November 2001 — ConnectEd
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Fiber to the School Desk
Today's youth has become the video
generation. The Internet has replaced the encyclopedia. E-mail has
replaced writing letters or making phone calls. And local TV
programming has been overshadowed by broadband broadcasting. To keep 
up with this generation, many schools have enrolled in interactive
programs, video-on-demand and distance learning. But to run these
high-bandwidth intensive programs, many schools are finding that
their installed cabling systems are not adequate and need to be
replaced.
"We feel challenged because we are ahead of the curve," says Toby Lytle, RCDD (registered communications distribution designer) and network consultant for T.S. Lytle Inc. Lytle is referring to the advanced cabling infrastructure that is being installed in the Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The school is now on the leading edge because of a sophisticated cabling infrastructure from Ortronics Inc., a cabling systems manufacturer. The infrastructure allows fiber optic connectivity to the desk in every classroom, high-speed Internet access, Cisco IP/TV, distance learning and an enhanced video broadcast system.
"Within five years we choked our old network, which was running 10 shared megabits across the network. We may be running 100 switched megabits today, but applications for tomorrow are already at gigabit and probably terabit speeds. We want to make sure that we have an infrastructure in place to handle the rapidly evolving technology and applications," says James Banks, director of technology for the Barbers Hill Independent School District. "Budgets for schools are a very critical issue. When we reviewed products that could efficiently address our myriad of applications in a timely and cost-effective manner, we looked to our network consultants to provide us with the right mix of resources," he says.
They selected OptiMo, a complete fiber optic system from Ortronics, which includes an all fiber backbone with fiber to the classrooms, fiber to each video monitor and fiber access to their mobile lab of laptops. They also installed coax for video and the PA systems with dark fiber for future applications and Category 5e cabling for voice. OptiMo is a high-capacity, high-performance fiber optic structured cabling system featuring the broadest selection of interconnect options available. This end-to-end optical solution includes FiberMo cable management racks, ORMMAC fiber distribution cabinets, and Series II workstation outlets with MTRJ and mini-mod fiber modules with plug-and-play capabilities.
The classroom TVs will be connected to the teacher station via a VGA cable, and images projected on the classroom TV will come through the Cisco IP/TV server. Instead of the typical PA systems, they installed a new messaging system consisting of coax for video so that rolling messages can be displayed on 36" TVs, which are connected to the head-end device via coax cable.
Fiber Makes the Grade
In planning for the introduction of technology into the new Barbers Hill High School, two issues needed to be addressed. The first centers on the network architecture, or infrastructure, that would be deployed throughout the school. The second was the amount of bandwidth that would be needed to support the technologies. "Two years ago we had no cabling infrastructure. The construction of the new high school prompted us to look at all cabling infrastructures and options," says Banks. "We wanted to build a school using fiber optic technology and be a model, but at a reasonable cost."
