AUK Data Center Redesign Project

In an effort to establish a sustainable Data Center that meets with AUK's future IT requirements as well as accreditation standards, Ms. Maha Khlat - Director of the IT department - has embarked on a project to re-design and re-organize the existing server room. The newly redesigned Data Center was inaugurated by Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Nizar Hamzeh on behalf of President Dr. Marina Tolmacheva on May 7th.

The importance of this project stems from the fact that a Data Center is the heart of the IT infrastructure. Given our dependency and reliance on IT systems to do our jobs, the project was quite critical to provide a healthy environment to AUK's servers and network and security appliances and it consisted of installing additional patch panels, cables and patch cords in the server room and in re-cabling and re-organizing all data center components. It had to be planned during a "slow" period since it was estimated that at least 3-4 days will be required to complete the project and all services would be unavailable during that time (Email service, Banner, Network, Internet, IP Phones). The President's Cabinet advised that it would be best to take advantage of the Spring mid-semester break (April 10th till April 18th) to plan for such a project. To further minimize downtime during working days, the IT team planned for the project to start on a weekend, and accordingly, the decision was made to conduct the project during the period starting on Friday April 10th and ending on Monday April 13th.

The IT team - Mr. Faeq Abu Khair, Mr. Shaik Sayeed and Mr. Hossam Omar - worked relentlessly with the cabling contractor's team for 12-14 hours a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to ensure that the project gets completed ahead of schedule and that all user services are reestablished impeccably and in record time. If it were not for the IT team's know-how and expertise with our systems, the project would have taken longer to complete and systems and services would not have been restored in a timely fashion.

The change was drastic and the outcome quite impressive. Consequently, and despite the fact that additional improvements are being planned (climate control and access control), AUK's current Data Center is definitely showcase material.
 

Dr. Nizar Hamzeh, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences & Ms. Maha Khlat, Director of the IT department inaugurates the new Data Center
 

Before images
 

After images