Factory Built For The Space Age
High-tech facility maximizes efficiency with next-generation network management.

by Betsy Ziobron

	The 124,000 square foot Spectrum Astro factory includes highly restricted areas, such as satellite integration and test bay cleanrooms, which require stand-alone or encryption-secured networks to prevent public access.

As a prime contractor for NASA and Department of Defense space programs, Spectrum Astro has successfully executed more than 225 contracts totaling nearly $1 billion. A leader in the design and manufacturing of high performance satellites, the company opened its $37- million factory of the future in February. This satellite assembly and test facility is designed to support America’s space missions cost-effectively, while maximizing security and minimizing risk.

The first of nine buildings planned on the company’s 80-acre site in Gilbert, Ariz., the 124,000-square-foot factory accommodates up to 20 medium-sized satellites simultaneously in various stages of manufacturing, testing and integration. The facility includes a 62-foot high satellite acoustic and vibration test bay to support a space shuttle-class satellite and simulate a variety of conditions encountered in space.

“The factory is designed to accommodate our projected growth for at least 20 years, with efficiency designed into all areas,” says Brian Deem, CIO with Spectrum Astro. “We took the same approach with our network infrastructure.

“The sensitive nature of our business,” says Deem, “incorporates highly restricted areas, such as integration and test bay clean rooms, state-of-the-art prototyping and environmental testing facilities, and advanced building management and security systems. This requires networks that are either stand-alone or secured with encryption to prevent public access.”

The new factory’s network infrastructure features the SureBIT System, a combination of Hubbell Premise Wiring’s copper and fiber connectivity solutions and Mohawk/CDT’s cable. The Category 6 SureBIT solution provides maximum bandwidth to support high-end applications utilized throughout the facility.

“Devices ranging from HVAC monitors to particle counters that determine clean room air purity generate lots of data,” says Tom Arendt, Spectrum Astro’s telecom specialist. The network also supports rapid prototyping and test equipment, videoconferencing, and a 20,000- volume CD-ROM library.

	Tom Arendt (left) and Todd Cavanaugh manage cabling to equipment mounted in the iFRAME rack, which features columns bolted directly to the floor that eliminate the accumulation of debris often found under traditional rack systems, allowing for a cleaner data center.

A HIGH SPEED NETWORK
The horizontal infrastructure includes nearly 370,000 feet of Category 6 cable for one voice and three data connections at each of the nearly 400 workstations. The backbone cabling for the network consists of one main cross-connect (MC) and two intermediate cross-connects (ICs) linked in a redundant system via 24 pairs of Mohawk’s armored multimode fiber-optic cable for data and 400 pairs of Category 5e copper cable for voice.

Spectrum Astro’s projected growth called for strategic zone networking and cable-management solutions. “We needed products that allowed us to effectively separate and administer networks, with plenty of room for future requirements,” says Arendt.

Hubbell’s iFRAME Network Hardware Management System provides cabling management in the factory’s MC and ICs. With strong I-beam columns bolted vertically to the floor every two feet to create an EIA-310-D compliant rack space, the iFRAME System combines cable management, racking, grounding and power distribution.

“I was a little skeptical at first because the system is unique and unlike traditional rack systems that I was used to,” says Arendt. “But after researching the product, I felt it offered the space, cabling management and versatility we needed.”

The iFRAME system supports a full complement of network gear from top to bottom. “I feel
comfortable putting a 135-pound switch anywhere into the rack,” says Arendt.

With the system, the top plate between the racks doubles as a ladder rack mounting plate, eliminating the need for J-bolts and providing an extra 1U of rack space in each rack.
“We planned the physical layout of the system to easily add more columns in the future,” says Arendt. “However, the racks provide so much unit space already, that we’ll be able to grow substantially before we need to do that.”

Installing the system involves bolting the columns to the floor and screwing the top plate in place. “The strength of the system means we didn’t have to secure the top of each rack to the wall, so there was no need for extra brackets, splices or pieces,” says Todd Cavanaugh, vice president of Teltech Networks, the installer selected for the project.

	Project Manager Michael Babuta, Teltech Networks, configures a sturdy, wall-mounted QuadCab that was utilized to store network equipment in restricted areas of the facility.

FLEXIBLE, EXPANDABLE NETWORK
Cables are concealed inside the iFRAME column behind full-length covers, which can open to the left or right for easy access. Spools located along the sides of the column simplify cable routing, and moves, adds and changes because they line up with rack positions and do not interfere with cable exiting horizontal organizers.

According to Arendt, managing separate networks and responding to project needs requires management solutions with maximum versatility. “I have to cover worst-case scenarios, and the iFRAME allows me to easily triple or quadruple the size of my network without physically building out the ICs,” he says.

In each restricted area of the factory, Spectrum Astro utilized 11 Hubbell heavy-duty QuadCab double-hinged cabinets to accommodate 48-port patch panels and switches to support separate networks. “We didn’t need many workstations in the restricted areas, and network equipment security was a major concern,” explains Arendt. “The QuadCab includes front and rear locks, and we installed them 12-feet high to further prevent tampering.

“The QuadCab offers plenty of room and strength to support more equipment in the future, and I don’t have to worry about the cabinets sagging,” adds Arendt. “This solution is more cost efficient, taking up less space than building physical closets.”

The 48-inch, steel-constructed cabinet supports up to 250 pounds of equipment and offers 26 rack units. Its double-hinged design with front and back access, preassembled door, and quick disconnect hinges allows for easy configuring and one-person installation.

Since cabling for the various networks is required to be separated by a minimum distance, cable from some areas could not be pulled through the walls of other areas.
“Responding to specific security criteria was the most significant challenge of this project,” says
Cavanaugh. “It required custom designing pathways in many locations and paying close
attention to the requirements.”

The factory ceiling heights range from 25 feet in the hallways to 62 feet in the highbay testing area, and raised floors are not feasible due to the enormous weight of equipment and satellites. The door to the acoustic and vibration test area alone weighs more than 275,000 pounds. “We utilized high lifts to reach the cable trays throughout the building,” says Cavanaugh.

“With this advanced cable-management solution, we have set the stage for a cost-effective, upgradeable, easy-to- manage cabling infrastructure,” says Deem. “The factory has the technology in place to accommodate a wide variety of satellite programs as Spectrum Astro positions itself as a significant space system provider.”

Betsy Ziobron is a freelance writer for the cabling industry.
© 2003 Hubbell Premise Wiring.

Reprinted from Communications News, June 2004
© 2004 by Nelson Publishing Inc. www.comnews.com