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Cox
and Dinkins, Columbia, SC
Definition
and Objectives:
When Matrix Consulting, LLC became involved with Cox and Dinkins,
Inc. our intentions were not project based. Matrix Consulting,
LLC was asked to partner with the management team, support personnel,
and the user community to provide a complete technology solution.
The scope of our involvement is broad. The following paragraphs
outline the implementations completed at Cox and Dinkins. This
is an example and reference for our Partner Program. We are involved
in everything from daily network administration to supplying the
tapes used for backup each night and maintaining appropriate inventory
of toner cartridges. We have developed a partnership that provides
Cox and Dinkins with "one stop shopping".
Cox and Dinkins, Inc. needed several upgrades to their existing
network. The installed network at Cox and Dinkins. consisted of
three separate networks: one for survey personnel, one for the
engineering group, and one for general office personnel. These
networks did not communicate with each other thus limiting the
interaction between groups. Cox and Dinkins was also running two
different platforms on their servers - Novell NetWare and Microsoft
NT. Neither provided Internet access or email.
They had several areas of interest for upgrades. The first recommendation
was to create a single unified network on which all users could
share resources. The second recommendation was to convert to a
single network server operating system. With the intention of
moving the day-to-day operations to the customer, we recommended
Microsoft NT server.
Infrastructure Opportunities:
The office space at Cox and Dinkins consisted of two buildings
next to each other. One building had been cabled with unshielded
twisted pair and had a patch panel and plug in adapters at each
workstation. In the other building there was a mesh of coaxial
cable around the building that had been put together as the company
grew. Matrix Consulting, LLC recommended to convert the entire
physical network to unshielded twisted pair. This upgrade would
allow the network to run faster, allow trouble with a cable segment
to be narrowed to only one workstation or segment, and locate
central administration in one closet. Instead of being in a bus
(or daisy chain) configuration where, like a string of Christmas
lights, if one computer caused a problem all computers were down
- we configured it to isolate problems to a single computer, thus
allowing quicker problem resolution.
Connectivity between the buildings was another challenge. Regular
cabling had been strung from roof to roof to connect both buildings.
As the cable had been struck by lighting at least once, we found
it necessary to re-evaluate the connection. The best solution
seemed to be fiber optic connection: huge bandwidth, flexibility
of signal, and an immunity to electrical attraction. Matrix thus
solved the issue of connectivity between buildings.
Solutions:
Internet Email
Several employees at Cox and Dinkins needed to exchange files
and messages with other companies. The status quo was to take
a diskette containing the data to a single person in the company
and have that person email the data to the remote recipient via
a single dial up email account. Matrix Consulting, LLC recommended
a server-based email solution that would provide email through
a local server to every employee. We implemented a Microsoft Exchange
Server as the solution which provided both inter-company mail
and Internet mail for all users. With this solution, the administrator
at Cox and Dinkins could add and delete accounts without having
to call a remote company or worry about monthly costs. All users
could now send and receive any type of electronic message. The
monthly cost was approximately $150 for demand dial transmission
of email to the Internet from the server.
Upgrades to Personal Computers
As Matrix upgraded the capabilities of their network, Cox and
Dinkins found a need for increased desktop processing power. An
abundance of 486 computers caused many of their engineers to fail
to complete their daily tasks in the allotted timeframe. Matrix
assisted in the procurement and installation of faster desktop
machines to provide a stable and efficient solution. Currently,
the engineering staff uses Microsoft Windows NT Workstation and
the office staff uses Windows 95/98.
Summary:
Matrix continues to be involved in the day to day computing needs
at Cox and Dinkins, Inc. Many other projects have occurred at
Cox and Dinkins that are not covered here but can be discussed
directly with Neely Loring at Matrix (803) 254-4221 or Gene Dinkins
with Cox and Dinkins, Inc. (803) 254-0518.
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