Switzerland is justly proud of how its public
education system prepares students for the
world of commerce and industry. Technical
high schools such as Berufsfachschule BBB
in the northern canton of Aargau have
fulfilled this role for many years by
providing a variety of vocational courses to
people working for local businesses.
Released from work for up to one and a half
days per week, students study a range of
subjects for up to four years. Courses include
cookery, automation, electronics,
hairdressing, IT, motor mechanics and
robotics.
Created in 1999 by the union of the
municipality’s vocational and commercial
schools, Berufsfachschule BBB originally
occupied five buildings throughout Baden,
Switzerland. Recently it relocated to a
redeveloped industrial site north of the
town previously occupied by ABB and
Alstom, two major engineering companies.
The new futuristic-looking school, with its
impressive architectural lines and glass
construction, fascinates visitors by its open
design and marvellous play of light which
reflects the school’s ethos of transparency.
BBB comprises the reconditioned
Martinsberg building, the new
Bruggerstrasse site and a sports centre. 2,170
students and over 100 staff currently attend
the school.
ProCurve Networking – the natural choice
“IT has always played an important role
throughout the school,” explains Hanspeter
Vogt, head of IT teaching and IT manager,
BBB. “Not only is it paramount for our
teaching methods, it is also essential for
staff and administration functions.”
“As e-learning techniques and other IT
requirements expanded, the network
linking the original five buildings soon
revealed its limitations. Performance
certainly was a major issue, especially when
traffic volumes were heavy during peak
times. Security also became a concern. To
make matters worse, maintaining the
network was proving expensive – each year
we were paying a considerable amount of
money for additional bandwidth. Moving to
a new site was an ideal opportunity to
remedy these problems and simultaneously
gain the technology we needed for the
future,” explains Vogt.
Through a well established relationship
with ProCurve Networking and its local
partner, Niederer Electronic AG, BBB
approached ProCurve Networking directly.
“We wanted a reliable partnership; one that
would provide excellent consultancy and
support us throughout this challenging
project. The combination of ProCurve and
Niederer Electronic AG seemed the natural
choice,” adds Vogt.
Virtual LANs
After BBB had defined its requirements,
ProCurve Networking proposed Virtual Local
Area Networks (VLANs) as the solution.
Individual VLANs would handle classroom
education, school information,
administration, and assorted services.
One VLAN would even control the window
blinds.
The new network comprises 2,800
connection points and 300 kilometres of
fibre optic or copper cable, linking the two
main buildings which are 350 metres apart.
It unites the school’s 23 HP servers and 450
computers as well as numerous other IT
devices within the classrooms and
administration offices. To provide a scalable
and reliable infrastructure, two multilayer,
high port density ProCurve 5406zl switches
are used in the core of the network – one in
each building. Two 10 Gb Ethernet modules
provide a high-speed link between the
buildings, ensuring high performance.
Ninety award-winning ProCurve 3500yl
series switches have also been installed to
offer advanced intelligent edge capability
for future infrastructure development plans.
Both the ProCurve Switch 3500 series and
ProCurve Switch 5400 series are advanced
layer switches that embrace the Adaptive
EDGE Architecture™ conceived by ProCurve
Networking. By offering effective control
from the centre, and intelligence and
decision making at the edge of the network,
they are ideally suited to organisations such
as BBB where performance, security and
scalability are important priorities. These
switches also simplify deployment,
operation and maintenance, and provide
excellent value for money.
Competent partners and an excellent
network yield the tools for the future
When the school was completed and the
new network operational, dignitaries
marvelled at the quality of the premises, its
IT capabilities and the services offered to
local students. Modern e-learning
equipment was clearly visible including
presentation tables that incorporate
overhead projectors, DVD/video players as
well as the notebooks and video beamers
required to operate active whiteboards.
“These are the sort of tools we need for the
future. But to use this advanced equipment,
it’s vital we have a very good network; one
with high speed and high bandwidth,”
continues Vogt. “Large projects such as this
can only be realised with strong,
professional and competent partners. We
truly value ProCurve’s specialised
knowledge, flexibility and ability to keep a
cool head during hectic times.”
Thanks to ProCurve Networking, BBB now
offers students and staff the quality
educational services they need for the
twenty-first century. Not only is the new
network geared to satisfy future demands, it
is fast, reliable, secure, and easy to run and
maintain. The school also expects to make
significant savings on the cost of ownership
due to lower running and support costs.
“ProCurve Networking provided total
support during this project. They were there
to help us throughout the consultation and
proposal phases, and during the roll-out
process. Without this support, we could not
have realised such a cost-effective system,”
concludes Vogt.
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