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NEBS Podcast with Jeff Hudgins

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April 12, 2011

NEBS Podcast with Jeff Hudgins

By Jamie Epstein, TMCnet Web Editor


NEI (News - Alert) offers purpose-built platforms, appliances and support services for application software developers, OEMs and service providers serving storage, security and communications markets around the world. Founded in 1997, the company is best known for its technology expertise, turnkey application platforms, purpose-built appliances, NEBS certified servers, smart services and global logistics.


NEI offers everything software developers need to deploy their application as a complete, turnkey platform solution. By delivering application-specific solutions (both physical and virtual) NEI continues to be known as one of the most trusted software deployment partners in the industry.

Today I conducted a Podcast with Jeff Hudgins, vice president of marketing at NEI. The Podcast highlights NEI and its affiliation with Telcordia (News - Alert). It focused upon NEBS certification and how telecommunication suppliers can benefit in many ways, by integrating NEBS into product design.

I first wanted to provide our listeners with a foundation of what NEBS is all about. Hudgins said, “NEBS is an acronym that stands for network equipment building system. It was developed back in the 1970’s by Bell Labs (News - Alert). The intent behind it was to ensure a dial tone at all costs. It is a very rigorous standard developed by the telephone company to ensure no matter what environmental situations are going on around them whether it be an earthquake or tsunami, users will always have a dial tone.”

He continued, “There are actually 3 levels within the NEBS testing, Levels 1, 2, and 3—but you don’t often hear of them. Levels 1 and 2 are no longer used so when you hear the term NEBS, typically people are referring to NEBS Level 3 as a standard.”

Level 3 is defined by a special report the SR-3580, which calls out two primary elements—the GR-63 which offers general requirements for physical protection and the GR-1090 which has requirements for electromagnetic compatibility.  

Hudgins believes NEBS certification is still used today: There are acouple of primary reasons. First, the standard that has really stood the test of time, as it has been around for 40 years or more. NEBS is still actively used, reviewed, and updated on a continuous basis by Telcordia so it remains a very active standard that is monitored and updated by a standard body.”

“Second, NEBS certification is different than any other typical regulatory certification that you might see out there. It is really more of a testing methodology and a comprehensive test that makes it different than other certifications, because in the end you end up with a final test report. I have seen where those test reports are then used by service provider engineers to understand how equipment will work inside the central office and how it will have be provisioned and allocated, in terms of heat and spacing. It is a much more useful test methodology used by engineers in the end,” Hudgins added.

As to why an equipment designer would implement NEBS testing before product development has even begun, Hudgins responded, “The standard GR-78 is really the design standard and all the requirements for designing to NEBS, like what you find in both electrical and mechanical engineering activity. It takes place to design for the ability to pass testing, as well as offering a cooling design that will withstand thermal heating­ including any filtering for EMI.”

 


Jamie Epstein is a TMCnet Web Editor. Previously she interned at News 12 Long Island as a reporter's assistant. After working as an administrative assistant for a year, she joined TMC (News - Alert) as a Web editor for TMCnet. Jamie grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and holds a bachelor's degree in mass communication with a concentration in broadcasting from Five Towns College. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Janice McDuffee







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