Comm unit keeps Lajes connected

  • Published
  • By Capt. Michael Doersam
  • 65th Communications Squadron
LAJES AIR STATION, Portugal --  Every building has a communications closet and most likely uses it for a purpose other than what it should be used for. It is the duty of the 65th Communications Squadron Infrastructure Shop to maintain all the equipment in those racks.

“Our job is to make sure that all the wall boxes on base are connected to each other and the world,” said Tech. Sgt. William Patrick, NCOIC, Network Infrastructure.

“(U.S. Air Forces in Europe) is interested in making its own neighborhood watch for the comm closets,” said Staff Sgt. Rodney Boydston, technical controller. What this means is that from USAFE on down, communicators are concerned about the comm closets and the important equipment located inside.

“Each closet is the network lifeline for the whole building,” said Sergeant Patrick.

According to the infrastructure shop, comm closets should be locked and kept clear for the following reasons:

- Clutter in the closet presents a fire - Items stored in the closet can easily damage the network and the telephone equipment located in the racks

- If the closet is not locked, then anybody can gain access to vital components of the network

The infrastructure shop spends a large portion of their time doing preventative maintenance in comm closets. Keeping dust to a minimum, cables neatly arranged and the equipment in good working order ensures that when an actual network outage occurs we can quickly locate the problem without having to wade through a jungle of cables and wipe the dust off the status lights, said Sergeant Patrick.

“That’s also why we keep them locked: so we can prevent any sort of tampering, whether intentional or not, that may degrade network service or impede our efforts to locate problem areas,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to be able to resolve any network problems before the customer even notices an interruption in service. If you never have to call us and you don’t see us around, that means we’re doing our job.”

“The base has more than 1,800 computer drops that we monitor and manage,” said Staff Sgt. Carlton Young, Network Infrastructure technician.

A computer or LAN drop is the wall jack and cable that connects to the computer for access to the network.

The shop uses H.P. Openview to review the entire bases’ LAN drops every 15 minutes, polling for unwanted computers on the network. If the computer finds drops that have no computer connect to it, it alerts the technicians and they shut off that LAN drop.

“That’s why people think their computers aren’t working when they move the furniture in their office and change the computer from one drop to another,” explains Sergeant Patrick.