I finished off the physical design for the MDF and IDFs a while ago and thought I would take the time to post these in case you wanted to build your own 3000 person corporate conference at home. I am only covering off the network side of things below – there is a massive HP + Microsoft private cloud solution going in at the event that will need post(s) in its own right.

In terms of fast Internets

• 1000 mbps of Internet connectivity provided by Telstra Internet Direct. This is a high performance e-line service back to Telstra Internet Direct in the Charlotte St exchange (i.e. it is a wholesale/service-provider quality service, uncontended back to their core).
• An additional 500 mbps of Internet connectivity from Over The Wire as a redundancy option.
• BGP routing under our own AS9984 to make the best use of the combined link.
• IPv4 and IPv6.

In terms of WiFi

• Cisco 5508 WLC
• 50 x Cisco Aironet 1252 access points
• Each AP has 2 x radio interfaces (2.4 and 5GHz) for a total of 100 radios supporting 802.11a, b, g, and n

In terms of physical infrastructure

• 2 x Brocade CER units for core routing
• 2 gbps LACP core trunking between the routers, core switches and wireless LAN controller
• 1 gbps distribution network
• 77 switches deploying 2000+ ports of connectivity

IDF Physical Design

MDF Physical Design

Also available as a PDF export of the original VSD:

Project 3031 – Tech·Ed 2011 Network Design and Implementation (Microsoft Pty Ltd) – Network Design

If you have any questions then post them below.

In an event such as tech•ed, managing data cables is in itself, a job which could challenge the best of logistical minds.  There are over 1,200 Cat5e UTP cables to install or over 8,200m to lay down, plug into switches, test, secure to desks & stage plinths and of course plug into computers at the other end. Don’t forget the task of recollecting them all at the other end in a manner that doesn’t result in the biggest bunch of copper and plastic spaghetti in the world.

To help with the taming of this cable mammoth, a colour coding system is used to make what would normally be a challenging task just that little easier.  With experience, we’ve established the best combination of lengths. The colours were chosen based on what are standard available colours without the need for excessive custom makes :

• Grey Cables : 2m
• Yellow Cables : 3m
• Green Cables : 5m
• Orange Cables : 8m
• White Cables : 10m
• Purple Cables : 15m
• Blue Cables : 20m and over

The result is cable installers and the technology team can quickly identify the appropriate cable. It hasn’t always been like this. Before we had a colour coding system for the lengths we had a huge wastage issue with excess length. So much a number of years ago we reduced the cabling costs by 30%.

What happens to all of the cables after the event? You would appreciate the cost involved when replacing cables, not to mention the environmental impact. To maximise integrity, cables are used for no more than 2 events and so costs are amortised. If cables have been in trafficable areas, such as where trolleys and feet run over them, they are replaced after each event.  At the end of the event, the task of recollecting, rolling and sorting patch leads is job that may leave you chrysophobic, but the method of colour for length has made our “Where does that cable go” jigsaw easier to piece together.