D-link gets the nod at elite Sydney school

Systems integrator Infinite Loop has implemented a D-Link-based gigabit network at MLC School in Sydney's inner west. 

As part of the network refresh, MLC deployed a combination of D-Link Layer 3 and Layer 2 managed gigabit switches.

It also introduced centralised management control across the school's dispersed physical geography.

The upgrade was necessary as the expanding use of digital media technologies such as streaming video within MLC School had increased the demand for network capacity, according to Infinite Loop.

MLC's network reached its maximum capacity and was experiencing performance bottlenecks, the SI said.

The school decided to get its existing network switches upgraded to support Gigabit Ethernet but this wasn't possible.

"When it came time to get quotes, all of a sudden it was not upgradeable and we had to purchase a whole new chassis which would have been a large deployment. It was not great news," said Nigel Quinn, managing director for Infinite Loop, the systems integration company supporting MLC School.

"The previous solution was fixed in the way it distributed data across the network, which was really causing bottleneck issues," said Quinn. "I had already been using D-Link's xStack switches elsewhere and I could see the value that the flexibility of its solution could bring to MLC.

"So MLC and I designed a network solution that has not been done before at the school."

Peter Milburn, network manager for MLC School Sydney said the solution gives the school extra functionality and Gigabit Ethernet ports.

"I think it was the need for flexibility in the design of the solution that clinched the decision for us to move to D-Link."

MLC School Sydney is a Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 Uniting Church independent school for girls.