Although switches and servers aren't necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing objects you're likely to run across, they're essential for the day-to-day operation of most modern galleries. And when an art museum needs someone to orchestrate an overhaul of its IT infrastructure, a renaissance man with a rich computing history is just about as close to the mark as it gets. When Horio joined the Asian Art Museum's team a few years ago, he brought his AS/400 experience to bear in deploying a collection of servers that combines platforms from the past and the present-with masterful results.
THE BIG PICTURE
The Asian Art Museum has been a fixture of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park for 35 years. But when the public institution began to outgrow its old digs in the 1990s, something had to give. In 1994, the citizens of San Francisco voted to dedicate $52 million in public bonds to refurbishing the city's former Main Library, located in the Civic Center area, as the new home for the Asian Art Museum. (The museum also received private funding.) A team of architects was hired to redesign the facility, which was originally built in 1917, and reconstruction got under way. Due to California's history of antics with the Richter scale, the facility was fortified to withstand an 8.3 magnitude earthquake.
The museum, which debuted its new location in March 2003, holds nearly 15,000 works worth an estimated $4 billion. These paintings, sculptures, and other masterpieces represent 6,000 years of Asian history. The new facility contains nearly 40,000 square feet of exhibit space for these items, and includes a gift shop, a cafe, and classrooms for educational programs that are open to the community.
During the project planning phase, the museum made specifications for a new data and telecommunications infrastructure. It also wanted to provide state-of-the-art "customer-facing" technology in the form of multimedia kiosks that visitors could use to learn more about the exhibits. To support the number of applications this would involve, it was clear that the museum's aging Dell servers, primarily running various versions of Windows, would have to be replaced.
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
