an HP Proliant DL380 G7 server with Rack Mount KVM Console TRIPP LITE B021-000-19 1U, APC Netshelter Racks, A 25KVA Pure Sine Wave Inverter with Battery Bank which provides back up power for up to 12 hours. We also installed various CISCO switches, Access Points, did the LAN cabling in specially procured cable channels from Italy.

The job has been successfully concluded and handed over to the happy client. Payment has been promptly received!

We also received a contract from a Government Agency for supply of Heavy Duty Color Laserjet HP 575dn Multifunction Printers and HP 525dn MFP’s along with high spec Laptops with Microsoft Visual Studio software, NVidia Graphics, High end 4^th Generation i7 Processors. The equipment will be supplied soon as they are expected from our US supplier early next week.

We also got a contract for training a group of 20 staff of a prestigious automobile agency in Monrovia for Microsoft Office Word/Excel/Powerpoint. Our head of admin Osman Fofanah prepared the required training material and has diligently completed the training today.

He moves on to training some Church officials in Quickbooks soon.

We also were awarded a contract to completely revamp a Government Agency Website. We look forward to executing this job soon.

Besides the above there were many new contracts for LAN jobs, supplies etc which has kept us extremely busy. This is one of the reasons this 1^st quarter report has been delayed!

Now the Low: (the only low):

One of our trainee technicians goofed up at a premium client site. He was supposed to bring a Desktop computer to our IT Lab for diagnostics and it was very purile of him to leave the desktop CPU in another clients office instead of bringing it to our office. And he completely forgot about this! The client has been furious and has decided to suspend our contract until we meet with them next week and try and convince them that this kind of purile behavior will not be repeated again.

The CEO has been on a break since February 21 and the office atmosphere is relaxed. Good thing as well as bad, as when the CEO is around things are more organized and disciplined.

We miss her!

A typical day at NATC

Luca, the graphic designer, is fiddling around with a blower in the lab.
Is he trying to come up with a new artistic idea?

Osman, our new admin/finance officer, is at his desk, crunching those numbers. 

Photos by Luca Varaschini

Protecting your internet for you

Contributed by Luca Varaschini

Even on sundays, NATC won't rest! 

As you can see, infact, the Head of Operations, Mr. Haresh K. - concerned about optimal internet access for the companys' clientele - keeps an eye on the ocean, checking that no boat, submarine or fish dare disturb the ACE cable system  (ACE: African Coast to Europe).