Since Cork Internet eXchange has had its Medium Voltage (MV) equipment connected to the grid by ESB Networks, access to the the MV Switch room has had to be restricted. Previously we were able to bring people through the MV room and explain it to visitors but now that the equipment is live, that is no longer possible.

Because of this, we decided to do a video tour of the MV switch room so people can see the infrastructure online. We used my Nokia N95 phone to take the video and software from Qik to stream the video live to the Internet as we were taking it.

As well as streaming the video live, Qik allows people watching live to ask questions and have them display on the phone’s screen so during this video you will hear me relaying questions and comments from viewers.

After going through the MV Switch Gear, the batteries and the UPS’s, one of the viewers expressed a desire to see the Network Operation Centre (NOC) so we walked through to the NOC and gave a quick tour of that too.