Airmen power computer network against failure

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachelle Coleman
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  When Icemen sit down at their desk, they count on certain services to keep their computer running and connected to the network in order to carry out their daily tasks critical to the mission.

As the responsible agency for each computer connected to the base network, the Network Control Center enables the wing's mission by installing the latest security patches, tracking the integrity of the network and assisting single customers with specific local issues as needed.

The NCC staff is an integral part of the 354th Communications Squadron, which manages, operates, and maintains the more than 2,200 computers to support the 354th Fighter Wing's mission to prepare, deploy and enable.

The NCC is comprised of the Communications Focal Point, Network Administration and Information Protection work centers. They provide services such as e-mail, storage space on shared drives, small computer equipment repair, network infrastructure management, communication security, and the all-important help desk.

Most people don't realize how important the NCC is until disaster strikes, which is how they try to keep it - the power behind the curtain. The communications Airmen are proactive instead of reactive as they continually work to prevent incidents from happening.

"A lot of upgrades are done at night," said Staff Sgt. Adam Snyder, 354th CS network administrator. "We don't want to interrupt customers, which would be bad business."

In addition to standard updates, the NCC is currently working to convert all of Eielson's servers to virtual servers -- making computers work together through a virtual server rather than a physical one.

"Using virtual servers makes the network better for long term sustainment while also saving money and power," said Sergeant Snyder.

Portions of the NCC are focused more on customer service. These include the client support administrators and focal point. Working together, these sections help customers with questions or help fix problems they're having on their computers.

The focal point section runs the help desk, troubleshooting and fixing what they can over the phone, while tickets are generated when problems cannot be fixed and then handed to CSAs for resolution.

Although the goal is to provide immediate service, when customers call, getting to each ticket as quickly as they are received is not always possible.

"At any given moment there are three CSA's for the entire base," said Staff Sgt. Dwayne Avery, 354th CS client support administrator. "Due to deployments, leave and relocations, CSA's are working hard to keep up with demands."

The help desk is available 12 hours a day to help Icemen with their computer problems to provide support before and after the normal duty day.

"We try our best to get to each ticket as quickly as possible but sometimes we're already working on several items," said Sergeant Avery.

In spite of the challenges they face, the work of the NCC and the 354th CS is an integral part of the Eielson mission, and helps all Airman meet the ever-changing needs of the Air Force.