News

Update of the school project SSCC Bauchriehm, summer 2025.

Beirut, September27, 2025 by Bart Timmermans

Due to the ongoing red travel advisory for Lebanon, we are unable to undertake on-location work at this time.

That is unfortunate as we have received excellent materials from sponsors that now remain unused. To proceed with this initiative, we require the expertise of a network specialist on site to ensure the seamless integration of the equipment. Transferring devices and plugging in plugs can present certain challenges.

Migration to new network cabinets:

In June 2025, my colleague Abdullah Aslan and I decided to implement a migration plan to the new network cabinets. This migration was to be carried out by local network administrators during the summer months, with remote support provided by myself and my colleague. Both network operators have limited to no experience with the work that was in the pipeline. This bold step was ultimately successful, though it required significant effort and foresight.

Concurrently, the power supply has undergone significant enhancement, enabling the operation of modern equipment on a continuous basis. The power supply will be discussed in a later story.

We began at the primary location in building B, where all essential equipment such as the Internet connection, firewall, network servers and switches, and UPS are situated. The primary challenge was the existing cabling infrastructure. It is advisable to avoid any modifications to this system, as any disruption, such as cable breakage or malfunctioning connectors, could compromise its integrity and potentially result in service interruptions. Given the limited resources available, troubleshooting cabling problems is a challenging and time-consuming process. The fiber optic box also had to be moved, a delicate process because repairs are simply not possible. Please find below an impression of the challenge.

The previous arrangement involved a small cabinet with CCTV equipment on the right that had to be integrated.

These images depict a completely full network cabinet; front and rear views.

Hagop and Michel proceeded with the installation of the new network cabinets, positioning them to the left and right of the existing network cabinet.

The first new network cabinet is shown here with Hagop and Michel in the background.

Following the installation of the new network cabinets, the transfer of equipment will commence.
The following overview was used as a guide for Hagop and Michel.

In practice, the process is as follows:

Hagop Michel There is an abundance of cable spaghetti.

WhatsApp used to receive directions.

Siem held his breath whilst the fiber optic box was moved.

The end result:

The television on the left is used for Teams meetings, the network cabinets are in the centre with the lithium UPS battery located on the right.

They then began with the knowledge they gained in building C, where a significant challenge also awaited.

The challenge The result

The last network cabinet in building D will be converted at a later date. There is a difficult challenge with the fiber optic cabling.

Building cabling:

The issue of building cabling remains unresolved.
Reports indicate that a local installer may be contracted to address issues related to cabling, including measurement, installation of cable ducts through buildings, and proper mounting of cabling in network cabinets on new patch panels. Regrettably, this approach has not yet yielded the desired results. Consequently, it remains necessary to continue utilizing the existing cabling and partially the previous Wi-Fi network. It is our hope that this will change in the near future. In the meantime, we are preparing for the possibility that we may need to take action when the time is right and we are given the green light to travel again.

Current status:

I am extremely proud of the work completed by Hagop and Michel. This project has been a long-term endeavor, requiring a significant investment of time. It involved the continuous exchange of photos with arrows, consultations, explanations, comments, and testing of remote network connections. However, the project has been successfully completed. The so-called Core environment is now available.
Consequently, we are now able to utilize a computer room in the final building (D). The subsequent steps are as follows: