By Eric Butterfield, Editor,
School Construction News
Glenn
Meeks is president of Meeks Technology Group of Cary, N.C., which helps educational
organizations with technological planning and implementation. Meeks has worked in the
field related to audio systems, data networks, video networks, voice systems and wide area
networks for 20 years. One of the company’s current projects is the development of
infrastructure program documents for Clark County, Nev., School District, which is
implementing a construction and rehabilitation project with a technology budget of $90
million. The firm’s study of the costs of implementing educational technology is
posted on the Council of Educational Facility Planners International web page: http://www.cefpi.com.
How do the costs of installing computer network infrastructure compare for new
construction vs. renovation?
If we’re talking cabling, we do not
find any difference between new and old buildings. The cost differential is not the actual
technology but the cable pathways. That’s where the real differential is, and getting
the extra power to the older classroom.
Ninety percent of the buildings that the kids will
attend 10 to 15 years from now exist today. So the majority of getting technology into
educational facilities is renovating older buildings for technology.
When do you recommend that a school district use
fiber-optic cable and how many can afford to go that route?
We’ve tracked the copper versus fiber
issue since we started: When does one become more cost-effective? There is a system
architecture that IBM proposed about seven years ago called collapsed backbone, where
you’re running fiber from the headend room all the way to the classroom, then putting
an electronic device-a hub-in the classroom. When we first started, about 5-1/4 data ports
was the break-even point. In other words, in 1994 if you were going to install six data
ports in the classroom, it was less expensive for you to put fiber to the classroom and
the electronics in the classroom, with the headend stuff you need to make all that work,
than it was to pull six Category 5’s from the wiring closet to the classroom.
It’s a labor issue.
Today, that price is three data ports. Forget
performance, we’re saying simply less expensive.
How many students per data port are we talking?
Most people are trying to move to a
four-to-one or five-to-one student-to-computer ratio. So the number of data ports is
really a function of the average number of students in the classroom.
How many file servers per computer do you recommend a school district buys?
The trend that we’re seeing in
schools follows corporate America. We say, one file server for every 50 computers. You
want to provide access close to the people who use that information. We’re not saying
physically close but logically close. In other words, if I’m a person who accesses a
file server, the way I want to set up my network is that I always have direct access to
that file server quickly. I don’t want everyone in a 300-person corporation to access
the same file server-you’re going to have some real major bottlenecks at that point.
What we’re saying is multiple file servers: a science
file server, administration, an English file server, etc. They’re applications
servers. The main thing is that you want to buy software that lives on the network, not on
an individual computer. For example, a science software package that gives me 50 seats can
be set up to where it prioritizes the science labs that need the software. But if the labs
aren’t using the software, then a student who’s in the library who needs to
finish an assignment can still pull up that software or pull it up from home-the whole
point being it’s on the network, not on that individual computer.
On the opposite side, the problem with multiple servers
means you have to have the technical capacity for someone to service all those things.
There are a number of districts where the trend is to have one very large server instead
of, you know, eight servers at $5,000 to $6,000 a piece. They’re buying one big
$35,000 to $40,000 server that never fails. It’s a very robust, very heavy duty
device. The main reason for that is you only have to go one place to fix anything.
