My name is Nathan, I’m the Technical Services Manager here at GCCEC.  A lot of people ask me what Microsoft need off the venue and assume it’s plugging some computers into the venue’s network and all is done however this isn’t as easy as it sounds.  As you can see from the other posts on backstage we have run into a few hiccups with Tech.Ed 09.

My office at the top of the arena.. 'the loft'

First up,  the guys at codify specified to have their own independent network from edge to core.  In the past they have had some issues using the venues current production network  so the decision was made to drop a separate network in.  Codify and Jomablue sourced the appropriate hardware and we installed all the switches in the MDF and the 13 IDF’s around the place, and used our fibre infrastructure for the back bone. All the main backbones are 1GB fibre and from there it breaks down to trunked 100MB ports to the managed switches out on the floor and breakout rooms. The codify team has network monitoring of the entire network as well as remote alarms .

I’ve also had the fun task of dealing with all the contracts relating to the installation of new services within the building specifically for this event and yes we have a lot of bandwidth with redundant links and if all else fails,  then have  an adsl2 backup (might be a bit slow for the 3000+ devices on the network).  Internally we have been planning for this event for well over 12 months, and technically I have been working for the last 5 months on this event. This event by far is the most stressful technology event we have at GCCEC however the team running the event makes it all go very smooth for us.  There are many things that go on behind the scenes to make this event possible for you guys from all the food (you all eat so much) to the 1000’s of bottles of drinks you will drink.

Another large element of Tech.Ed is the AV production to make it all look cool. Apart from the pallets of computers there is 1 shipping container & 3 semi-trailer loads of sound/vision & lighting equipment setup to make Tech.Ed happen.  There is also a lot of work done in relation to power & load sharing.  Do the math.. 2500 netbooks.. 400 odd PC’s = a lot of power + all the production equipment means you need to do a lot planning around this.  There has been a team of workers working in the keynote room for 3 days installing power boards into the seating so you can recharge your netbooks whilst you are in the keynote room and this is just one example of the things that go on outside the technology realm to make Tech.Ed what it is today.

Foxtel on the BIG Screen

- Nathan