Case study · infrastructure
Building out a 5,000 sq ft data center
Infrastructure Associate, through PeopleSERVE · IPC Systems · Fairfield, Connecticut · 2021 to 2023
From 2021 to 2023 Matthew McCluster worked on the transformation of a 5,000 square foot data center at IPC Systems in Fairfield, Connecticut, as part of the staff PeopleSERVE supplied to the project. The work was physical and hands-on: building out network and server racks, running copper and fiber, installing and configuring power distribution and environmental monitoring, racking Cisco switching, configuring DHCP scopes, and installing Dell, Oracle and Sun servers on Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS. IPC's own description of the engagement is linked below as the primary evidence.
- Where
- IPC Systems, Fairfield, Connecticut
- When
- 2021 to 2023 (the engagement ran from about April 2021 to June 2023)
- How engaged
- Through PeopleSERVE, which augmented IPC's staff on the project
What the project covered, and what Matthew did
IPC prepared the engagement document for all of the PeopleSERVE staff on the project. In its own words, its goal is "to help PeopleSERVE staff who worked on this project identify the many technologies they may have assisted with." It describes the project rather than one person's duties, so each row below shows the document's scope for that area and, in the last column, whether Matthew's résumé claims it.
| Area | What the engagement document lists | On Matthew's résumé |
|---|---|---|
| Racks | Planning, placement and buildout of Ortronics 45U network racks and APC NetShelter 42U server racks; vertical and horizontal cable management; labeling and documentation of racks and connections; rack-mount inventory | Yes: rack buildout, Ortronics 45U and APC NetShelter 42U |
| Cabling | Network, console and power cabling including CAT6, multi-mode and single-mode fiber; structured CAT6 to 48-port patch panels; home-run cabling for data-center management | Yes: CAT6 and multi-mode/single-mode fiber |
| Power and environment | APC vertical and horizontal metered and switched PDUs (installation, firmware, networking, configuration); temperature and humidity monitors; raised-floor airflow; rack UPS | Yes: PDUs and environmental monitoring |
| Networking | Cisco Nexus 9000 series with FEX and SFP modules; Cisco 4500-series switches; triage of SFP, fiber and network issues; DHCP scopes (address pools, scope options, reservations, lease review); PoE devices across 802.3af, 802.3at and 802.3bt | Yes: Cisco Nexus 9000/4500 networking and DHCP scope configuration |
| Servers | Dell, Oracle and Sun servers; Windows Server, Red Hat Linux and CentOS installation; PERC RAID configuration; firmware, BIOS and iDRAC upgrades; drive and memory replacement | Yes: Dell, Oracle and Sun installs across Windows Server, Red Hat and CentOS with PERC RAID |
| Out-of-band access | Raritan, Dell and Black Box IP KVMs; crash carts and iDRAC | Not listed |
| Telecommunications | Racking and cabling of TDM-to-IP media gateways, TDM channel banks and Cisco 3900 routers | Not listed |
| Trading turrets | Installation of IPC Touch, Pulse, IQMax and Edge turrets in the performance test center; refurbishment and firmware updates | Yes: supported IPC Touch, Pulse, IQMax and Edge turrets |
| Data destruction | Wiping retired media with dBAN to DoD standards | Yes: DoD-standard data destruction (dBAN) |
| E-waste | Identifying and processing older server, network and telecom equipment for recycling; disposal of sensitive media to ISO standards | Yes: ISO-standard e-waste handling |
Rows marked "Not listed" are part of the project's documented scope but are not claimed on Matthew's résumé, so they are not presented here as his work. The rule runs the other way too: a résumé line the document does not support is not inherited into this case study. An earlier résumé line about instructing new team members is not relied on here, and the role is named by the document's own cover title, "Infrastructure Associate".
What this experience is evidence of
- Data center technician work: rack and stack, cable management and labeling, copper and fiber, power distribution and environmental monitoring in a live facility.
- Network hardware: Cisco Nexus 9000-series and 4500-series switching hardware and DHCP scope configuration.
- Server hardware and operating systems: Dell, Oracle and Sun servers; Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS; RAID on PERC controllers.
- Vendor hardware: IPC trading-turret equipment (Touch, Pulse, IQMax and Edge) in IPC's performance test center: installation, refurbishment and firmware updates.
- Secure decommissioning: DoD-standard media wiping and ISO-standard e-waste handling.
Related
- IT, infrastructure & platform engineering: every role this experience fits, with sources.
- The McCluster platform: what he has built and runs since 2025.
- IT support résumé · PDF · DOCX
Published October 2, 2026 by Matthew McCluster ·
IT & engineering ·
Newsroom
© 2026 Matthew McCluster · McCluster Corp. IPC, Touch, Pulse, IQMax and Edge are names of IPC Systems; Cisco, Nexus, Dell, Oracle, Sun, APC, Ortronics, Raritan and Black Box are their owners' marks.