[indiana-discuss] [osol-discuss] OpenSolaris Developer Summit Oct 13 - 14

[Al Hopper]

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007, Keith Bierman wrote:

>
> On Aug 23, 2007, at 12:26 PM, Kaiwai Gardiner wrote:
>
>>
>> Not to sound too stupid, but what is the purpose for the phone line in
>> relation to the conference?
>
> Assuming that there is something other than a free for all in the
> meeting room(s), people who can't make the conference in person may
> be able to get something out of the discussion (listen only/webcast)
> or possibly even contribute (conference call).
>
> As long as there is sufficient cell strength or networking
> capability, attaching to conventional conference call services is an
> option (assuming adequate funding ;>) that can handle either use
> case. No doubt pure networking solutions and other creative
> approaches are possible.
>
> Of course, if the entire point is to get people into the same room,
> then the technology is irrelevant ;>
>

Agreed.  But if its a "real" hi-tech conference, then the organizers 
should drag in a temporary T3 (yes 45mBits) or, at a minimum, a 
dedicated 10Mb wireless link from a local WISP for the conf and setup 
Asterisk for VOIP and a couple of dedicated wireless routers for the 
conf attendees.

Don't leave connectivity to chance - college campuses are notorious 
for lousey and vastly overloaded internet connectivity.  Is it likely 
that there will be *any* attendees present without a laptop and 
expectations of decent internet connectivity? (rhetorical question)

Preliminary spec for conf connectivity:

1) 45Mb T3 (landline) or 10Mb WISP connection
2) two 100Mb (minimum) wired dedicated LAN ports per seat
3) 100% switched LAN topology
4) 2 or 3 wireless routers with firewalling by MAC address
5) four 120V A/C outlets per seat
6) dedicated firewall (OpenSolaris based ?)
7) dedicated conf server (Web, NFS etc)(could also provide the 
firewall functionality). Gigabit connectivy (4 ports), and 500Gb+ of 
(ZFS) based storage.
8) VOIP asterisk server to allow for inbound conf calls
9) temp VOIP conf call provider
10) 5 or more VOIP phones for use by conf attendees
11) "box of" CAT5 cables and power strips
12) box with 2 or 3 DVD burners and copies of latest/greatest 
Sun/OpenSolaris and 3rd party distributions (on the NFS server). blank 
DVDs.
13) 5+ Sun Rays for use by conf attendees who don't have laptops

Note: Gaming event organizers do this routinely [0] and provide power 
& cooling, connectivity and firewalling for hundreds of physco [1] 
gamers for short duration gaming events.  It does not have to look 
pretty - it just has to work well!

[0] http://www.quakecon.org/images/news/wendigo_byoc_04_panorama.jpg

[1] term of endearment - but also indicates a demanding and 
potentially agressive/abusive user of internet bandwidth.

PS: Often, event organizers ask other companies to sponsor the 
equipment and raffle off the hardware at the conclusion of the conf. 
[attendees must be present on both days of the conf to be eligible for 
the raffle]

Regards,

Al Hopper  Logical Approach Inc, Plano, TX.  al at logical-approach.com
            Voice: 972.379.2133 Fax: 972.379.2134  Timezone: US CDT
OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB) Member - Apr 2005 to Mar 2007
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/ogb/ogb_2005-2007/