What exists in an exchange?

Its where they hide Elvis, Aliens, big foot. Rumour has it Osama is also walking around.
 
I'm also interested in knowing how the whole ADSL infrastructure looks/works in South Africa.
 
DSLAM_Telkom_mock_838935561.jpg
 
In our little dorpies' exchange it looks like the starship enterprise - no !@#$! Lots of dslams, flashing lights, etc. The POTS section looks a little like someone let off a grenade in the spaghetti factory. There was also a big refrigeration unit that looked like a huge pick 'n' pay meat fridge but sealed, with ice-covered pipes going in and out of it. I asked the telkom tech I was with "What's that for?" and he said it was to cool the data cables that go to and from the vodacom / mtn tower a mile away up on the hill. :wtf:

Yep, he said, there's so much data pumping up and down "we need to chill the cables".

So, yeah, there's an insight into what's in your local exchange :)
 
Khanya said:
I mean what's in an exchange, always wondered.
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PM me your contact number and next time I'm in your area I'll ask a buddy if he can give you a tour.

Depending on the exchange I think many folks will be blown away when they realise what is in there.
 
Sting said:
PM me your contact number and next time I'm in your area I'll ask a buddy if he can give you a tour.

Depending on the exchange I think many folks will be blown away when they realise what is in there.
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Damn right! I walked in the door and my jaw dropped! Spotlessly clean, air-conditioned so much I wanted to put a jacket on (in the middle of summer), and certainly NOTHING like that B&W pic in post # 7 ...
 
Grouter said:
Damn right! I walked in the door and my jaw dropped! Spotlessly clean, air-conditioned so much I wanted to put a jacket on (in the middle of summer), and certainly NOTHING like that B&W pic in post # 7 ...
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Lol, many forumites spend quite a lot to keep their PCs nice and cool, and PCs are fairly cheap. If you have several millions worth of heat generating equipment in a room, you'd probably want to keep the aircon on. ;)

Grouter said:
Yep, he said, there's so much data pumping up and down "we need to chill the cables".
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That sounds weird - ice in an exchange sounds dangerous. :confused:
 
Tacet said:
That sounds weird - ice in an exchange sounds dangerous. :confused:
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How I understood it, they pump refrigerant along the length, or part of the length, of the data cables. Maybe in the cable ducting or something. I didn't dig up the floor to find out. :)
 
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