In the latest edition of On Call, the weekly column featuring reader-submitted tales of tech support endeavours, a reader going by the pseudonym “Leif” shared a particularly interesting project he had to undertake back in the day. Leif was tasked with connecting a vendor’s European office to an adjacent building when the move was to take place over a period of several months. The network in both buildings needed to be connected, and the two fixtures presented a significant problem: in the original office was an aging Token-Ring network that served an AS 400, and in the new one was shiny new Cisco equipment.
The first idea that came to mind was to get a WAN connection between the two buildings, but obtaining a definitive costing was impossible due to changing goalposts. With a WAN out of the picture, Leif and his team formulated another plan. Given that the buildings were almost within sight of each other, and with trees separating them, a solution seemed simple. Why not just lay an ethernet cable from one building to another? Yes, it was crude, potentially dangerous, and definitely risky, but two factors made this plan feasible. Spring was on the way, and green Ethernet cable was readily available.
Leif and his team decided to string the ethernet cable through the trees, and nature would take care of the hiding aspect. The plan was put in motion, and Leif and his team managed to lay enough cable through the trees to provide a working IBM-to-Cisco network with the use of a Token-Ring to Ethernet bridging switch. The team named the makeshift network setup “Wireline Bridging” and proceeded to pat one another’s backs, handing out employee gift cards to celebrate their success.
The plan worked wonders, and much to everyone’s relief, the office move was completed long before the trees dropped their leaves later in the year. No one suspected anything fishy and the camouflaged cable was coiled and kept out of sight without anyone being the wiser about the trees facilitating the setup.
Many users have, at some point, hidden cables to make networks go places they shouldn’t. This story emphasizes the incredible lengths that IT personnel can go to in solving unique problems that are not only unexpected but also unplanned for. Though this solution may not have been the ideal one or the one recommended, it certainly did the job and was deserving of the appreciation and recognition handed out by Leif’s team. They were able to implement an interim solution that helped the business keep running smoothly, and that is what IT support is all about.
In conclusion, this tale proves that when dealing with technology, there is no one solution that fits all problems. Troubleshooting requires creative thinking, resourcefulness, and a willingness to experiment. It is understandable to call in experts, but sometimes a temporary solution can suffice to keep things running smoothly until a more permanent fix can be implemented. What matters most is the end results, and Leif and his team certainly delivered.
