Longview business NCIC donates computer servers, equipment to KC’s Computer & Information Technology department
Kilgore College thanks Longview business, NCIC Inmate Communications, for its donation of 26 computer servers and miscellaneous high-tech equipment to the Kilgore College Computer and Information Technology (CIT) department.
The servers and equipment donated – which will be used for instructional purposes in the college’s CIT classes – were made possible by NCIC, the largest inmate telephone company in the world.
KC especially thanks KC alumni Rick LaGrone (NCIC director of networks) and Michael Doonan (NCIC network administrator) for making the donations possible.
“Twenty-six servers may seem like a large amount, but a modern data center might have thousands of servers inside of it, all in air-cooled and efficiently powered racks,” said Danny Darden, associate professor in KC’s CIT department. “There are so many things that our students will be able to learn now that we have these servers.”
The donated servers are manufactured by Dell and Penguin Computing and are the same types of machines used in data centers that bring internet customers services such as Netflix and Facebook.
“There is a lot of emphasis today on computing in the cloud,” Darden said. “NCIC’s donation brought a piece of the cloud to KC.”
Students will be able to practice disassembling and reassembling the servers, and will receive hands-on experience checking the components, understanding power and airflow requirements of running servers. They will also learn about the many configuration methods that exist.
The equipment will also be used to gain experience supporting IT infrastructure to prepare students for local employment as the East Texas region continues to add additional technology jobs.
Doonan, a recent graduate of KC’s CIT program, said he thought twice about completing the order to recycle these servers.
“I thought about how much I would love to have these when I was a student at KC and I know the current students would get some great experience with them,” Doonan said. “The servers can also be used in classes that teach cloud computing, networking, security and operating systems.”
For more information about the CIT Program at KC, visit www.kilgore.edu/CIT or contact Dr. Ginger Dennis, department chair, at (903) 983-3722, or Danny Darden at (903) 983-8680.
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