Empowering Education
CINCINNATI PUBLIC SCHOOLS CASE STUDY
Objective
Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) recognized the need to modernize their data infrastructure to support the increasing demands of educational technology and administrative functions. The objective was to establish a state-of-the-art data center within an existing building, ensuring reliability, scalability, and security while adhering to budgetary constraints and minimizing disruption to the surrounding community.
Solution
CPS initiated a process inviting select contractors to propose conceptual designs and budget estimates for the data center project. The IT Department provided basic guidelines, and the contractors were tasked with presenting their designs and cost projections in a formal presentation. AFI emerged as the chosen contractor due to our innovative approach and comprehensive response to CPS’s needs.
The project encountered initial challenges, notably the location of the existing building within a residential neighborhood. It was imperative to ensure that exterior equipment did not disrupt the neighborhood visually or acoustically. The chosen space for the data center was the basement Mail Room, selected for its floor weight capacity and suitability for renovation. However, challenges arose from occupied spaces on the floors above, necessitating careful planning and coordination.
Following the finalization of the design and engineering plans, demolition of the Mail Room commenced and construction activities began. This involved bricking-in exterior windows, erecting interior walls and upgrading fire systems, electrical UPS systems, cooling systems, monitoring and network infrastructure. Exterior construction included the installation of a matching brick wall to enclose cooling condensers and generators, designed to mitigate sound transmission to the surrounding neighborhood.
Result
The culmination of the project was the successful creation of an 1100-square-foot data center, complete with a ‘Config Room’ and redundant systems for cooling, UPS, distribution, fire and security. Despite the challenges posed by the project’s location and existing building constraints, the data center was delivered within budget and met all necessary specifications.
AFI continues to provide on-site maintenance for all systems, and assists with any moves, adds, or changes (MAC) required, ensuring ongoing operational efficiency and reliability for Cincinnati Public Schools’ data infrastructure.